As sports have becoming increasingly reliant upon media revenues to improve their bottom line, the easier it has been to detect puppeteering by the leagues and caucuses behind the scenes.
I suspect Rossi/Burgess to Yamaha was an exercise in pulling strings as Honda realized MotoGP was not a sport without Yamaha. I also think Marquez to Gresini is part of a back room deal, probably spawned by HRC’s admission that they cannot squeeze enough money from corporate or sponsors to update their organization to compete under the current formula.
Marc riding another season on a bad Honda is not only terrible for ratings, it’s also bad for Honda as they receive the blame for Marquez lack of a 7th premier class title. Marc to Gresini also makes sense if you see the current formula as Marc vs machine because he will allegedly not get a factory spec Ducati.
I appreciate the need to keep the sport fresh and the riders moving around, but that’s where the meddling needs to end. The MSMA’s introduction of devices to lessen the influence of the rider has knocked the sport on its ear, and is creating increasingly strange goings-on. Definitely entertaining, but also completely unnecessary in a sport for gladiators.
