KTM motorsport director Pit Beirer talks about the MotoGP calendar, the number of Grands Prix and the future of the sprint races on Saturday. He cites Formula 1 as a warning example.
Originally, the MotoGP calendar this year was supposed to consist of 22 Grands Prix. It was already announced at the end of January that the event in Argentina would be canceled without replacement. There is still a big question mark behind the holding of the Kazakhstan GP. According to the current status, the calendar therefore consists of at least 20 races. The number of races causes heated discussions. Not everyone is happy with the expansion of the calendar.
There is resistance in the KTM camp because the strain on employees is becoming too high with more and more races. Motorsport boss Pit Beirer would like the calendar to not include more than 20 races and considers 18 Grand Prix weekends to be the perfect compromise.
However, the KTM manager wants to stick to the sprint races introduced last year: “I’m a friend of the sprint races because you can see on Saturday who is where when the races are actually taking place.”
Beirer: Sprint races at every MotoGP event, but no more than 20 GPs
“I would prefer if we didn’t break the sound barrier of 20 races and thereby create relief by omitting one or two races. But in my opinion, the racing format of the weekends should not change,” is the wish of the KTM motorsport director .
According to Beirer, it is important not to change the way the MotoGP weekends run: “The fan also thrives on a certain regularity and should know when something is happening. I’m not a fan of having sprints in some races and not in others.”
“Any argument for sprint races or against sprint races leads to absurdity if you sometimes allow sprint races to take place and sometimes not,” notes Beirer. “We want to race, our four drivers are looking forward to the Saturday races. I believe the sprint race should take place every weekend. But please no more than 20 events.”
Too many MotoGP races: KTM loses employees
“The optimal size that we as a manufacturer would like would be 18 races and not 22,” the KTM manager clarifies. “Under no circumstances do we want what Formula 1 is experiencing with 24 races. Then it will be too much, but not because we don’t like racing. But the human factor comes into play.”
Beirer refers to the private lives of the employees and the stress that comes with significantly more than 20 Grands Prix: “As a bachelor, it’s certainly interesting to jet through world history. But as soon as you have a stable relationship and children, then it’s nice when dad or mom are home on a weekend. We feel a limit.”
“That became clear at the end of last season in the final overseas races. The team was at its limit,” says Beirer, looking back on the many consecutive races in autumn 2023.
“There were one or two people quitting with tears in their eyes. These were people who really enjoyed being there, but who could no longer balance family and work. That’s the only reason why we say the limit has been reached is,” explains Beirer and announces that he will campaign for fewer races: “We will talk about it more often and hope to be heard.”