Panorama.it lived a weekend in the paddock of the Catalonia Grand Prix to tell what is not seen on television. A multimedia journey to discover the secrets of the motorcycle circuit and of those who tell it
It is a village with a few hundred inhabitants. Nomad by definition, sentenced by the calendar to move every week or almost following a precise trajectory, the one dictated by the times of the Moto GP season. Welcome to the paddock of a motorbike circuitthat strip of land behind the garages, invisible to the great multitude of two -wheeled enthusiasts and yet so coveted for everyone.
The pass for the paddock is priceless, in the hierarchies of those who count and who would like to count. It is only worth a little less than that of pit lane, that Photo Opportunities in close contact with the pilots in times of less adrenaline between one test and another. In the paddock, the world of the Moto GP lives: pilots, mechanics, engineers, journalists, sponsors and more or less varied VIPs. The village opens on Thursday afternoon and closes on Sunday evening, when Garage and Truck end up being dismantled and their journey to the next destination begin.
Panorama.it he lived a weekend in the paddock of Montmelò circuit, Barcelonain close contact with those who live the Moto GP firsthand and tell it. In that strip of land behind the stables of the stables also act those who send the images of the races and collect the voice of the protagonists; For Italy, the Sky Sport motor team.
Guido Meda (Sky Sport): “So I’ll tell you the motorcycle GP from my cabin”
First feeling: In the large village there is still trace of the somewhat artisan and pioneering spirit of the world championship that was. There are few barriers between the pilots and the rest of the world, it is not uncommon to cross them for lunch or dinner, while moving between the Van who host them and the pits on foot or on a scooter. An organized chaos in which the official GP teams coexist, those with remote garage with a team of engineers at work to analyze in real time a huge flow of data from the track, and the teams of motorcycles 3 where everyone does a little everything. Often at their expense.
A middle ground between the hyper professionalization of other wider sports, including Formula One of the 2000s, and a happy for fans for whom there is, breathing the same air and immerse yourself in the same noise. Between 2024 and 2025 the Moto GP was sold by Dorna to the Americans of Liberty Media who already manages Formula One: In short, 2026 will be the year of the final turning point that will also impact on the lifestyle of the entire circuit outside the track. For the better or for the worse, it will be seen.
Sandro Donato Grosso (Sky Sport), all the secrets of the paddock and garages of the Moto GP
The paddock changes shape, but not spirit, only when from Europe emigrates to other continents. Pilots, mechanics and engineers move in addition to motorcycles, packed in large speakers and sent everywhere within a few hours after the conclusion of a race. Trucks remain at home with their gigantic spaces that represent everything for the inhabitants of the paddock: home, office, relaxation area and also the curtain that protects them in times of despair and tension.
Inside the paddock live for three days every week even those who tell the Moto GP. Shoulder on the shoulder with the protagonists, a confidence relationship still possible only in a few sports. Among these, the motorcycles, which still allow professionals to know and tell stories, not only arrival orders, rankings and numbers.
Sandro Codazzi (Producer Sky Sport): “How the direction of a Moto GP race works”
The team that tells the season of the Moto GP for Sky Sport is made up of about 30 people including journalists, technicians, operators and producers. In trips to European circuits, 20 are moved: they are used to manage the truck (74 square meters including the terrace used as an external study) and the direct space. It runs around 30 thousand kilometers a year, arrives on the circuit on Tuesday, is equipped on Wednesday and Thursday is ready for airing. To transform it from self -articular to television studio, four hours of work is enough.
The images that the enthusiasts see in Italy are produced by the Dorna for the International Broadcaster Circuit owners of the rights and personalized, in the Italian case, by Sky Sport with the work of three Cameramen who move between paddock, track and box, helping themselves in some situations with a drone for hyper-personalized filming. Inside the mobile study there are two specialized operators to build the Sky Sport Tech by Mauro Sanchini, which also uses the image software directly coming from the stables’ pits, as is the IA for images on the track and study.
