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Is MotoGP on the cusp of a sponsorship shift for 2012?

Sponsorship | Sport

MotoGP’s governing body FIM yesterday confirmed it has accepted six new one-bike teams for the new-look 1000cc MotoGP World Championship in 2012. The announcement will be a much needed shot in the arm for the world’s leading motorcycle racing series after dwindling rider numbers in recent years.

MotoGP has always been an attractive sponsorship proposition as one of the most exhilarating spectacles in global sport. The changes to the technical regulations for 2012 and an influx of new teams and riders will, however, breathe fresh life into the sport and give the sport’s commercial proposition a real boost.

The six teams named on FIM’s list yesterday are effectively the cream of the crop of the current Moto2 championship, including Marc VDS Racing and Kiefer Racing, who run Briton Scott Redding and German Stefan Bradl. The latter is dominating the Moto2 series at present and asserting himself as Germany’s next big 2-wheeled star.

Spain and Italy have long been covered in abundance in the MotoGP category, while Randy de Puniet and Cal Crutchlow offer French and British interest, but the addition of Bradl would certainly lead to a number of German sponsors to the championship and give the sport a more pan-European feel.

An increase to anything up to 22 riders for 2012, with all major European countries, USA, Japan and Australia represented, in a championship that already visits all corners of the globe will make a huge difference when trying to convince brands to part with their marketing budget for a MotoGP partnership. It’s precisely what MotoGP needs and deserves.

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