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Politics are always going to be present in any sport. If you think Bernie is bad, go back and research his predecessor Jean-Marie Balestre. It has been said that the 1989 F1 driver's title went to Prost, because he was French, as was Jean-Marie. See the 1989 Suzuka F1 race....
GP racing has always been dominated by Europeans, originally because that's where the races were held and road racing was always more popular over there. It's still that way, look at any sponsor and see if you recognize the company behind it. Most have nothing to do with countries outside Europe. If you look at Moto2 and Moto3, you have dozens of teams and riders you've never heard of, backed by god-knows-who's money. Look in the US and you'll find a handful of teams competing in our national series, with next to no sponsorship money available. We put all our money into football, baseball, etc.
Spain is motorcycle crazy, in a way we have never been. That interest shows in how many tracks are in Spain, how many riders are in Spain, etc. The same could be said of Italy. 1/3 of the MotoGP races are held in those two countries (Spain 4, Italy 2.) Roughly half of the MotoGP riders are from those two countries. They make up the bulk of the Moto2 and Moto3 classes as well (38 riders, vs. 61 others.) Sponsors are also frequently from those two countries. Repsol is a Spanish oil company. Moviestar is a Spanish TV company. Etc.
So, it probably comes as no surprise that Dorna is also a Spanish company, run by a Spaniard, Carmelo Ezpeleta. That wasn't always the case, as GP racing has the same fractured, contentious history as F1. There were many fights over control in their history and lots of that history is ugly. As with Bernie in F1, Dorna's control over GP racing has helped it grow, become more professional and increased the stakes. It will perhaps come as no surprise that Carmelo runs MotoGP like Bernie runs F1. They are friends and they work together so as not to compete too close to one another on the same weekend. Naturally, Bernie gets the last word and Carmelo does as Bernie wishes.
There has been lots of squabbling behind the scenes, as when lots of money is spent on something, the players want to run the show. Recently, the motorcycle manufacturers have been fighting Dorna (especially the big dog, Honda) for control over future technical regulations. That is more or less settled now, but a year ago it was fairly likely to have ended in a stalemate, maybe with Honda walking away.
I'm not trying to suggest that it's a corrupt sport. It's much better than it was long ago. If you go back far enough, you can find championships that were decided by corrupt little men in a backroom at a race meeting. That won't happen today.
What I am pointing out is that a lot of things are subjective, like how many penalty points are awarded for an infraction. It was not so long ago, that there was no penalty point system and conflicts were settled on the track, by the riders themselves. Now, you have a group of people, some of whom may not be racers at all, that can impose points penalties, fines and other punishment, as they see fit. I have not found it easy to learn the names of the people involved in race direction at a given race. They are chosen from among representatives of a handful of entities that govern different aspects of the sport. Knowing what I know about F1 Stewards, I suspect that some of them may have no business whatsoever judging races.
If you look at the FIM, which is the motorcycling equivalent to the FIA, it is staffed by what look to me to be career politicians. You might be interested to know that the FIM delegate for North America is a Canadian woman named Marilynn Bastedo, whom you will never have heard of. I can think of a lot of people I'd rather see in that position than the likes of her.
JR
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