Fiat Sponsor replacement eludes Yamaha for 2011

Pigeon · Dec 27, 2010

Not good teams might fold yet during 2011 imo

Fiat replacement eludes Yamaha

By Matthew Birt -

MotoGP

23 December 2010 11:16

The impact of the global economic crisis is still biting hard in MotoGP with Yamaha as yet to find a title sponsor for the 2011 world championship.

Despite being the dominant squad in MotoGP since 2008, Yamaha’s factory team has yet to attract fresh investment following the departure of Fiat as its main backer.

The Italian car company ended its successful sponsorship collaboration after the 2010 campaign when Valentino Rossi opted to quit and join rivals Ducati on a two-year contract.

Several big companies have been linked with the naming rights to Yamaha’s factory squad next season, including Petronas, Telefonica and AirAsia.

But at the moment, Yamaha has been unable to successfully conclude negotiations and at present Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies will race in the Japanese factory’s corporate blue colours in 2011.

That Yamaha has been unable to attract fresh investment from such a position of strength is a further indication at how the financial meltdown has impacted on MotoGP.

Yamaha has won the triple crown of rider, team and constructor titles every year since 2008 and with such results is arguably the most marketable squad in MotoGP.

But it seems nobody is clamouring to offer financial support to Yamaha and race

ptk50 · Dec 28, 2010

Not a big surprise - Yamaha without Rossi is not nearly so exciting. Hogay tries and tries really hard with his post race stunts, but is really boring. The big Spanish sponsor is Repsol and everybody knows whose bed they are in. If Burgess is right about Yamaha being way down on engine power and the Fiat money won't be replaced - at least not in full - things don't look so good for Yamaha. That's a pity for Spies, but then he's really marketable and could go to almost any team in 2012. It wouldn't be surprised to see Ben and Hogay knocking on the Honda (back) door pretty soon and then it will be the question of whom HRC - aka Marketing folks prefer - a onetime macho/ whiner Spanish WC or a very popular, well publicized, non-whining and great American racer - would be really interesting to be a fly on the wall at Repsol vs HRC discussions. Honda is probably the only player who could go it alone without a big sponsor. At the end of the day it's about selling motorbikes.

Goatboy · Dec 28, 2010

So...nice business decision then.

ptk50 · Dec 28, 2010

Goatboy said:
So...nice business decision then.

Only decision so far is Fiat not going with Yamaha. The Honda/ Repsol scenario is theoretical. Honda would amongst other things weigh the possible benefit of selling more bikes in the US by leveraging Spies against the Repsol $'s and possibly losing them if HRC excluded a Spanish rider.

DaddiiKong · Dec 28, 2010

ptk50 said:
Only decision so far is Fiat not going with Yamaha. The Honda/ Repsol scenario is theoretical. Honda would amongst other things weigh the possible benefit of selling more bikes in the US by leveraging Spies against the Repsol $'s and possibly losing them if HRC excluded a Spanish rider.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think he was referring to the business decision to let Rossi go.

L8Braker · Dec 28, 2010

No matter how you spin it, this is not good for MotoGP overall. This goes back to KRJR and the GOAT (and others) saying the series is boring with the current rules package, and I'm not sure 1000cc with the proposed rules will fix the boring(ness). You have to make the bikes nasty and just on the edge of flinging riders to the tarmac....well maybe not that crazy, but you at least have to have riders backing the bike into the corners with long darkies coming out! You get the variety back into the racing, you get more passing for position and everyone wants to tune in thus you get people wanting to put thier name on the side of your championship winning machine...simple right.

Traverser · Dec 28, 2010

It would be great if Apple, HTC, Amazon, Yahoo, BOSE, Canon, Google stepped in. I seriously doubt this is the end of yamaha.

Though it would be cool if Yamaha just runs the team colors yellow and black.

Mental Anarchist · Dec 28, 2010

Lends some weight to my argument that if Rossi ain't on it then no company will sponsor it.

J4rn0 · Dec 28, 2010

Yamaha will no doubt find its sponsor before March and will still be very strong in 2011 -- the bike to beat. Their IL4 engine may have reached its development peak though, and its retirement is likely to follow the retirement of its father, Furusawa. The capacity increase to 1000cc is hardly going to change that. For 2012 or 2013 at the latest a major redesign might be called for, -- they'll also have to go "V" probably... A completely new bike.

BarryMachine · Dec 28, 2010

Traverser said:
It would be great if Apple, HTC, Amazon, Yahoo, BOSE, Canon, Google stepped in. I seriously doubt this is the end of yamaha.

Though it would be cool if Yamaha just runs the team colors yellow and black.

How about Skype!? ... and they have a live web cam on the bike whilst the race is running ...... and on special days individuals can skype the rider mid race

Goatboy · Dec 29, 2010

Cankles said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but I think he was referring to the business decision to let Rossi go.

That is indeed what I was refering to.

On the other hand I wonder if Telefonica/Movistar can keep it's wallet in it's trousers with a Spanish world champion looking for sponsorship?

ptk50 · Dec 29, 2010

L8Braker said:
No matter how you spin it, this is not good for MotoGP overall. This goes back to KRJR and the GOAT (and others) saying the series is boring with the current rules package, and I'm not sure 1000cc with the proposed rules will fix the boring(ness). You have to make the bikes nasty and just on the edge of flinging riders to the tarmac....well maybe not that crazy, but you at least have to have riders backing the bike into the corners with long darkies coming out! You get the variety back into the racing, you get more passing for position and everyone wants to tune in thus you get people wanting to put thier name on the side of your championship winning machine...simple right.

Yup - I really do agree with you. But just think - if we went back to power characteristics like the 500 2 strokes - Rossi would ride round by himself, with Capirossi half a lap behind him - the rest, maybe excluding Hayden would fall off in turn 1. Somewhere there needs to be a fix for MotoGP - less techy than now, but not all the way back to WSBK. Maybe it's a lot less rules and let the biggest spenders and that includes sponsors, smartest developers, most passionate and motivated contenders win - just keep it to ICE machines with 2 wheels and less than 1500cc.

Pigeon · Jan 13, 2011

Still No Title Sponsor For Yamaha's MotoGP Team

Submitted by David Emmett on Thu, 2011-01-13 15:11.

The week of Ducati's MotoGP launch has seen a seemingly endless stream of press releases from the Italian factory announcing one sponsorship deal after another. In the past couple of weeks, there have been announcements from Italian clothing manufacturer Diesel, Taiwanese computer giant Acer, and an extension of their existing agreement with Shell. As predicted, the combined selling power of the Valentino Rossi and Ducati brands has proven irresistible to sponsors, and cash and material support is pouring into Ducati's MotoGP war chest.

The contrast with Yamaha is shocking, and rather worrying for the Japanese factory. While 2010 World Champion Jorge Lorenzo continues to rack up personal deals (switching from Dainese to Alpinestars leathers, and a new deal with energy drink company Rockstar), the fairings of Yamaha's MotoGP team remain stubbornly blank. The withdrawal of Italian car giant Fiat came as no surprise, given Valentino Rossi's close personal contact with Lapo Elkann, a sire of the Agnelli clan that founded the Italian company, though the fact that Fiat did not make the switch along with Rossi did surprise many in the paddock.

at the first MotoGP test of the year at Sepang with bikes painted either in Yamaha's corporate colors, or else with plain black carbon fiber fairings.

http://motomatters.com/news/2011/01/13/still_no_title_sponsor_for_yamaha_s_moto.html

continued

L8Braker · Jan 13, 2011

Pig...read somewhere where Air Asia will be the title sponsor for Yamaha...with the possible announcement to come at the first test in February....we shall see.

It has to be frustrating to a certian degree for Jorge to see everyone jumping on board with Rossi/Ducati

xx CURVE xx · Jan 13, 2011

no one likes J-lo

Goatboy · Jan 13, 2011

xx CURVE xx said:
no one likes J-lo

Tom does.

xx CURVE xx · Jan 13, 2011

Goatboy said:
Tom does.

he like many others jump on any wagon that wins

i would have thought telefonica (sp?) would have jumped on as sponsor by now... would love to see Spies with a USA sponser..Pepsi Yamaha perhaps

Tom · Jan 13, 2011

xx CURVE xx said:
no one likes J-lo

You laugh but you know really the problem is that very few companies want to put money into motogp. Bad times

Tom · Jan 13, 2011

xx CURVE xx said:
he like many others jump on any wagon that wins

I was probably on that wagon a good while before you even knew who Lorenzo was. I'm surprised you even know now as you usually only speak of one man

Goatboy · Jan 13, 2011

xx CURVE xx said:
i would have thought telefonica (sp?) would have jumped on as sponsor by now... would love to see Spies with a USA sponser..Pepsi Yamaha perhaps

They don't seem to have taken any financial hits, perhaps they were just too Pedrosa focused?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telefónica

Miller or Bud would be a fantastic American sponser for Spies, & they already do so much for motorsport.

Incidently I read somewhere that head of AirAsia Tony Fernandes said that there wouldn't be a Yamaha deal. Can't remember where though.

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Fiat Sponsor replacement eludes Yamaha for 2011

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