Ducati Corse CEO Claudio Domenicali...
Ducati Corse CEO Claudio Domenicali definitely agrees that costs in MotoGP need to be kept under control if the series is to survive. "In a different economic condition, in one way or the other, something you have to change," said the man in charge of Ducati's racing activities. "Extending engine life by around 50 percent for 2010 is the best way to reduce costs. Also for next year, I think it will be good to reduce it to one bike per rider. That will be a huge saving."
The criticism of MotoGP is that they don't run the championship like a business, that they never anticipated anything but clear blue skies. The satellite teams are expected to receive funding, but that wasn't always the case—if it was, Team Roberts would still be on the grid.
"Everybody recognizes we have to do something—Dorna, IRTA, the MSMA and the FIM," Ezpeleta said when asked about how to reduce the costs of racing. "But you can't underestimate how crucial the position of the manufacturers is in this championship. We need to talk with them and they are open to listen to the proposals. They are aware how difficult it is to achieve their budgets and they know they must reduce the costs to compete. We need to have the same show but spending less money. For me the costs are in the hands of the manufacturer, the FIM and Dorna to try and resolve this situation. I am optimistic that we can dramatically reduce costs starting in 2010, even introducing some things that can save some money in 2009 because we have to start immediately."
New Ducati signee Nicky Hayden...
New Ducati signee Nicky Hayden (left) would rather see much of the electronic rider aids disappear, although Domenicali feels that many of them are necessary for the good of motorcycling in the long term; Casey Stoner (right) isn't too enthused about the banning of carbon brakes for 2010.
Said Domenicali's rider Casey Stoner, "As for shortening practice sessions, I mean, we've got two tires now to chose from. There's going to be no selecting tires. All of it is going to be setting up the bike. We haven't got qualifying. We're not friggin' spending the last half an hour or 10 minutes of the session using qualifying tires. So we really don't need it." Ezpeleta said they were also looking at the option of two-day race weekends. "In this economic climate we can't say no and we have to study everything." Off-season testing was severely curtailed. Ezpeleta considered banning Monday testing. In the end, he and the Grand Prix Commission agreed to two one-day after GP tests, but only for test teams and only on 2010 machinery.