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By Graeme Brown<br />
between placing a MotoGP event or<br />
a WorldSBK event at a venue which<br />
would you go for?<br />
That said I had previously heard a<br />
story suggesting the smaller size of<br />
the paddock, and associated staff<br />
within the organization, meant that<br />
the profit levels for Dorna of staging<br />
a WorldSBK and a MotoGP event<br />
were pretty much the same, especially<br />
those in territories where everything<br />
has to be airfreighted. I will,<br />
however, state again, I have no direct<br />
knowledge of the costs involved and<br />
with many of these things we are left<br />
to forming our opinions on hearsay.<br />
Something I touched on in my last<br />
grumblings<br />
The point is that most of these<br />
costs are met by local, regional and<br />
sometimes central governments.<br />
They make the calculation based on<br />
the revenue generated in the local<br />
economy by the hundreds of staff<br />
and thousands of fans who will visit<br />
the location over the course of a race<br />
weekend and spend their money in<br />
the hotels, bars and restaurants of<br />
the surrounding towns. I have written<br />
previously about the hotels and<br />
businesses in Alcañiz that survive<br />
solely on the basis of the events<br />
that take place at Motorland Aragon<br />
throughout the year.<br />
With both F1 and MotoGP calendars<br />
expanding there is only so much of<br />
the state funded pie to go around.<br />
If MotoGP had only 17 or 18 rounds<br />
on the calendar there would be<br />
venues that had been left out and<br />
may be keener to host races like<br />
WorldSBK. However, it would seem<br />
that if a track applies to have Formula<br />
1 or MotoGP, and if the cheque<br />
book is big enough, then they’re in.<br />
That could be leaving other championships<br />
like WorldSBK scraping<br />
around.<br />
From what I know at this stage,<br />
based on some rumour and gossip,<br />
the 2020 WorldSBK calendar will<br />
look more or less the same as this<br />
year, without Buriram for sure and<br />
possibly without Laguna. Oschersleben<br />
in Germany looks a fair bet<br />
to fill a space in the summer, probably<br />
early August, and if Laguna<br />
Seca does fall from the calendar I<br />
have heard that Circuit de Catalunya<br />
would be offered as a replacement<br />
but that in itself may bring forward a<br />
series of date changes.<br />
Losail could actually become the<br />
first round of the series in early February<br />
and Catalunya would be the<br />
final round. Having the season finish<br />
in Qatar in front of minimal crowds<br />
is not ideal. It’s also a place where<br />
many like me want to leave as soon<br />
as they can. Jamie Morris and I finished<br />
up working at 3am and drove<br />
straight to the airport to fly home.<br />
As did Aruba Ducati, HRC and a fair<br />
few of the teams in the paddock it<br />
would appear. Having the last race in<br />
Europe would mean a bigger crowd<br />
at the race and also the possibility<br />
of a prize-giving ceremony where all<br />
the teams, mechanics, support staff<br />
and everyone involved could attend<br />
and enjoy.<br />
<strong>On</strong> the rider front, announcements<br />
are coming thick and fast. In the last<br />
few weeks a number of team and<br />
rider rosters have become clear, with<br />
only a few loose ends to tie up.<br />
The main switch in the paddock was<br />
confirmed last time out in Argentina<br />
with Alex Lowes taking up the seat<br />
vacated by Leon Haslam in KRT. This<br />
is a great opportunity for the 2013<br />
British Superbike Champion and it<br />
may be a pivotal move in the 2020<br />
WorldSBK campaign.
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