With more than 20 rounds on their respective calendars, it is increasingly common for Formula 1 and MotoGP to have Grand Prix on the same dates. And Dorna’s CEO, Carmelo Ezpeleta, admitted that this cannot be mitigated even with Liberty Media owning both championships.
When asked by GPOne.com if it will be possible to limit the overlap of dates between the two top categories of motorsport, the Spaniard denied:
– It’s impossible. If we have 22 Grand Prix races, F1 has 24, and SBK has 13 from February to November, it’s very difficult not to have conflicts. You can only try to schedule the races at different times.
Ezpeleta also revealed that the MotoGP season could start earlier in the future: ‘Starting in February may be a possibility, considering the time we would need to go to the East, we are considering it’.
In 2002, the first season of the MotoGP era, the first round was on April 7, with seasons even starting in the middle of that month. However, with more Grand Prix races being added, the start date became earlier and earlier, but it wasn’t until 2014 that March consistently became the month of the inaugural GP.