MotoGP Is Deadly Serious but Way More Fun Than F1 MANAURE QUINTERO - Getty ImagesEmmet WhiteMon, December 1, 2025 at 12:00 PM UTC·10 min readTwo-wheeled grand prix racing dates back to the turn of the 20th century and blossomed through the next hundred years, creating fabled events like the Isle of Man TT. But the name MotoGP, motorcycling's top flight of competition, didn’t officially arrive until 2002.
Two decades later, MotoGP is the peak of motorcycle racing, comparable to Formula 1 in its prominence. At a glance, MotoGP has all the markings of a bountifully successful sports franchise too: out-of-this-world performance, gripping races, and a young-rider-heavy grid packed with characters. Decade-old teams spar with newly formed rivals, there is a huge global fan following, and, more recently, MotoGP inked a licensing deal with Liberty Media, which also controls the media rights to Formula 1.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementYet while the folks behind Dorna Sports, MotoGP's organizing body, intend to grow the sport well beyond its cult origins, a weekend at the 2025 Catalan Grand Prix in Barcelona confirmed there is still something very down-to-earth about MotoGP.
David Ramos - Getty ImagesThe live racing experience is heart-stopping. Standing on the pit wall at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, my eyes vibrated as the tightly woven group of racers sped by. It is hard to comprehend how fast they are going until you can get close enough to feel the buzzing sound waves impact your chest.
The paddock is undeniably hot, too, as the smell of high-octane fuel and burned rubber coalesced into a heady aroma. There was the physical frenzy common to sharp-end motorsport, yet the mechanical calculation of it all is cold and without emotion. It's a decidedly modern sport, which should make it unsexy, but an Aprilia-borne backfire that nearly burst my eardrums proved there is still plenty of old-school appeal.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe first hint that MotoGP skews toward egalitarianism came before I even reached the racetrack. Spain has a love-hate relationship with tourists, especially around Barcelona, where rising visitor numbers have dramatically impacted property prices. Yet the mere mention of my MotoGP attendance was a rapid-acting salve for acceptance by Catalans, seemingly of all ages and persuasions. Motorcycle culture in Spain is vivid, thriving, and prolific, helped by the outstanding roads, generally favorable weather, and prevalence of two-wheeled commuting. España is a heartland for MotoGP.
Part of this national enthusiasm for motorcycle racing has been fueled by Marc and Alex Marquez, the dynamic sibling pair of Cervera-born MotoGP racers who regularly stand on the podium. But the origins of Spain's talent go deeper into a strong youth racing culture. In Spain, as in Italy, there are riding academies that start developing young racing talent around six years old, creating stiff competition before the age of 10 and building the lifelong foundation needed to eventually become a MotoGP rider. It's as much about mental fortitude and dogged commitment as it is about riding skills, Alessio Salucci, team advisor for the VR46 Riders Academy, explained in an interview with Road & Track.
Alessio Salucci. Gold & Goose Photography - Getty ImagesSalucci is perhaps best known as Valentino Rossi's right-hand man, acting as a business manager, confidant, and friend all at once. But his roots have spread far beyond advising the most notable name in 21st-century MotoGP, as Salucci acts as a promoter, scout, and mentor for the VR46 Riders Academy. Birthed by Rossi after the on-track death of friend and fellow racer Marco Simoncelli in 2011, the academy is an invite-only talent hub for young Italian motorcycle racers in Tavullia, Italy, the hometown of both Rossi and Salucci.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe curriculum at the VR46 Riders Academy is split between developing racers by getting them on competition bikes as early as possible and coaching these tweens and teens through the processes of acquiring sponsors, media training, and conquering their own mental states.
"From six to 12, you can try to start to understand if a rider has potential, but when you really understand completely is from 12 years and older. Young riders need to get used to a racing bike as soon as possible because the concept is completely different from a production bike," Salucci said. "When the rider arrives at MotoGP, the academy continues with him because the academy is the training vehicle, but it is also the management of the rider. The other part is the mental part that is basically followed by Valentino and is the real important part."
SOPA Images - Getty ImagesIn some ways, the typical MotoGP rider origin story reads a lot like that of a Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton, with variations for each financial situation. It requires full-time persistence, genuine talent, and a lot of money—whether paid from your own family funds or by someone else.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMotoGP riders are largely underdeveloped kids. They have to act on the edge of adrenaline and freakishly fast reactions that seem to superimpose other critical brain functions. The rider group is categorically younger than Formula 1's—the average age is currently 23 years old—but its character is more youthful too. Yet palpable respect between riders and other team members also permeates the paddock. Observing a post-practice crowd surrounding Fabio Di Giannantonio, Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team's leading rider, is like watching a president talking to his advisors. Or perhaps a general leading his soldiers. They listen intently, affirming the observations and then making the requested adjustments.
This level of respect carries over into MotoGP's organizing body. Based in Madrid, Dorna is responsible for the entire operating apparatus of each grand prix weekend, from broadcasting to paddock partnerships to the racing rules. Carlos Ezpeleta acts as MotoGP's chief sporting officer, putting him in the hot seat for just about every facet of the business. But the responsibility that Ezpeleta takes hyper-seriously is that of hearing riders' concerns about each track during the grand prix weekend in a scrum-style meeting.
Dorna chief sporting officer Carlos Ezpeleta. Mirco Lazzari gp - Getty ImagesBy the numbers, MotoGP is more dangerous than other motorsports, particularly compared to open-wheel racing. The last loss of life during a grand prix weekend occurred back in 2021 when rookie Swiss Moto3 rider Jason Dupasquier was killed at Mugello Circuit. That marked the end of a five-year safety streak following the death of Moto2 rider Luis Salom at Catalunya in 2016. These tragedies were catalysts for changes, offering sobering reminders of the risks of motorcycle racing, even on circuits with gravel traps and run-off areas. Advancements in helmet technology and the addition of airbags under kangaroo leather suits can only go so far against inertia and gravity.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"There's always this sort of performance-versus-safety discussion, and the same thing that happens to the bikes happens to the tracks," Ezpeleta explains. "When a rider will say, 'Oh, I think this curve is a little short, and we're running off the end of it onto the grass and we should extend that curve,' that means they'll go even faster. In competition, nothing is ever enough. The second you give them two more meters, everybody takes two more meters, so they want three meters. Everything you do for safety is also detrimental to safety because it allows them to go faster."
JOSEP LAGO - Getty ImagesThe risks of speeds that regularly exceed 200 mph don't discourage the riders, of course. Most of the MotoGP grid wouldn't trade the experience for anything else, with that including the relatively small number who have defected to the rival FIM Superbike World Championship. Even as riders advance into their mid-30s and age out of frontline competition, they often stay on as test riders. During the Catalan Grand Prix weekend, one of Honda's testers, Aleix Espargaró—who has a "Full Gas" tattoo on the webbing of his throttle hand—continued to test a new chassis with two broken vertebrae from a cycling accident.
Technically, MotoGP sits at the top of motorcycle racing. Demonstrations in Barcelona by Ducati's and Aprilia's team principals showed many highlights from each 260-hp bike's functions. There are hand controls for rear braking, switchable engine mapping, launch control, and ride-height adjustment—even for the neutral switch. Fuel temperature, tire temperature, and even tire air pressure are heavily scrutinized by each team and Dorna alike, and the tires of the best qualifiers have to be kept for over a year in case of later technical contesting.
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AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA limit of seven engines per rider per year means the motors are swapped after each day, ensuring they don't take on too many consecutive miles. The fuel must be heated to a certain temperature, but it cannot exceed another's, meaning there are a plethora of fuel fridges in each garage and a series of specially designed intakes into the fuel tank to cool fuel during the race. The front ends of these bikes are notoriously lift-heavy, meaning they need a lot of specifically aimed downforce from two small wings to stay on the ground.
Seeing the TV compound further legitimizes the sport's scale, with world-class broadcast abilities. Dorna employs 160 cameras and multiple studios at every grand prix weekend. Sergei Sendra i Vives, head of global technology at Dorna and broadcast director, has been leading MotoGP's broadcasting efforts since 1992, well before two-wheel grand prix racing was known by its modern name. He remembers when there was a team of just 15, with broadcasting contracted out in each location. These days, Sendra i Vives leads a team of over 200 people with access to cutting-edge video technology. Ducati once figured out a major aero problem thanks to slow-motion filming at speeds of up to 2050 frames per second.
David Ramos - Getty ImagesHowever, broadcast ratings don't necessarily equate to success in modern sport. This is the era of the brand deals, influencer spots, and spin-off TV shows that come when a sport reaches a true mass audience. This is something MotoGP is still lacking, especially to American eyes. The elephant-sized question for Dorna is whether a Drive to Survive–style reality show is needed to slingshot the series to global stardom.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"I think it does only because I've seen what they've been able to do with Formula 1," CEO of Ducati North America Jason Chinnock said in a recent interview with R&T. "We need to tell stories. That's it. We tell stories, and people get invested into the personalities and the characters. We have all that in MotoGP."
You don't need in-depth motorcycling knowledge to enjoy MotoGP. The racing is tight and the passing near-constant. The viewership experience is more akin to watching NASCAR than Formula 1 or IndyCar. The risks are obvious too—crashes are race-ending, if not season-ending.
Even if you've never swung your leg over a bike, you can enjoy MotoGP through its transparent physicality, each rider's body on full display as they move with their machines to help them turn and to optimize weight distribution as they accelerate and brake. To dance with and wrestle their machines around a circuit. Nobody should begrudge the recent safety improvements in open-wheel car racing, but innovations like IndyCar's Aeroscreen and Formula 1's halo shield drivers from debris and prying eyes alike.
MotoGP riders have no choice but to bear it all. That, fundamentally, is what makes it so special.
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