Following the announcement of Suzuki’s unexpected withdrawal from the MotoGP class next season, championship promoter Dorna Sport was quick to open the door to the arrival of a new brand. And was it BMW?
On learning of Suzuki’s intention to leave the MotoGP championship next season, Carmelo Ezpeleta, boss of MotoGP championship promoter Dorna Sport, must have fumed.
Despite the will of the MotoGP boss not to give any gift to Suzuki, and his call to respect his commitments, the Japanese manufacturer will indeed leave the paddocks at the end of this season.
For the attractiveness of the MotoGP world championship, however, it is good to be able to count on the presence of as many manufacturers as possible. With Aprilia, Ducati and KTM on the European side, Yamaha and Honda on the Japanese side, the factories involved will be only five next year, with an omnipresence of Ducati.
Faced with Suzuki’s withdrawal, Carmelo Ezpeleta was quick to respond: “We have received requests from manufacturers. I can’t give names, but it’s possible that a big brand will enter the World Championship in the next few years. If a manufacturer is interested in the World Championship and decides to participate and invest in the long term, we are always open to discussion. »
If Ezpeleta did not reveal the name of the manufacturer in question, all eyes were on BMW. The German brand would thus flirt more with the MotoGP championship, as the P.-D.G. of BMW Motorrad, Markus Schramm: “At BMW, we always consider MotoGP. But it depends on who makes the final decision. Karlheinz Kalbfell and Herbert Diess wanted to join him, as did Hendrik von Kuenheim. But they were stopped by the board of directors of BMW, that is to say by the shareholders of the automobile branch. »
Perhaps burned by the failed experience in Formula 1 from 2006 to 2009, the leaders of BMW seem for the moment reluctant to engage the brand in MotoGP, with the research and development costs that this would include.
However, Ezpeleta, again, leaves the door wide open to the German manufacturer: “BMW has always impressed us with its strengths and its passion. »
A real call from the foot.
The decision is now more than ever in BMW’s camp.
