Eurosport 'disappointed' by Dorna's change of strategy

British Eurosport has released the following statement in response to the announcement that BT Sport has won exclusive rights to live UK MotoGP TV coverage from 2014.

After being dumped by Dorna in 2008, a winter U-turn saw British Eurosport allowed to 'compliment' the live BBC coverage from 2009, albeit with delayed broadcast of the MotoGP races.

From the wording of the statement, there is no suggestion that Eurosport will seek a similar deal with BT.

Indeed, as 'subscription' channels, both would be fighting over the same audience - especially since BT Sport will offer the kind of extensive live coverage that currently differentiates Eurosport from the free-to-view BBC.

"British Eurosport is disappointed that MotoGP series rights holder Dorna has decided to change its strategy from 2014 onwards in the UK," said the statement.

"We are proud to have covered MotoGP for many years and thank our respected commentary team of Toby Moody, Julian Ryder, Neil Spalding and Steve Day along with the team behind the scenes for making that coverage so popular with bike fans.

"At British Eurosport we are passionate supporters of motorcycle racing and it continues to be a cornerstone of the channel's output. In 2013, we added the Speedway European Championships and FIM Speedway Grand Prix to our offer of the MCE British Superbikes and World Superbike Championship. We will show every round of these four series live, in full and in HD until at least 2015 and we hold the exclusive live rights to those series in the UK."