It may seem that is not the case, but motorcycling is a team sport. Sure, when the rider wins, he’s only on the podium, but behind him is a team that wouldn’t even be on the track. Reality that applies to all categories, from amateur competitions to MotoGP.

This rear guard increases in size and resources as the level of competition increases. In this sense, MotoGP is the highest peak. Because of its size, but especially because of its organization and sophistication. The next thing to look at is how one of these macro structures works, how they are organized, and how many people make them up.… Welcome to the “engine room” of the MotoGP Super Team.

To compare how our factories in Japan and Europe are organized and operated, we Repsol Honda Team And one Ducati.. This helped me understand the organizational differences between a factory with a racing department 11,000 km away and a factory headquartered hours away from where half of the calendar races are held.

The MotoGP team’s logistics cover the organization at the Grand Prix Weekend, the transfer to the circuit and the return of the personnel that make it up, the maintenance of the group, the assembly and disassembly of the infrastructure, and its transfer. Infrastructure to the next stage, petrol supply, attention to sponsors and VIPs, management of pilots’ non-sports commitments, communication … intimidating, right?

Tetris game

team Repsol Honda runs more than 60 people in each GP, Numbers that vary depending on the engineers dispatched by Honda from Japan.Target number Added 10 people in charge of maintenance and hospitalityThis group is independent because it forms part of a subcontractor for this purpose, Ducati, these same numbers are 38 and 15 -.

It’s easy to imagine that taking so many people from their hometown to GGPP and managing their return after the weekend race is a true “Tetris”. Deserves a lot of organization.. Especially when fusing people of nine nationalities, as in the case of Honda! : Japan, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Canada. Someone needs to coordinate your flight, transportation and accommodation in each race. Arrival times at the destination airport must be more or less matched in order for the team to fill up their rental car.

At Le Mans, HRC rented 14 cars of various sizes. These cars were occupied differently during the weekend and on their way home when they arrived at GP Airport. Because during the GP, mechanics, engineers, or marketers don’t have the same schedule, and some can get the plane back on Sunday and others do it on Monday.

It’s clear that there is a coordinator for this part of the Repsol Honda team Three people devoted to organizing and controlling the “engine room”-He’s a real juggler, but before each GP, each of the more than 60 members of the team receives a “GP Guide”. This guide will tell you who goes with whom on each trip of each car and the mobile phone numbers of each team member. Therefore, everyone always knows how to locate and find a partner. Finally, according to company policy, members of the Repsol team sleep in individual rooms. They need to book more than 60 rooms!In every move..

Logically, this huge movement of people requires proper planning. Before the outbreak of COVID, and now due to the invasion of Ukraine, the trip was closed quite a while ago, but now European races usually end a month and a half ago. For those held outside Europe, reservations will be closed more often. Honda, for example, relies on some of the agencies operating in the paddock. The agency is blocking the best hotels in the Grand Prix area because it knows the calendar in advance.

Comparing Honda’s and Ducati’s techniques, the scheme used by the Italian brand is impressive.In your case All team members depart together on a flight from Bologna to the corresponding city.. A possible approach because all but two members are Italian. They arrive in Bologna from where they live and travel with them. This method makes logistics much easier.

Rear of the pilot

It is impressive to discover the number of people who work directly on the truck to optimize driver performance. Let’s return to the comparison between Honda and Ducati. At Honda Marc Marquez Y Pol Espargaro They are supported by a truck engineer, a chief mechanic, and four mechanics in the box. We also have Öhlins engineers for electron injection, data collection engineers, and suspension technicians. In addition, Honda has specialist engineers in the areas of chassis, electronics and engines.

The structure of Ducati is more or less similar. In his case, there is a group of seven people on either side of the box, including pilots. He is surrounded by a chief mechanic, five mechanics and an electronics engineer. Behind the box screen, four more engineers sit behind the computer’s battery, analyzing the data constantly being collected by the bicycle on the truck in real time.

Marketing and communication

That’s what pilots and engineers call “necessary evil.” The former absolutely ignores this part of their profession, and the latter thinks it wasted money.However Unsponsored pilots are not expertsAnd without communication, there are no sponsors. And without sponsors, racing engineers can’t realize their “fantasy” … and this has to be reminded of each other from time to time by those responsible for these two areas.

With the Repsol Honda team Four people are in charge of this part. This includes managing the driver’s agenda-group interviews, face-to-face interviews, presence at events with sponsors, events with drivers’ private sponsors, internal photography, and more. -.With a pilot like Marc Marquez, The individual interview agenda is prepared at the beginning of the season and fills up almost quickly. Other less demanding pilots have more margins.

The pilot’s agenda usually closes 15 days before the event. GP Thursday is the day reserved for the media. Free on Fridays and Saturdays. Except for one of the events where one of the main sponsors, Soiree, has to watch the driver for a few minutes. On Sunday, they will be released from non-race commitments.

logistics

Logistics here will help you understand the management of material movement from one GP to another. This transport begins with the MotoGP race dismantling as soon as everything assembled in the GP is finished. Depending on the urgency, the truck will depart for the next destination on the same night. In the case of Honda Driven by subcontracted professional drivers, there are eight trucks (four hospitalities) that cover 20,000 to 30,000 km each season... As a result of not returning to Barcelona’s headquarters, the number was surprisingly small. For economic reasons between GGPP, trucks will be parked in the next circuit or at a logistics center designated for this purpose.

Crossing borders also goes into logistics, the import and export of racing materials. This only affects Aprilia, Ducati and KTM in non-European races, but the transfer of material to and from Japan by Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha is constant for them. Obviously, after many years of participating in the World Championships, as Repsol Honda assured us, “it’s the one that gives us the most headaches,” but they all know the procedure well. I have customs.

gas

Fuel deserves a particular section because it is an element that requires special treatment for obvious reasons. At Honda, Repsol-supplied petrol arrives on time every Wednesday before the GP. This is done through transportation that specializes in this type of cargo. For non-European races, shipments are fairly advanced due to the special shipping requirements.

To manage the needs of the team, the team and Repsol share a computer file containing inventory and forecasts for the next race or training session. The Average fuel consumption per team GP is about 700 litersAmount of money that needs to be multiplied by 20 this season and adds to it the pre-season and post-GP training sessions that will be held throughout the pre-season. The whole number it gives at the end is impressive: over 15,000 liters..

Ducati works with about the same parameters, but the game is bigger because the contract requires all satellite teams to use factory-supplied fuel. In Jerez, for example, there was 1,800 liters of gasoline and 20 liters of oil.

responsibility

After discovering the vastness and complexity of the MotoGP team’s “engine room” and imagining the high costs of keeping it running, the tremendous amount of work it puts on the shoulders of those who ultimately have to value all their efforts. Understand responsibility. pilot.

In this case, the responsibility is that every weekend of the GP, 60 people are working for him only on the circuit, and this requires the utmost professionalism from them. Understood … each interprets it as he believes most.