KTM: Liberty takeover of MotoGP “a great compliment to Dorna”

KTM motorsport boss Pit Beirer believes Liberty Media’s takeover of MotoGP is “a great compliment” to the work Dorna Sports has done with the series.

Spanish company Dorna took over as commercial rights holder of MotoGP in 1992 and helped boost the championship’s popularity following a period of decline through the 1990s.

Under Dorna, MotoGP also successfully navigated the 2008 financial crisis, and latterly the COVID pandemic in 2020, with the series in recent years enjoying record crowds at more and more events.

Formula 1 owner Liberty Media acquired an 86% stake in Dorna last April, with the €4.2 billion purchase given EU approval in early July.

The current Dorna regime will remain at the helm of MotoGP for the time being, with Liberty expected to apply much of its learnings from its growth of F1 to the two-wheeled championship in the coming years.

The feeling from the paddock is one of positivity at the potential for MotoGP under Liberty’s ownership, with KTM boss Beirer noting that it shows “trust” in the manufacturers.

“I think first of all it’s a great compliment Liberty Media coming here is a great compliment to Dorna and the great work that has been done in all these years,” he said during the German Grand Prix weekend.

“Also to the manufacturers, that we get the trust from this great company to lead us into the future.

“In the same moment, we came together as manufacturers [for the 2027 rules] and were talking a lot about how the future bike should look, simplify some things, get away from some of the crazy things and also go against the crazy speed where maybe sometimes crash zones were getting too small for the speed of the bikes.

“So, all of this I think was a great discussion and also it brought the manufacturers closer to each other.

“I thought it was a really nice era of our discussions in the MSMA [Motorcycle Sport Manufacturers’ Association] creating those new regulations and there is a super cool regulation in place.

“We are all already working on these bikes and we can’t wait to bring these new bikes out there and compete.

“They will be slightly different but you’re going to see the same strengths between all the manufacturers.

“But of course it also gives you the chance to put in many new ideas.”