Putting the MotoGP Show on the Road

The behind-the-scenes work that makes MotoGP happen is immense: 200 juggernauts, 360 tonnes of freight, three times around the world per season, and much more. This is what you do not see on the television

- Mat Oxley

MOTOGP'S BIG numbers-300horsepower motorcycles, 362 M 320 million san hour, television viewers-are impressive and well known, but just as impressive are the less well-known numbers that tell the story of how rights-holder Dorna and teams-organisation IRTA make it all happen: 200 juggernauts driving 20,000 kilometres around Europe (26 trucks for Red Bull hospitality alone), 360 tonnes of freight flying 80,000 kilometres to out-ofEurope grands prix, and around 500 Dorna and IRTA staff working on all aspects of transport, paddock construction, event management, and television production.

All this work is planned and executed like a military manoeuvre, because if anything goes wrong, the racing might not even happen.

The Busiest Man in the Paddock

Dorna's Head of Operations Carles Jorba may just have the most stressful job in the MotoGP paddock. Jorba has been putting the MotoGP show on the road for more than two decades. He oversees several hundred staff in five different departments: logistics, event management, television production, security, and staff travel.

Every MotoGP round requires a mountain of work for Jorba and his crew, but their biggest challenges are out-of-Europe races, when they are responsible for transporting all the motorcycles and team equipment, whereas in Europe the teams transport their own kit.

Nothing better illustrates the challenges of flyway MotoGP rounds than last year's Indonesian Grand Prix that followed the previous weekend's Emilia Romagna GP at Misano, Italy.