MotoGP's future takes shape after Liberty Media's Misano visit

A delegation from Liberty Media and members of an auditing firm attended the San Marino Grand Prix last weekend, as elements of the new strategy for MotoGP emerge following its takeover.

It has been three months since the European Commission authorised Liberty Media’s acquisition of 84% of Dorna. Three months - or slightly less, if we take the completion of the deal in July as the starting point - during which the American company, which also owns Formula 1’s commercial rights, has largely operated in the shadows, keeping a low profile in the MotoGP paddock.

But at Montmelo and again at Misano, the final two races before the Asian tour, a group of Liberty executives travelled to gain first-hand knowledge of the championship’s day-to-day operations.

Although initial expectations suggested Sean Bratches would attend Misano, the former F1 commercial chief was absent. In his place, Stefano Domenicali, Liberty’s president and CEO in F1, made an appearance alongside Pramac team owner Paolo Campinoti - with whom he shares a close friendship - and Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola, a former colleague from their time together at Ferrari.

Beyond Domenicali, whose role is understood to be more institutional, half a dozen Liberty executives spent Saturday and Sunday walking the paddock to familiarise themselves with the protocols and processes behind hosting a Grand Prix. They were joined in Italy by a team of Ernst & Young auditors, who conducted interviews with Dorna staff to understand the scope of operations.

Since the takeover was finalised in early July, at least 10 new staff have been added to Dorna, most of them bolstering the marketing department.

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

The presence of Liberty representatives coincided with announcements of several changes that will affect race weekends. Some - such as the new pre-race ceremony bringing all riders to the front of the grid for the national anthem, mirroring F1 - have already been introduced mid-season. Others, like the discontinuation of the MotoE World Cup, which will be replaced by the Harley-Davidson Cup, will only come into effect next year.

Autosport understands that dialogue between some Dorna departments and Liberty Media has been ongoing for over a year and has intensified in recent months. From finance and marketing to technology, the entertainment giant is looking to build synergies at a time when MotoGP faces critical challenges.

On the technical side, MotoGP is finalising the launch of a new OTT streaming platform, intended to enhance user experience and eliminate service failures by 2026. Meetings between Dorna and Liberty in the UK - where F1’s broadcast hub is based - have multiplied in recent weeks.

From a branding perspective, efforts are being concentrated on spotlighting the premier class, implicitly relegating Moto2 and Moto3 to a secondary role, in a model similar to F1’s with F2 and F3. From 2026, MotoGP teams will enjoy larger garage spaces at circuits, while the junior classes will move to temporary structures, as is already the case at certain venues.

To reinforce MotoGP’s primacy, Dorna has been advising broadcasters to emphasise premier-class achievements well above those of the lower categories. Thus, if Marc Marquez clinches the title in Motegi next weekend - he needs to outscore his brother Alex Marquez by three points - he will be presented as a seven-time MotoGP world champion, without reference to his earlier Moto3 (2010) and Moto2 (2012) crowns.

This same logic underpins the creation of the MotoGP Hall of Fame, a new distinction reserved for riders with at least two premier class titles or 24 victories. The aim is to establish an exclusive elite that elevates the MotoGP brand beyond the traditional group of riders honoured as Legends.