More than 100,000 people are expected on Sunday, May 14, on the Bugatti circuit of Le Mans to attend the Grand Prix de France, fifth of the twenty rounds of the MotoGP world championship, the premier category of speed. Year after year, the success of the event is undeniable. Along with those of Germany, Argentina and Portugal, the French Grand Prix is one of the few races to have attracted a larger audience last year than in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Le Mans even broke an attendance record, going from 104,000 spectators in 2019 to 110,000 in 2022. “It’s the Grand Prix that makes the most entries, and by far”assures Claude Michy, the organizer of the event since 1994. The former president of the Clermont football club (from 2005 to 2019) is the only private promoter of the championship, since the other races on the calendar are organized by federations national.
In France, MotoGP is also a success on television. On average, the Grands Prix were watched last year by 804,000 Canal+ subscribers, with a peak of 1.43 million for the French Grand Prix, also broadcast unencrypted on C8. “Since we started programming MotoGP in 2019, our audience has doubledwelcomes Thomas Sénécal, director of sports at Canal +. Having French champions as charismatic as Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco fighting for the title is obviously a huge asset. »
The success of the French Grand Prix indeed owes a lot to the popularity of the first Frenchman to have won a world championship title in the premier category, in 2021. Having grown up in Spain, speaking fluent English and Italian, Quartararo is, at 24 , a world star. “He can become an extraordinary ambassador for MotoGP around the world”believes Carmelo Ezpeleta, the boss of Dorna Sports, the Spanish company which has held the commercial rights to MotoGP since 1992.
“Outstanding Popularity”
The stakes go beyond the simple sporting framework. Since the retirement, in 2021, of the Italian Valentino Rossi, the most successful pilot in the history of this sport (nine times world champion), we have observed in several countries a disaffection for MotoGP. “Its exceptional popularity drew crowds well beyond just motorcycle fans”, explains Michy. Two years after his departure, the popularity of Rossi, who now leads the Ducati-VR46 team, continues to exceed that of active riders.
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