The Drive to Survive mistakes MotoGP must avoid in 2022

“I think that our sport is changing, because years ago it was not like this. And I think it’s a great page of our sport, because respect is always the main thing. And more than ever, I think - and I feel - that respect is the main thing.”

This is how 2021 MotoGP runner-up Francesco Bagnaia reflected on his rivalry with world champion Fabio Quartararo last year. He lost out to the Frenchman by 26 points come the final reckoning, after a surge in the second part of the campaign that yielded four wins.

Bagnaia’s hopes of the championship were slim heading into October's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, lying 52 points behind Quartararo. His crash out of the lead then handed the title to his Yamaha rival.

PLUS: Ranking the top 10 MotoGP riders of 2021

But the Italian’s response afterwards, as he wilfully conceded Quartararo was the better of the two and came out the Misano pitlane after the race to be the first to congratulate the new champion, was not only mark of his character. It was a clear sign that the changing of the guard that has enveloped MotoGP over the past two years has also ushered in a new set of rules of engagement – where respect on and off the track seemingly far outweighs the desires spurred on by fragile egos.

Most of the stars of the previous two decades – Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa – have all set off into the sunset, with the new guard of Bagnaia, Quartararo, Joan Mir, Jorge Martin, Franco Morbidelli taking over. Just a few ‘older’ faces, in the likes of Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro, still remain.

This new generation maybe don’t generate the same sort of headlines as their predecessors did – their time largely taken up by their training, family lives and passion for playing Call of Duty Warzone online. On track, the racing is still hard, but has yet to descend into the kind of aggression which typified the Rossi/Lorenzo, Rossi/Stoner and Rossi/Marquez rivalries.

The respect between Quartararo and Bagnaia during their 2021 title battle was clear to see

Photo by: Dorna

Some may argue that this is boring. Juxtaposed to the title battle in Formula 1 in 2021 between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, Mercedes and Red Bull, perhaps it is. F1 2021 was prime Drive to Survive fodder, which will premier its fourth season on Netflix later this year, and no doubt a battle that will be presented with a great deal of artistic license taken.

Drive to Survive’s success and the boost it has given to Formula 1 in terms of bringing in a new mainstream audience cannot be overstated. But it has also largely been achieved by making it very palatable for people who didn’t previously give up their Sunday afternoons to watch a grand prix, and skewing reality just slightly to create the sense of soap opera drama that has made the series such a hit.

MotoGP will get its own docuseries in 2022 on Amazon Prime developed by MEDIAPRO. Set to be spread over eight episodes at 50 minutes each, the still-unnamed series will open up the paddock to a new audience during a pivotal moment in MotoGP history – Valentino Rossi’s farewell and the changing of the guard. Not only is it hoped the series will give MotoGP a boost to new fans now it has lost its biggest draw in Rossi, the Amazon show crucially offers MotoGP an opportunity to set a narrative world sport desperately needs more of.

MotoGP’s main stars being mostly in their early 20s and speaking with great maturity is something that will resonate with a generation yearning for something legitimately wholesome they can grab onto

Rivalry will always be a part of sport, and so it should be. But given what the world has been through over the past two years with the COVID-19 pandemic, well-paid individuals engaging in petty wars of words over something that has little significance in the grand scheme of things can seem somewhat out of touch.

MotoGP has been blessed with a roster of stars that are terrifyingly talented, but also seem to have navigated the heady realms of fame and fortune with their feet firmly planted on the ground. When Suzuki’s Mir won the 2020 title, he brushed off suggestions that he felt pressure ahead of his reckoning day as the real pressure in the world was being felt by those who couldn’t put food on the table during the pandemic.

PLUS: How Mir became Suzuki’s humble MotoGP hero

And when three-time MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo asked Mir how he was going to celebrate his title win in an awkward video call during the press conference, the Suzuki star was quick to point out that COVID restrictions made that irresponsible “because people are dying”.

When you consider the aim of Amazon’s docuseries will be to draw in a new young audience to engage with, MotoGP’s main stars being mostly in their early 20s and speaking with great maturity is something that will resonate with a generation yearning for something legitimately wholesome they can grab onto.

Mir's words of wisdom after winning the 2020 title underlined the maturity of MotoGP's current top billed stars

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

MotoGP also hasn’t been short of drama in 2021 and there’s plenty for the Amazon series to dig into (its episode on the Yamaha drama with Maverick Vinales will make for enthralling viewing). On track, Dorna Sports’ efforts to make MotoGP the ultra-competitive championship it now is means the action is ready-made for a docuseries to capture a new audience.

And at its core it has a new generation of riders who – despite living lives of decent luxury – can be portrayed as legitimately relatable. Amazon’s docuseries must not lose sight of this and try to manufacture drama for the sake of entertainment like Drive to Survive has been all too guilty of over its previous three seasons.

It’s long been believed that nice guys don’t win. MotoGP has proven in recent years that this couldn’t be further from the truth. Hopefully Amazon and MEDIAPRO can do the job MotoGP needs it to in conveying that to the next generation of MotoGP fans…

MotoGP already has plenty of drama, and the docuseries producers have no need to manufacture it artificially

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images