Dorna and Harley-Davidson reveal MotoGP collaboration

MotoGP rights holder Dorna Sports and American motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson have revealed a promotional collaboration.

Confirmed:

• Partnership will have a particular focus on expanding Dorna’s interests in the US
• Harley-Davidson will look to benefit from MotoGP’s more global footprint

Context:

It is unclear at this point how deep this partnership will go or whether Harley-Davidson bikes will feature in a competitive environment attached to MotoGP. The company currently competes in the King of the Baggers series attached to MotoAmerica.

With Liberty Media set to complete its acquisition of MotoGP, it makes sense for Dorna to look at methods to promote itself within the US, while Harley-Davidson wants to be more associated with racing under its chief executive Jochen Zeitz.

Comment:

“Harley-Davidson is a historic name,” said Dorna chief executive Carmelo Ezpeleta, as reported by Motorsport.com. “That’s why we are very proud to now start a collaboration with Harley.

“We are still discussing the details and do not yet know exactly what the collaboration will look like. Harley-Davidson is of course very important in the US market. It is also an important market for us. Today is an important day for us.”

He added: “It’s now the starting point. They have an incredible community that we can benefit from. Harley can also help us in the United States and MotoGP can help them globally. We have a big footprint in Europe, but we are also in Asia and Japan. These are interesting markets for them. We are very happy that Harley wants to invest more in racing in the future.”

Coming next:

More information is due to follow as Dorna and Harley-Davidson figure out the full scope of this collaboration. 

Go deeper:

• Liberty’s €4.2bn MotoGP takeover: Answering the key questions and what it means for F1
  
• MotoGP on the market: Does the series’ commercial performance justify a US$4bn valuation?