Maybe and maybe not.
In case you haven't noticed Elias won the Moto2 championship last year.
Maybe and maybe not.
In case you haven't noticed Elias won the Moto2 championship last year.
I don't understand your point very well. The way i see it is the reason for many Spanish and Italian teams is motorcycle racing is very popular in these two countries, in fact in terms of popularity it is probably sport number 2 behind football (soccer).
Yep and Dorna paid LCR to take him on. No body wanted to but Dorna paid the team with the least money to take him on. But you are completely missing my point.
MotoGP is declining rapidly. The Championship winning team can't get sponsorship. There are so few bikes on the grid. Next year they will be down to 3 manufacturers. More than half the grid is from 2 countries and then 3 of the remaining 7 riders are from the US so of 17 riders 4 are not from the US, Spain or Italy. Spain has 4 races, Italy has 2 and the US has 2 and soon to have 3. Spain is on the verge of bankruptcy, Italy is not far behind and the US is bankrupt but aren't letting on yet. Dorna are backing dead horses and then wondering why there is no giddy up.
If I were Dorna I would be looking for race tracks and riders in as many different countries as possible and paying their way on to the grid and then hoping that the nation of origin takes an interest and supports the rider and the sport.
Joined Aug 2007
11K Posts | 3K+
Pomona NY
And motorcycle racing is not very popular in Canada, or anywheres else? Dorna needs to grow the sport by promoting it worldwide, rather than just in their own backyard. Simply bringing the races to other countries to take their money is not enough.
Your right MA, it's Spain and Italy's fault that GP is failing. I'll tell my grandmother to not watch the race this weekend. Maybe that will help.
Or maybe it would be best if you started a grass roots GP club in your community. Get more people interested than the typical English, Irish, Aussie, etc fan, probabply motorcycle owning male. It is local support that gets things done, and if in Spain we have tons of local support for motorcycle racing you should be thankful. If Spain wasn't able to fill 4 GPs you might have 3 races less on the season. Or are you or your countrymen willing to pay the bill? Numbers ($$) make the world go round, and Dorna is no different. I don't see much US or UK sponsorships in GP. It doesn't have to be Repsol Honda and a Spanish rider. Maybe someday it will be BP Honda with a fast Bradley Smith.
Or maybe it would be best if you started a grass roots GP club in your community. Get more people interested than the typical English, Irish, Aussie, etc fan, probabply motorcycle owning male. It is local support that gets things done, and if in Spain we have tons of local support for motorcycle racing you should be thankful. If Spain wasn't able to fill 4 GPs you might have 3 races less on the season. Or are you or your countrymen willing to pay the bill? Numbers ($$) make the world go round, and Dorna is no different. I don't see much US or UK sponsorships in GP. It doesn't have to be Repsol Honda and a Spanish rider. Maybe someday it will be BP Honda with a fast Bradley Smith.
really? Rossi, Stoner, Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Spies, Simoncelli etc. in a couple of seasons they will be joined by Bradl, Marquez, Iannone... I watch the sport from the late 80s and in my opinion the quality is as good as it has ever been.
okay but which riders exactly would you like to see in MotoGP? could you please give us some examples of these riders from different countries which are MotoGP potential?
Joined Aug 2007
11K Posts | 3K+
Pomona NY
I've been watching since the late '70s and try not to overindulge in nostalgic angst, but the grids are smaller, and so too - from what I understand
are the crowds at the races.
It's not the job of the spectators to seek out new talent and sponsorship from new sources; it is the responsibility of those who run the sport: ie Dorna.
Okay let's look at some randomly picked races in the late 70s then.
Finland GP 76, bikes on the grid: 10
Austrian GP 77, bikes on the grid: 7
French GP 77, bikes on the grid: 10
Belgium GP 77, bikes on the grid: 10
Venezuela GP 78, bikes on the grid: 7
French GP 78, bikes on the grid: 10
Swedish GP 78, bikes on the grid: 10
Yugoslav GP 79, bikes on the grid: 11
Seems to me that the grids were considerably smaller than today.
Joined Sep 2007
2K Posts | 60+
here
Firstly, as someone else pointed out, there were fewer bikes on the grid for several races, including the first of the season, in 1990 than this year.
Maybe it depends on which country, but I remember going to GPs at Donington in the 80s where the crowd was 30-40,000. Trust me, the numbers going to be at Silverstone on Sunday this weekend (including me
I also went to Sepang in 2009 and the year before. The crowd in 2009 on Saturday was about the same size as the Sunday crowd in 2008 - mind you the ticket price was about 30 Euros for the weekend both years and the masive increase was mostly locals (which was great to see) and Aussies with their strong dollar
Regarding Dorna's responsibilties, I doubt they include finding sponsorship for Yamaha, or new talent. They are the marketing arm of MotoGP and nothing more. I agree that to market it well you need sponsors and talent, but I'd still say that was the job of the manufacturers as it is in F1.
Joined Sep 2007
2K Posts | 60+
here
Why should it be a feeder class? What's wrong with the feeder classes that exist as part of the MotoGP series? The "failed" motogp riders have been winning in WSBK for quite some time now (when was the last winner of the WC who has never had a motogp seat apart from Spies?) If the rest are not good enough to beat these "failures" at least some of the time then why would we want to move them "up"? Admittedly, Crutchlow seems to be doing the business, but he only had one difficult year in WSBK.
