The fan view: How important is national diversity on the MotoGP grid?

There have been considerable debates surrounding the importance of getting more nationalities onto the MotoGP grid as the championship seeks to fight its status as a 'Spanish and Italian championship' on an international scene. On the 2025 MotoGP grid, nine out of the 22 riders will be Spanish, with a further six coming from Italy, meaning that 68% of the riders in the world championship come from just two countries.

While the majority of MotoGP fans agree that series organisers Dorna should not interfere with contract negotiations in order to ensure that a diverse amount of nationalities are represented on the grid, there has been growing discontentment with the sheer number of Spanish and Italian riders progressing through the ranks each year. As the countries use their already well-built infrastructure and status to help develop the next generation, other nations are continuously playing catch-up as they attempt to find a talent that can challenge the Italo-Spanish monopoly on the grand prix ladder.

On the other hand, there was uproar as Sergio Garcia was unable to secure a ride in the premier class despite leading the Moto2 championship after the midseason break, with various media outlets suggested that the reason for this was because of his Spanish passport. While Garcia's form eventually faltered and he finished the season in fourth, it made fans start questioning what is more important in the sport: national diversity or talent?

Simply put, the overwhelming opinion of the MotoGP fanbase is that all decisions on who teams sign should be made exclusively by the team and should be made on talent. The talent pool in Spain and Italy is often larger than any other country globally due to the importance of motorcycle racing in the countries and the visibility and accessibility to the sport for young people. For this reason, riders from these countries are more likely to advance at a quicker and more frequent rate. Also, due to the success of the sport in these countries, riders are more likely to find sponsors that can support them on their journey up the ladder due to their prominence as they achieve better results.

The argument then drawn is that work needs to be done earlier on in the progression through the ranks to establish balance between different countries, however as there is no specific governing body in many countries outside of domestic racing championships, this would likely be difficult to enforce. However, with the rise of teams dedicated to getting more nationalities visible in Grand Prix racing, it appears that there may be more avenues opening up should the development match.

Another argument is that putting a rider onto the grid solely because of nationality doesn't actually do anything productive, both for the growth of the sport and for the rider themselves. Generally, a country will support one of its own in a sport, but the thing that makes a fanbase consistent in a sporting environment is performance. Just because a rider is racing under the flag of a specific country doesn't mean that they will earn the support of people from that country - nor does it mean that any development for the sport will be achieved, especially if the results are not of a high enough level. The talent has to be there to make a promotion worthwhile, otherwise the entire move just becomes a tickbox as opposed to doing anything to grow the sport in a country.

What is clear is that talent is, or should be, the most important factor in deciding who should be riding at the pinnacle of motorcycle racing. However, the intention to get greater diversity onto the grid is something that MotoGP should be interested in, but this has to start from further down the racing pyramid to balance the scales a little bit more.