While in Sepang, Carlos Ezpeleta, the sporting director of MotoGP, shared a draft of new rules with the five main manufacturers. The intent is to give Japanese brands a fighting chance to catch up to their European competitors. The situation is dire for Honda and Yamaha, who sit at the bottom of the rankings. Honda's season was particularly brutal, yielding only one win and the departure of Marc Marquez to Gresini Ducati for 2024, while Yamaha struggled to secure more than three podium finishes in 2023.
MotoGP sporting director Carlos Ezpeleta presented a first draught of measures to the five manufacturers involved in the premier class in Sepang, aimed to allow Japanese manufacturers to make up some of the ground lost to European marques this year. Honda and Yamaha are currently at the bottom of the constructors’ rankings, with the former winning just one race and losing Marc Marquez to Gresini Ducati for next year amid a difficult season, and Yamaha having only three grand prix podiums in 2023.
A source within Ducati indicates that the factory is open to this first version of the concessions for the 2024 season. These rules would limit their access to testing, engines, and tires, and would even bar them from wildcard entries. Despite this, KTM and Aprilia are rejecting the current draft, arguing that Ducati should face much steeper penalties—a move the Italian manufacturer is resisting.
Honda noted that finding a resolution will be a challenge since two of the manufacturers are still pushing back. The suggested system links the level of restriction to a manufacturer's position in the world championship. Currently, Ducati leads comfortably with 601 points, followed by KTM (326) and Aprilia (287), with Honda (166) and Yamaha (165) trailing far behind. Essentially, the more successful a team is in the standings, the more their privileges are cut.
Tire allocation is central to this new plan. Under current rules, every rider gets 200 tires per year for both racing and testing. The new proposal would slide this scale based on performance: Yamaha and Honda would receive 230 tires, while Ducati would be cut down to 170, with KTM and Aprilia falling somewhere in between. Similarly, the number of available wildcards would be tied to points, effectively shutting Ducati out while giving the Japanese teams more opportunities.
On paper, the number of private testing days might remain the same, but the reality is that fewer tires mean fewer actual days on track for the top-scoring teams. While Ducati is okay with the proposed limits, their European competitors are pushing for an even more drastic cut to 140 tires per year. Ducati finds this unacceptable, especially since KTM and Aprilia would still be allowed to keep 200.
The proposal also touches on engine limits. While riders currently get seven engines per season, teams with fewer points would be granted more. The exact number of additional engines is still being debated.