Why riders’ nationalities have become a problem for Liberty Media in MotoGP

MotoGP is no longer just a racing series: it is competition and, above all, entertainment, and for that factor to reach as far as possible it needs its own ambassadors in each country. Currently, the MotoGP has three categories and a total of 76 riders, 22 in the premier class, bringing together a total of 21 different nationalities, which is not bad.

The detail that, apparently, is being corrected is that of those 76 riders, 32 are Spanish and 12 Italian, which represents 57.89% of the entire grid across the three classes. In MotoGP, more than 40% of the riders were born in Spain, a fact that in recent times has generated controversy.

Until not long ago, the number of riders from one country or another did not seem a problem for the CEO of the championship. “We want the best, it doesn’t matter where they are from,” was the motto of Carmelo Ezpeleta before the arrival of Liberty Media as the new owner of MotoGP.

Last September, Autosport was able to speak with the executive about it, showing a notable change in philosophy: “At the Olympics, if you are American and you are fourth in your country, you don’t go. It’s over. That’s it. It cannot be that we fill the grid with Spaniards. It is a clear decision of the championship.”

So, Ezpeleta set out the new guidelines. “What we want is to have the best riders in the world,” he clarified. “But if they are from many different nationalities, much better. Having riders from more countries is not something that we, as Dorna, impose; the teams understand that it is important and beneficial.” It is a mantra that, he assures, is not set by Liberty Media. “Absolutely not,” he stated then.

The message, however, has taken hold and the teams are beginning to look for riders who are not Spanish nor, to a lesser extent, Italian, since between the two nationalities in MotoGP they bring together more than 68% of the riders (15 out of 22).

Under that new prism, in 2027 some world-class riders may be left without a bike, such as Joan Mir, 2020 champion, Maverick Vinales, winner of 26 world championship races, including 10 in MotoGP, or Alex Rins, another rider with 18 race wins, six of them in the premier class.

Others, such as Jack Miller, Australian, or Brad Binder, South African, continue to be highly sought after based on their passport, blocking the path of young talents like Manu Gonzalez, who this season was left on the verge of moving up to MotoGP but not finding a place to land.

What teams are most looking for right now are riders like Ai Ogura (Japan), Diogo Moreira (Brazil) or David Alonso (Colombia), who are highly valued, as was demonstrated in Goiania, where Moreira received a home hero welcome, drawing thousands of Brazilian fans.

No one doubts the enormous level of these three young talents, but the trend of reducing the number of Spaniards and Italians, and rewarding the arrival of athletes with different passports, can end up becoming a double-edged sword for Liberty, since “entertainment” needs visible heroes, and since the departure of Valentino Rossi, only Marc Marquez has been able, in part, to keep focus in the mainstream open.

The value of dual nationality

One of those who may be left without a seat next season is Franco Morbidelli, a VR46 rider, a friend of Rossi and the first member of the VR46 Riders Academy. Morbidelli was born in Rome to an Italian father and a Brazilian mother.

During the Brazilian GP, Morbidelli explained that in addition to his Italian passport, he also had the passport of his mother’s country, and admitted that, “I did consider racing as Brazilian when I had to start my career in the world championship, between 2013 and 2014, we evaluated it. Uccio (Salucci, Rossi’s right-hand man) mentioned it to me as a possibility that could be interesting. But in the end I made the decision to race with the Italian flag, I was born and have always lived in Italy and I made that decision at that moment.”

Franco Morbidelli, VR46 Racing Team

Photo by: Media VR46

However, despite this new trend of reducing riders from Spain and Italy, changing passport will not be an option Morbidelli will use: “I am not going to change flags, I started with the Italian one and it is the one I will finish with, but everyone knows the great love I have for my two countries, which are Italy and Brazil.”

Others, however, have tried to use dual nationality to aid their career as riders. One of the first to make the decision to embrace his father’s flag was Gabriel Rodrigo, who raced in Moto3 between 2014 and 2021, and who retired mid-season in 2022 after moving up to Moto2. In total, Rodrigo took part in 123 grands prix, racing under the Argentine flag, despite having been born and spent his entire life living in Barcelona.

Rodrigo contested the 2013 Spanish championship, fighting against Fabio Quartararo for the title, who became champion that year. “I remember that I got on the podium several times, the first ones with the Spanish flag,” explains the former rider. “Although I already had my place secured in the world championship for 2014, Dorna told me that it could be a good idea to race with the Argentine passport and, in fact, on my last podium in the CEV I already went up with that country’s flag. No one forced me to do it, it was a suggestion that I studied together with my family and it seemed like a good idea, especially because I have always had a strong feeling of dual nationality, despite having always lived in Spain.

“We also thought, at that time, that it could be something beneficial for my career, both sportingly and at the level of Argentine sponsors… who never arrived. Beyond the personal satisfaction itself, it did not give me any advantage.”

The path opened by Rodrigo was followed in 2023 by David Alonso, who was born in Madrid and competed as a Colombian, the homeland of his mother. Alonso, 2024 Moto3 champion, and winner of 19 races in at world championship level, faces his second year in Moto2 before making the jump with Honda to MotoGP next season.

Although as a youngster in domestic championships Alonso had raced with the Spanish flag, from his first two appearances as a wildcard in the Moto3 world championship he did so as a Colombian. After his enormous success in 2023, Alonso became an idol in Colombia and since then he visits every year to be with his fans and work with multiple sponsors.

“It is a decision that was taken together with the team and my family, in honour of my mother. To carry the tricolor flag to the highest. When the anthem plays on the podium and you sing it, you can feel it more and it makes that moment much more special. It is the moment of triumph. Hearing it makes you feel better. It is very beautiful and joyful,” Alonso explained.

David Alonso, CFMOTO Aspar Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Two new ‘Argentines’

Valentin Perrone burst into the Moto3 world championship racing with an Argentine passport, despite having been born and having lived, most of his life, in Barcelona. For the Tech3 KTM rider, competing under the flag of his father’s country was a natural decision. “More than a decision it was something that I felt since I was very young. Already from the first races I raced with the Argentine flag,” he said, now in his second season in Moto3.

“Living in Spain, all the Argentine culture has been present in my home through my father. We watched all the River [Plate] football matches, the food, the ‘asado’, everything… Argentina has always been by my side and I have always represented that flag, since I was very young.”

The same decision was taken by Marco Morelli, born in Barcelona and racing under the Argentine flag, who makes his full-time debut in Moto3. In Brazil, the 18-year-old took his first podium on just his 10th race start.

Morelli was born and grew up in Spain, where he has developed both personally and sportingly, but he has always had very present his link with Argentina through his father. “At home I have grown up surrounded by many Argentine customs, like weekend barbecues, which were part of daily family life and which kept me connected to that cultural link since I was young,” he details. “My father emigrated from Argentina to Spain looking for a better life, new opportunities, and that story of effort and sacrifice has always been a very important reference for me.

“Since I started competing, I have always wanted to do so under the Argentine flag, as a natural way of paying tribute to my roots and to my family’s history. It was not a specific decision taken at a particular moment, but something that I have felt from the beginning of my sporting career.”

Morelli understands that his dual nationality is an opportunity and a small advantage, as his agent Santi Costa explains: “From a sporting point of view, it is also a choice that makes sense in the long term. Compared to Spain, where there are a large number of riders and a very competitive and saturated market, Argentina has much less representation in international categories. Being able to represent a country with less presence can become an added value.

Marco Morelli, GRYD – Mlav Racing

Photo by: Mirco Lazzari GP / Getty Images

“In short, it is a choice that combines a very strong personal and family component, with a sporting vision of the future,” adds Costa, giving the key as to why having a ‘different’ passport from the Spanish one scores double under the new premises of Liberty Media for MotoGP.

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– The Autosport.com Team