MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

The EU Competition Commission has launched a so-called Phase II investigation of Liberty Media's purchase of Dorna Sports. The Commission raised concerns over the market power the proposed purchase would give Liberty over broadcasting rights in the national TV markets in a number of EU member states.

The concern of the Commission is that the acquisition could allow Liberty to raise prices for the broadcasting rights of MotoGP and F1 in some countries. The Commission noted that F1 and MotoGP are each other's most direct competitors, and Liberty having control of both would reduce competition by not allowing broadcasters to choose between one or the other, or both. 

The FIM and Dorna have announced the provisional WorldSBK calendar for the 2025 season. The calendar has a familiar look, with 12 races, kicking off at the end of February at Phillip Island. 

The Australian round is the only race outside of Europe once more. Though there are persistent rumors that Dorna is working on other races outside of Europe, they have been unable to sign contracts for them just yet. The WorldSBK series will visit the Balaton Park Circuit in Hungary for the first time this year, though they were scheduled to go in 2024 and that round was canceled.

The Balaton Park circuit in Hungary is to be added to the MotoGP and WorldSBK calendars for their 2025 seasons. The circuit, located at the eastern end of Lake Balaton and some 90km southwest of the Hungarian capital Budapest will be scheduled to host the WorldSBK series from 25th-27th of July 2025, and MotoGP from 22nd to 24th August.

It is not the first attempt to stage a world championship motorcycle race in Hungary, however. The Balatonring Circuit at the western end of Lake Balaton was scheduled to join the calendar in 2009, but the global financial crisis of 2008 saw its main investor go bankrupt as a result of the collapse of the Spanish real estate industry. That circuit was never completed, and the Motorland Aragon circuit took its place.

The FIM and Dorna have announced that Dorna is to keep the rights to run the MotoGP series until 2060. In a press release, Dorna says that the length of the agreement - another 36 years - allows them to continue to build the long-term future for the sport.

Although 36 years is a very long time, it is not entirely unprecedented. The FIM has always worked with long-term contracts with Dorna, an important factor in being able to create a stable infrastructure and a stable environment around motorcycling's premier class. Although the length of the previous was never made officially published, the agreement has been incrementally extended over the years, the latest date being 2043.

The agreement does not just cover MotoGP, but all of the championships run by Dorna. That includes WorldSBK, the FIM Junior Championship, MotoE and the WCR Women's Championship.

The press release appears below:

The fact that the races at the Motorland Aragon circuit were so eventful rather overshadowed the fact that a lot of news emerged during the weekend. In part perhaps because of the way it sorted of leaked out rather than being announced. So here's a quick rundown of some of the things we learned.

Calendar shake up

For the past decade or so, the MotoGP calendar has looked pretty predictable. Circuits may come and go, but the shape of the calendar has looked largely unchanged.

That looks set to change in 2025. Apart from starting in Buriram, Thailand, instead of Qatar, there races entering the calendar and established races being moved around. Last Wednesday we learned that Brno is set to be added to the schedule, though a date for the race is yet to be announced. In previous years, Brno has been back to back with the Austrian round at the Red Bull Ring, but talk around the paddock has it that this will not be the case in 2025.

With Marc Marquez slotting into the second factory Ducati seat, prompting Jorge Martin to leave for the factory Aprilia squad, the other pieces of the MotoGP rider puzzle are starting to fall into place. With Assen now just under two weeks away, the rider market is starting to move.

Motorsport.com's Germán Garcia Casanova brings news of one of the most surprising moves on the market. Motorsport is reporting that Joan Mir is set to sign a new two-year deal with Repsol Honda. This is rather unexpected, as Mir has suffered a difficult first part of the season, and has been open in his criticism of HRC and the current iteration of the Honda RC213V. There were even credible rumors that the 2020 MotoGP champion was pondering retirement.

The Cathedral of Speed is to remain on both MotoGP and WorldSBK championship calendars through the 2031 season. The iconic Dutch track today announced an extension of their contract which will see the Dutch TT round of MotoGP, and the Dutch round of WorldSBK at the circuit for the foreseeable future.

The contract extension is not really a surprise. Assen is the longest-running circuit on the MotoGP calendar, and before that, on international racing calendar, with a history that stretches all the way back to 1925. The race only stopped running during the Second World War, and for the Covid-19 hit 2020 MotoGP season. The track is a firm favorite with riders, and attracts massive crowds for both the MotoGP and WorldSBK events, with over 105,000 fans at the Dutch TT last year.