“I'm happy to see numbers coming back to the Valentino era”

The MotoGP World Championship boosted a new season attendance record of over three million fans in 2024.

Heading the list was a new ‘official’ weekend record of 297,471 for the French Grand Prix at Le Mans.

“I'm very happy to see that the [spectator] numbers are coming back to, let me say, the ‘Valentino era’ where the grandstands were full of people,” commented Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola during the season-ending Barcelona post-race test.

So how close was MotoGP 2024 to the fan numbers seen in the ‘Valentino era’?

Rossi raced in the premier class from 2000 to 2021 and, while the accuracy of spectator figures is always the subject of debate (especially the weekend totals, when the same fan attending over three days is counted as three spectators) official figures are at least published from 2006 onwards.

Nevertheless, the following table compares this year’s Sunday and weekend totals with the maximum provided for the same circuits from 2006-2019, the last ‘normal’ Rossi season before the Covid pandemic.

Although only Assen and Qatar joined Le Mans in setting a new Sunday high this year, the popularity of the Saturday Sprint races could explain why three other venues (Sachsenring, Misano and Sepang) beat their 2006-19 weekend best.

“I see that we have a huge potential,” Rivola added. “And I hope that Liberty Media can bring additional value [in 2025].

“The show we offer is quite unique. I think next year will be even better with so many [rider] changes and the Japanese brands competitive [again]. So really, really looking forward to that.”

*Repeat (replacement) event.