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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Austin @ Dec 25 2009, 08:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I've never said that that packages are what made the difference in 2002. Hayden could have beaten him on equal machinery that year, the kid was flying. I just like to use that as a reference point to compare Hayden and Spies.
Obviously Mladin wasn't the best rider in the series in 2002, 2006, 2007 or 2008 but every other year since 1999 he has been. Spanning a decade, there hasn't been any other rider that has been as consistently strong in this series. Hayden and Spies left like Mladin should have done a long time ago, but he didn't. He stuck around and was year in, year out, the best rider over the past decade.
I mentioned in my previous post that Yoshimura Suzuki has been the package to have since Mladin joined back in '99. No argument about that. And no argument that Suzuki had been attacking the AMA full force throughout Mladin's tenure there. All I'm saying is that Hayden's RC51 was rumored to be nearly identical to the spec of Edwards' when he won the world title.
In 1999 Ducati brought in reigning champion Ben Bostrom and had Anthony Gobert on the team. You don't bring in guys like that just to phone it in. Ducati's withdrawal shortly after was merely coincidence, and it marked the end of one of the top AMA SBK teams of the 90s.
The Kurtis and EBoz points were that these two were tipped to be the next guys to follow Hayden out of AMA into WSBK or MotoGP. Boz had poor machinery, no question, but he was supposed to be one of the next big American stars and Mladin beat him. Roberts had better machinery and what appeared to be a stronger desire to win, and Mladin showed him a thing or two more often than not.
Hodgson and BB's second stint on a Ducati stateside were not all that successful for a number of reasons. For Hodgson, I'm not convinced the bike wasn't up to it. He won a race in the wet and EBoz won a couple of races that season as well. Who knows what BB's deal was. There were a handful of people in Europe who said that based on his telemetry, if he was given a good bike he could have been very competitive that year. I'm assuming it was down to any combination of burn out, lack of focus, lack of confidence and a 999 at the end of it's development road. Probably best not to include BB in these sort of things, too mercurial.
Like I've always said, Mladin should have left a long time ago. There's no denying that. He was 27 when he won his first title, there was time to go and he should have done it. He didn't, it set a precedent for himself. I wouldn't have gone that route but that's the route he chose to go. But at 37, he's already made his statement. He's not going to do it unless he gets paid. I personally think he could take some race wins in a rookie campaign on factory equipment. I don't think he could win a title in the first go but he'd be competitive. But at his age, what's the point in going to Europe for a pay cut without a real chance at a title? He'd need at least two years, and it's just not worth it for him to do it without the money. When you're 38, who knows what level he'll be at, even at a domestic level. Factor in the travel demands and PR schedule of a world championship and Mladin would be shot.
Meanwhile Hopkins made his choice at 24 and had yet to win anything. In hindsight, it's hard to turn down that sort of money. However when you turn down Ducati and spout off about how you'd hate to leave your project only to see the fruits of your labor reaped by someone else, then jump to (in my opinion inferior, certainly no better) team, then I have to question the reasoning why.
From everything I read, he was rather impressive. He outrode his teammate but his French teammate got the ride on the French team if my memory serves me correctly. From what I gathered, he didn't get his fair shake and when it went sideways he said .... it, I'll go where I'm wanted.
It's definitely a risk, however you look at what Spies has done in WSBK and what Hayden has done in MotoGP and how Mladin's times compared in January 2006 when he happened to be testing PI at the same time as WSBK. The chances of him being a flop aren't very big. Additionally, Ben Spies got his money. Spies went to Europe on the reputation of a couple of strong wildcard showings and that he had beat Mat Mladin twice and was on his way to a third consecutive time. He got his $2 million. If Mladin was the benchmark for Spies and Spies got his money, why shouldn't Mladin get his?
Happy Holidays to all.
I'm pretty sure he's making more than $3 million, I've heard he's around $5 million.
He made 5.7 mil US dollars in 2008, which included endorsements and earnings from his import business. I am pretty sure the figure from Yoshimura Suzuki was right around 3 million.
Obviously Mladin wasn't the best rider in the series in 2002, 2006, 2007 or 2008 but every other year since 1999 he has been. Spanning a decade, there hasn't been any other rider that has been as consistently strong in this series. Hayden and Spies left like Mladin should have done a long time ago, but he didn't. He stuck around and was year in, year out, the best rider over the past decade.
I mentioned in my previous post that Yoshimura Suzuki has been the package to have since Mladin joined back in '99. No argument about that. And no argument that Suzuki had been attacking the AMA full force throughout Mladin's tenure there. All I'm saying is that Hayden's RC51 was rumored to be nearly identical to the spec of Edwards' when he won the world title.
In 1999 Ducati brought in reigning champion Ben Bostrom and had Anthony Gobert on the team. You don't bring in guys like that just to phone it in. Ducati's withdrawal shortly after was merely coincidence, and it marked the end of one of the top AMA SBK teams of the 90s.
The Kurtis and EBoz points were that these two were tipped to be the next guys to follow Hayden out of AMA into WSBK or MotoGP. Boz had poor machinery, no question, but he was supposed to be one of the next big American stars and Mladin beat him. Roberts had better machinery and what appeared to be a stronger desire to win, and Mladin showed him a thing or two more often than not.
Hodgson and BB's second stint on a Ducati stateside were not all that successful for a number of reasons. For Hodgson, I'm not convinced the bike wasn't up to it. He won a race in the wet and EBoz won a couple of races that season as well. Who knows what BB's deal was. There were a handful of people in Europe who said that based on his telemetry, if he was given a good bike he could have been very competitive that year. I'm assuming it was down to any combination of burn out, lack of focus, lack of confidence and a 999 at the end of it's development road. Probably best not to include BB in these sort of things, too mercurial.
Like I've always said, Mladin should have left a long time ago. There's no denying that. He was 27 when he won his first title, there was time to go and he should have done it. He didn't, it set a precedent for himself. I wouldn't have gone that route but that's the route he chose to go. But at 37, he's already made his statement. He's not going to do it unless he gets paid. I personally think he could take some race wins in a rookie campaign on factory equipment. I don't think he could win a title in the first go but he'd be competitive. But at his age, what's the point in going to Europe for a pay cut without a real chance at a title? He'd need at least two years, and it's just not worth it for him to do it without the money. When you're 38, who knows what level he'll be at, even at a domestic level. Factor in the travel demands and PR schedule of a world championship and Mladin would be shot.
Meanwhile Hopkins made his choice at 24 and had yet to win anything. In hindsight, it's hard to turn down that sort of money. However when you turn down Ducati and spout off about how you'd hate to leave your project only to see the fruits of your labor reaped by someone else, then jump to (in my opinion inferior, certainly no better) team, then I have to question the reasoning why.
From everything I read, he was rather impressive. He outrode his teammate but his French teammate got the ride on the French team if my memory serves me correctly. From what I gathered, he didn't get his fair shake and when it went sideways he said .... it, I'll go where I'm wanted.
It's definitely a risk, however you look at what Spies has done in WSBK and what Hayden has done in MotoGP and how Mladin's times compared in January 2006 when he happened to be testing PI at the same time as WSBK. The chances of him being a flop aren't very big. Additionally, Ben Spies got his money. Spies went to Europe on the reputation of a couple of strong wildcard showings and that he had beat Mat Mladin twice and was on his way to a third consecutive time. He got his $2 million. If Mladin was the benchmark for Spies and Spies got his money, why shouldn't Mladin get his?
Happy Holidays to all.
I'm pretty sure he's making more than $3 million, I've heard he's around $5 million.
He made 5.7 mil US dollars in 2008, which included endorsements and earnings from his import business. I am pretty sure the figure from Yoshimura Suzuki was right around 3 million.
