Dorna sporting director Carlos Ezpeleta has announced that they want to overhaul the concession system to help struggling brands. This would primarily affect the two Japanese plants Honda and Yamaha.
Currently both would not qualify for the privileges in the regulations. A manufacturer with concession advantages could use more engines per season, nor would engine development be frozen. Engine updates would be allowed during the season.
You can also test with the regular drivers. More wildcards may also be registered for test drivers. Aprilia was the last team to lose those advantages. But the Italians have not been able to build on the successes of the previous year.
Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaró each managed a podium finish. Is the loss of technical advantages one of the reasons why Aprilia is no longer at the top? “That’s a good question, but I don’t think so,” said Espargaró.
“We have improved the reliability of the engines, apart from the problem that Maverick had.” At the Sachsenring, Vinales retired with an engine problem. “In terms of performance, power used to drop from 8,000 rpm,” Espargaró continues.
“But now that’s not the case anymore. Savadori is still testing a lot.” That’s why he concludes that the loss of benefits hasn’t had a major impact: “I don’t think so.” In principle, Espargaró likes the current concession system.
“The concessions help a lot. The satellite team is good. But if you can test with the regular drivers then you can bring more updates during the season. The concessions are a good idea but I don’t want to use them anymore. I want with the same ones win guns.”
Help for the Japanese a good idea?
In the past, the technical advantages have helped Ducati, Suzuki, KTM and Aprilia become competitive. Because of their many successes, Honda and Yamaha never had these advantages.
Now Carlos Ezpeleta wants to revise and “modernize” the concession rules. But what that should look like in detail and whether all manufacturers would agree at all is currently unknown.
“I don’t think the drivers have an opinion on that,” says Espargaró. “It’s more about the manufacturers and the balance of the championship. The manufacturers invest millions of euros. It’s understandable that you want to balance the championship.”
“But how you do that is difficult. I’m not against it. We’ve benefited from that. I want three or four different manufacturers to fight for victory. Like it was two years ago or even last year.”
Leaving aside the new sprints, Ducati has won all but one of the previous Grands Prix this year. Only Alex Rins triumphed with the LCR-Honda in Austin.