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Former three-time world champion Kenny Roberts says that he now has funding to do "ninety-percent" of the 2007 MotoGP season and Team Roberts will be at the season-opener at Qatar this weekend.
"We're in a better position now than we were a few weeks ago," Roberts said this morning from his home in Modesto, California. "We have funding to do about ninety-percent of the season now with some other (sponsors) still on the fence. They may join us as well."
Kenny Roberts Junior's leathers were emblazoned with the logo of UK auto dealer Motorpoint online at the recent Jerez test. Motorpoint is the largest retailer of automobiles in the UK.
These are if not scary then at least highly-interesting days for MotoGP team managers. Peter Clifford and Bob MacLean's GP team is gone, as is Sito Pons' effort, the latter because of no sponsor, the former because of a lack of competitive bikes and a sponsor. Fausto Gresini's team has a large white space on the side of his bikes' fairings, where, presumably, he hopes a new sponsor will soon reside. Yamaha, which has an ownership stake by Toyota, announced this morning their sponsor for 2007 will be 'yota's rival car-maker Fiat.
Roberts was quite philosophical about the current state of marketing of MotoGP, calling the current climate more a period of change than a a terminal condition. "We've, for the most part, left tobacco behind and lets be honest, those were easy days from a sponsorship standpoint," he said. "Now the teams and everyone else are going to have to work hard to find and keep sponsors. The good thing is that MotoGP is so popular and if you compare it to F1 or what have you, it's a really good value for the money."
A common comparison has it that a firm could sponsor an entire MotoGP team for what a mid-level decal package costs on an F-1 car.
Roberts said he met with near-universal concern after news was leaked that his team lacked funding to do the season and that he wasn't paying for it again. "Many, many meetings while we were in Spain, and all of them good. One of the biggest supporters was Honda. They were adamant that we do the season, that a solution had to be found. I don't know what I have done in my life to get such good support from them and HRC, but they were there, standing behind us. 'Don't worry, you'll be doing the season.'.
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"We're in a better position now than we were a few weeks ago," Roberts said this morning from his home in Modesto, California. "We have funding to do about ninety-percent of the season now with some other (sponsors) still on the fence. They may join us as well."
Kenny Roberts Junior's leathers were emblazoned with the logo of UK auto dealer Motorpoint online at the recent Jerez test. Motorpoint is the largest retailer of automobiles in the UK.
These are if not scary then at least highly-interesting days for MotoGP team managers. Peter Clifford and Bob MacLean's GP team is gone, as is Sito Pons' effort, the latter because of no sponsor, the former because of a lack of competitive bikes and a sponsor. Fausto Gresini's team has a large white space on the side of his bikes' fairings, where, presumably, he hopes a new sponsor will soon reside. Yamaha, which has an ownership stake by Toyota, announced this morning their sponsor for 2007 will be 'yota's rival car-maker Fiat.
Roberts was quite philosophical about the current state of marketing of MotoGP, calling the current climate more a period of change than a a terminal condition. "We've, for the most part, left tobacco behind and lets be honest, those were easy days from a sponsorship standpoint," he said. "Now the teams and everyone else are going to have to work hard to find and keep sponsors. The good thing is that MotoGP is so popular and if you compare it to F1 or what have you, it's a really good value for the money."
A common comparison has it that a firm could sponsor an entire MotoGP team for what a mid-level decal package costs on an F-1 car.
Roberts said he met with near-universal concern after news was leaked that his team lacked funding to do the season and that he wasn't paying for it again. "Many, many meetings while we were in Spain, and all of them good. One of the biggest supporters was Honda. They were adamant that we do the season, that a solution had to be found. I don't know what I have done in my life to get such good support from them and HRC, but they were there, standing behind us. 'Don't worry, you'll be doing the season.'.
Article Found Here
