MotoGP concessions: How close was Aprilia to joining Yamaha and Honda?

Aprilia was the only manufacturer to beat Ducati to a race victory in the 2024 MotoGP season, having taken the top spot in the Americas Grand Prix as well as the sprint races in Portimao and Barcelona 1. However, it also came close to being downgraded to the lowest category in one area.

For 2024, the concession system was overhauled to be less restrictive and offer more technical and development freedom to struggling marques. All five manufacturers are divided into four categories – A, B, C and D – based on results at the end of the year – and updated at the midpoint of the season.

Category D offers the most generous concessions but it is also the least envied since it is reserved for manufacturers who scored fewer than 35% of the available points in the constructors’ championship. This classification is calculated based on the best-placed rider of each manufacturer in a race, be it the sprint or a grand prix. Ducati’s stranglehold over 2024, illustrated by a historic top-eight lockout in the Thailand Grand Prix sprint near the end of the season, deprived its rivals of big points.

By scoring 722 points out of a possible 740, Ducati wrapped up the manufacturers’ championship at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, with a third of the season still to run at that point. The Borgo Panigale marque thus secured 97.57% of the available points, well above the 85% cut-off, which means that it will remain in Category A of concessions for the start of 2025.

Ducati’s rivals were left to pick up what was left. KTM scored 327 points (44.19% of the best possible score) and Aprilia 302 points (40.81%), and therefore both will remain in category C. Both manufacturers scored fewer points in 2024 compared to the previous year, with KTM’s end-of-year tally falling from 373 to 327 and Aprilia slipping from 326 points to 302.

Moreover, Aprilia’s points haul was only 43 above the 35% threshold. Had it failed to reach the target, it would have been relegated to Category D. It was only in Australia, with just three events remaining in the season, that it finally attained the requisite number. For comparison, Ducati reached that tally as early as the eighth round of the season in Assen.

As for the Japanese brands, the concessions they enjoyed this year didn’t allow them to bounce back and run closer to the front. With 124 points (16.76%) for Yamaha and 75 for Honda (10.14%), both remained far from the 260-point mark they needed to move up to Category C. As such, they will continue to enjoy the freedom given to manufacturers in Category D.

Just like KTM and Aprilia, Yamaha and Honda also fared worse in 2024 than the previous year. Yamaha dropped from 196 points in 2023 to 124 this year, while Honda’s slump was even worse as it tumbled from 185 to 75 points.

That means KTM’s score fell by 46 points, Aprilia’s by 24, Yamaha’s by 72 and Honda’s by 110. This was despite there being an additional sprint race in 2024 compared to 2023, when the short-distance race at Phillip Island was cancelled due to poor weather.

Next season, Ducati will once again not be allowed to field wildcard entries and will also get limited testing opportunities compared to KTM and Aprilia. Yamaha and Honda can undertake more private tests thanks to a larger number of tyres. Both will also have the option of letting their race riders test at all the circuits visited by the championship. The two Japanese marques will also be able to use more engines, evolve their specifications during the year and homologate additional fairings.

The concession system for the 2025 season: