The only black member of MotoGP’s paddock says promoter Dorna Sports “hasn’t done enough” and “there is no excuse” for its lack of action regarding the push for greater diversity and equality.
Francis Bradfield works as a helmet technician for a leading company within the MotoGP paddock and is the only black member of the roughly 1,500-strong personnel currently attending each event as a result of the Covid-19 restrictions (the normal number pre Covid-19 is closer to 3000 according to Bradfield).
He was the only individual to take the knee ahead of Sunday’s season-opening Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez.
Other categories, most notably Formula 1 and NASCAR, have been prominent in accepting a need for greater equality and diversity within their respective series.
Formula 1, which nonetheless drew criticism for its handling of the situation in Hungary, has launched its #WeRaceAsOne initiative, while drivers have taken the knee on the grid.
NASCAR recently banned the Confederate flag, which harbours racist undertones dating back to the American Civil War, from its events, and has been vocal in its support for Bubba Wallace.
MotoGP has been decidedly silent on the matter though, with very little dialogue regarding the situation aside from “a single social media post and half a sentence in one of their press releases regarding the subject”, while no flags or banners have been visible at any point across the Jerez weekend.
Bradfield says that while he does not believe Dorna Sports and MotoGP are racist, having never been on the receiving end of any racist behaviour across his time in the paddock, he does think that “they are in their own little bubble”, in part due to there being no black riders in any of MotoGP’s four classes.
“I think one of the issues is that there are no black figureheads in MotoGP, so there isn’t really anyone high profile enough to push the issue,” Bradfield told MotorsportWeek.com
“I think that’s why F1 and NASCAR have been successful with it, F1 has Lewis Hamilton who’ll always fight for what’s right and NASCAR has Bubba Wallace, who has also made a real effort to push the issue and both of those championships have made an effort to listen to them and have subsequently got on board with them, and helped take on the fight.
“I don’t think MotoGP are racist for a start, but I just think they’re behind and that they are in their own little bubble and sometimes don’t realise the impact of things that are going on in the world.
“There is no negative attitude in the paddock (regarding Black Lives Matter), I’ve never experienced racism in the paddock myself, and I have a lot of friends in the paddock that support this, but we’re not being heard by the people at the top and it really needs the effort by the people at the top to push it so that it spreads throughout the paddock.
Bradfield added that while MotoGP acknowledging openly supporting the movement during race weekends would be a good first step, he would like to see things change further down the ladder in order to promote diversity within the MotoGP family.
“I think that’s the first step (taking the knee before the race), I don’t think it’s enough,” he said.
“I think that the fact that I’m the only one out of around 1500 people in the paddock that is black shows that there is a massive lack of equal opportunity, and it doesn’t just start in MotoGP – it starts as children in schools.
“The lack of knowledge, if you’re talking about going into racing it’s obviously very expensive so a lot of people are counted out, so yes the first step is acknowledging it and putting out big support, but they can also work in a way to be more inclusive and to help minorities come through and make the paddock a more diverse place.
“I think that by being silent they’ve (Dorna) let down so many minorities that still suffer today, and I think that it really is their duty to use their expansive platform to push the issues, because without platforms like MotoGP nothing will change.”
I didn’t know Moto GP has its own attention-seeking nobody. Please stop giving attention to this racist.
Maybe they need to have somebody apply for a job with the skills they need. I’m sure skills and talent will outweigh race every time.
Sadly, many sports have bought politics in to it. Please don’t do it in Moto GP or any other championships.
BLM is a anarchist/terrorist group. This “taking the knee” is killing sport.
I haven’t watched a single football or Rugby match since they started doing this and won’t until they stop doing it, I’m not alone feeling this way.