MotoGP on Monday unveiled a revised concessions system for the 2024 season in an attempt to close up the premier class field in the coming seasons.
Agreed upon by all five manufacturers currently involved in MotoGP, the new system is made up of four different ranks that each manufacturer can fall into. Each rank will be assigned depending on the percentage of the maximum number of points achieved in a given window, of which there are two.
The first covers the time between the first and last events of the season, while the other goes from the first event after the summer test ban to the first of the ban the following season. Changes are therefore eligible roughly every six months, and this has been done to allow manufacturers to move up and down a rank more quickly than before, in theory allowing competition to remain closer by not giving any brand a lasting advantage or disadvantage.
The highest rank (A) will allow the manufacturers the least amount of wiggle room for development, while the lowest (D) gives the largest scope for development, with the other two falling in between.
For the start of next season, only Ducati will be classified as A rank due to its dominant season. Aprilia and KTM will be classified as C, while Honda and Yamaha will both be classified as D.
| Rank | Percentage Of Points | Test Tyres | Private Testing | GP Circuit Testing | Wild Cards | Engines Per Season | Engine Development | Aero Updates |
| A | 85% and over | 170 | Test Rider Only | 3 Circuits | 0 | 7 or 8 | Freeze | 1 |
| B | 60%-85% | 190 | Test Rider Only | 3 Circuits | 3 | 7 or 8 | Freeze | 1 |
| C | 35%-60% | 220 | Test Rider Only | 3 Circuits | 6 | 7 or 8 | Freeze | 1 |
| D | 35% and under | 260 | FREE | Any GP Circuit | 6 | 9 or 10 | FREE | 2 |
As the table above suggests, likely the largest benefit seen for currently struggling marque’s Honda and Yamaha is the freeing up of engine development. This is particularly great news for the latter, which has struggled to get its inline-four-powered M1 machine to the same level of power and drivability as its rivals, something lead rider Fabio Quartararo has been particularly vocal about in recent times.
The fact that both Honda and Yamaha can also utilise their race riders during private testing is also a huge benefit, especially as there is no limit on the number of tracks that feature on the MotoGP race calendar.
Ducati on the face of it doesn’t have a huge deficit in terms of overall technical freedom compared to the likes of KTM and Aprilia, which will be allowed to use 50 extra tyres during the season for testing. The other European manufacturers will also be allowed to provide its test riders with a total of six wild-card appearances across the campaign while Ducati won’t be permitted any, though it should be able to mitigate this deficit to an extent due to currently having a total of eight bikes in the field they can introduce parts to.
Aprilia and KTM are allowed to run each of its three permitted wildcard entries with an unfrozen engine specification though, potentially giving them a headstart on Ducati for the following season.
Keyword: MotoGP unveils reworked manufacturer concessions system for 2024