Parent Company of MotoGP Promotor Acquires WSBK Promotor

Dennis Chung
by Dennis Chung

Bridgepoint, the investment company that owns MotoGP promotor Dorna, has reached a deal in principle to acquire Infront Motorsports, the promotor of the World Superbike Championship.

While this may open up a number of possibilities in the minds of motorcycle racing fans, the racing aspect is just a small part of the deal. In addition to the WSBK series, Infront Motorsports promotes 120 different sports properties including some rights to soccer’s FIFA World Cup, several soccer federations and teams, six Olympic winter sports federations including the International Ice Hockey Federation and International Ski Federation plus the Chinese Basketball Association. Motorcycle racing represents just a drop in a rather large bucket for Bridgepoint.

With both MotoGP and WSBK under the same corporate umbrella however, the deal may help smooth out disputes between the two series. The most notable dispute in recent years is MotoGP’s upcoming switch to a 1000cc displacement limit, the same as the engines used in WSBK.

There are two directions Bridgepoint is likely to take. The two rival series may establish a firmer distinction between them, separating MotoGP as a prototype series with WSBK as a production-based series, or one, perhaps both, of the series may be sold off to another party.

Terms of the Infront acquisition were not released. The deal is still subject to approval from antitrust authorities.

[Source: Infront Motorsports via RoadRacingWorld]

Dennis Chung
Dennis Chung

Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.

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