To crack the US, MotoGP should do a double-header in Miami with F1

Americans don’t care about MotoGP. I know, I know, that’s not exactly breaking news. And whereas there are a handful of diehards out amongst the States, myself included, the vast majority of Yanks don’t give two hoots about European motorcycle racing. 

But that doesn’t have to be the case. 

Look at Formula 1 only a few years ago. That series, after years of flip-flopping through owners and failed media campaigns aimed at enticing us to care about the championship, became America’s darling motorsport. Obviously, you can’t separate that from Netflix’s Drive to Survive documentary series, but Formula 1 is now bigger than NASCAR, bigger than IndyCar, and bigger than literally every other series that’s held in the good ole US of A. 

And MotoGP, with the merger of it with Formula 1 thanks to Liberty Media’s ongoing acquisition, can have that same level of rocketship ascendancy, too. So long as Liberty Media, and whoever they keep from Dorna, figure out how to get Americans to care. But the DTS model isn’t likely to succeed for MotoGP. 

What could, however, is bringing the two sports together for a double-header. And there’s no better place than Formula 1’s Miami street circuit. 

Now, I offer up the Miami track being a lover of Circuit of the Americas. It’s one of my favorite tracks on both series’ calendars, as it holds a special place in my heart being the place where I got my start writing. COTA is also fast, flowy, and certainly a party. Everything is indeed bigger in Texas. But Texas’s Hill Country doesn’t hold a candle to the pageantry or party scene of a place like Miami. 

You’ve got the ocean, you’ve got the celebrities, and you’ve got the FIA-graded track that’s ready to go. There’s color, there’s life, there’s vibrance that Texas just doesn’t have. More than that, you’ve got an event where Americans are tuning in to see what’s going on. They’re asking what’s happening around the paddock? Who’s in the private boxes? And who’s winning the race? COTA is for the diehards. Miami is for the populace. 

And it’s the perfect place to introduce folks to MotoGP. 

Formula 1’s Miami GP is this weekend, held during a lull in the MotoGP schedule, and features the street course’s 3.36-mile length, along with 19 corners, and three sizeable straights. It’s slick, fast, and the walls are narrow making for some extremely close racing. But it’s those straights that have me excited, as they’d allow Americans to get the aural assault of MotoGP’s ludicrous machines. And they’d be able to see just how awesome they are when put up against that of Formula 1. 

Granted, safety systems for the track would have to evolve, as a Formula 1 car hitting the barriers is different than a MotoGP motorcycle. Likewise, at present, MotoGP doesn’t have a street circuit on the calendar. This would bring them back in after some time away for safety issues. Yet, barrier technology, along with suit and airbag technology on the rider themselves, have come a long way. I mean, we’ve seen some spectacular crashes of late that would’ve killed the riders not too long ago. But installing the necessary safety barriers and equipment along the circuit’s length is something that could easily occur if Liberty Media wanted it badly enough. 

It’d also let the stars of the show, the drivers and riders, intermingle with one another. You’d see Marc Marquez palling it up with Lewis Hamilton, or Max Verstappen hanging with Pedro Acosta (both are Red Bull boys). And you know Keanu Reeves would be part of the party, too, as the man loves both Formula 1 and MotoGP. But the race would allow for this further sense of racing community by bringing up the stature of MotoGP within American audiences. And that just can’t happen anywhere else outside Miami. 

MotoGP has all the action of Formula 1. In fact, I’d argue that MotoGP races are far more exciting than Formula 1, especially some of the races on the Formula 1 calendar (cough, cough Japan and Monaco). MotoGP’s riders are some of the best athletes in the world, and they’re literally putting their bodies on the line every time they suit up. They deserve more eyes on them. They deserve to have the same loyal audience that Formula 1 now enjoys. 

And to do that here in the United States, MotoGP needs Miami. They need the 305. Quick, someone get Pitbull on the line.