<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (crvlvr @ Jul 13 2007, 04:36 PM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Here is a link to an article that
I think is more objective about HRC's woes:
Friendly Fire: How Honda HRC Failed Miserably in Portugal
And regarding the Dani Hayden crash:
Yes Crvlvr, Thank you for this great article, I agree this article is objective, and it
<u>support</u> the Dutch GP writer's account of the incident but more importantly, it
sheds light on what may be an unconstructive reality at Honda/Repsol (which is the point of this thread).
Like I said before, the article posted by Povol was to give a little insight to what may be a problem at Honda as far as developing a "factory" bike by their "factory" riders. (Yes, there are other Honda teams on the grid, but hardly a full support or two way street, just ask Melandri).
Yes, unfortunately, the crash incident is sighted here,
but is not the point, but rather the fodder and revelations that came to light. Yes, the crash is history and we all have are view points of what happened--I already talked about it until we were all blue in the face, yet our opinions did not change much. So
don't get stuck on rehashing the crash but
rather the underlying reasons and environment that lead to it and that still exist. Yes they were both civil in the next race, but in spite of that the
underlying reality continues to exist--it’s
still all about Pedrosa at Honda/Repsol and
this climate is impeding the progress of the
team (of which Hayden is a member).
As far as A. Puig and Pedrosa are concerned. I think both these articles are in complete argreement as to their perspective and status with Factory Honda. As far as Puig's influence, well I think the evidence is clear how much he wields and obviously this effects his teammate whether you accept it or not, but that's the reality. Oh, don't just take my word for it; notice a quote below from the
Honda boss himself. Not to mention the
main sponsor Repsol's quote. (Which I have made the case before but a few still don’t believe it (tom).
Quotes from the "more objective" article:
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <div class='quotemain'>many other long-time Grand Prix journalists, simply assumed that was a public statement and that the reality would be different, that someone of authority would put an hand on Dani’s shoulder and remind him
that he worked for Honda .... Dani took out his own teammate…a “friendly fire” incident.
"Friendly fire" doesn't mean they are friends. It is a term used when somebody from your side (usually refered in battle between soldiers) that you were killed by one of your own comrades. This is a bad thing.
But what is interesting, is this sense that Pedrosa has, this idea that he can ride with impunity because the message has been from all sides that its only about him, thus the quote saying “he works for Honda” in other words, he is part of a bigger picture (something he is not conscience of). It seems nothing has changed this year, and this ideation is unconstructive in a team effort.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <div class='quotemain'>And I can only imagine that team owners from professional championships like NASCAR and F1 must still be
laughing at the ludicrous spectacle of Pedrosa out of control up the inside, bouncing off the curb, losing the front and torpedoing his teammate.
I knew that the Spaniard would be furious. Dani Pedrosa is a three-time world champion with very thin skin when it comes to being passed, especially when the pass is aggressive.
A little inside to both his personality and the complex that has been imparted to him by his authority figures (Puig).
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <div class='quotemain'>when I wrote in my Motociclismo column that Lorenzo and passed Pedrosa “more times in a single race than his other rivals had passed him all season” (only a slight exaggeration), Dani’s manager and mentor Alberto Puig complained, first to my editor
The entourage that shields this very talented rider is not large but it is very protective.
It doesn't take a lot of people telling you that its all about you, just a few very power ones.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <div class='quotemain'>The problem is that Dani has never before been in a position where his teammate is out-performing him in the points table. The whole concept of “team orders” is
distasteful and foreign to him, I imagine, but, more importantly,
none of the authority figures surrounding him seem to have told him that this is not just about him.
Do you really think this reality changed over one crash incident. No. It continues to be the reality today.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <div class='quotemain'>Furthermore, the marketing people from Repsol YPF, the Spanish-Argentine petroleum and natural gas company,
seem not to care at all what Hayden does. I have been told by Repsol insiders that “Dani is why we are here.”
The famous line: "Show me the money!" Well guess who has it--Repsol. and if they are saying Pedrosa is the man and nothing else matters, then really, what case do you have to believe otherwise. Oh but wait, it doesn't end there, that's just the
sponsor with the money saying this, lets see what the actual factory boss thinks about this concept...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <div class='quotemain'>In 2005 a Spanish paper published a article in which Suguru Kanazawa, president of
HRC and the ultimate racing boss, was quoted saying, “We believe of all the riders at this moment
Dani Pedrosa is the only one capable of beating Rossi.”
Amazing! So where do you think his support and effort will be? Any questions?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <div class='quotemain'>But when Pedrosa lost it and took out Hayden, old-timers were stunned that a Honda rider would put his championship-leading teammate in danger at all, let alone doing it on the fifth lap of a 28-lap race.
Ok, maybe it was just a racing incident, nothing more. I'll accept that in the context of this thread, but what does this say about the "team"? Well the quote below may shed some light. And that is the point here. Povol rightly said it was like being prophetic because it sure seems light this unconstructive perspective of what a "team" means has been mired in a unsuccessful start to the season, relatively speaking.
There never has been and never will be a Honda team with equal “number 1” riders, and I am afraid that, regardless of the outcome if this year’s MotoGP championship, HRC sees Pedrosa as their future and Honda’s vision has a way of becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy.
This is the reality today. It makes it "prophetic" because this was said in the past.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <div class='quotemain'>If the situations had been reversed with Pedrosa leading by 12 points with two races to go, Hayden would have done what Edwards was doing, and, as in Edwards’ case, no one would have had to have told him to do it.
This is perhaps a little insight into the sense of entitlement that each of the two riders at Repsol/Honda have. One has won the championship, but sadly is the stepchild number 2 rider and second-class citizen, who hasn't complained or threaten to leave the factory. The other one has not won the championship (though its early in his career) but has been their number 1 (including last year), but has engaged in publicly criticizing the factory and has threatened to leave.
What on earth would give the second guy that sense of entitlement? What and who? And to the point of this thread, how has this effected the success of the “team” so far?