Motorcycle Racing FIM Grand Prix 2023

[heywoodu 15,141]

This week should be the first Indian Grand Prix, but in the past weeks it has been an absolute shitshow and it's not getting any better  

 

Everything and everyone and their mother around the whole event is just making things worse and worse it seems. From fraudulent hotels and shuttle bus companies to visa issues, customs troubles, nonsense bureaucracy, significant worries about basic hygiene facilities and food and, as a nice extra touch....the fact that homologation of the track is scheduled for, I kid you not, the Thursday before the first trainings  It's not even sure the track is safe to race on, and that is definitely not a 'done deal'  

 

Tons of team members, including riders, have been refused at their airports. Collin Veijer, for example, is on his way back home from Amsterdam at this moment. KTM has so far received a grand total of 0 visa, as is the case for many other teams.

 

Mind you, a total of 1500 people need to travel to India, so far not even 100 seem to have been accepted.

 

At this point, now that most people aren't there yet (mostly because they can't), Dorna really should cancel this and not look to India again for the next 10 years, but with that being a big market that's obviously not going to happen  

[Monzanator 4,502]

I really don't know why FIM has picked India as the new GP venue? Did the manufacturers tell them to go there in order to boost sales? Some of these new ideas backfired before even staging a single race, Finland, Kazakhstan and people probably forgot about that circuit in Wales that was supposed to replace Silverstone on MotoGP calendar

[heywoodu 15,141]

9 hours ago, Monzanator said:

I really don't know why FIM has picked India as the new GP venue? Did the manufacturers tell them to go there in order to boost sales? Some of these new ideas backfired before even staging a single race, Finland, Kazakhstan and people probably forgot about that circuit in Wales that was supposed to replace Silverstone on MotoGP calendar

Oh that was absolutely a sales thing. The whole of South East Asia has always been seen as a massive market in the motorsports world, no surprise Thailand and Indonesia have received spots on the world championships calendar(s) in recent years  

 

Finland was at least a logical choice, and a nice throwback to old times, but both COVID and Russia being a bitch helped throw that down the drain. Unlike Kazakhstan, I'd say it's a shame it didn't work out for Finland, largely (of course not solely) due to basically bad luck.

Edited September 19, 2023 by heywoodu

[Monzanator 4,502]

Word is out Marc Marquez could leave Honda and join the Gresini squad. Obviously the last two seasons Ducati is the only bike to have in MotoGP but Honda has been doing a terrible job for several years now.

 

https://www.speedcafe.com/2023/09/23/ducati-boss-gives-substance-to-marquez-links/