Ride buyers

Mick D said:

When you say "incumbents" do you mean the current field of MotoGP racers? Not sure of your meaning there...

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The new riders being introduced this year such as Hernandez etc etc.





And I agree with you that Josh Hayes is exactly the sort of guy MotoGP wants and needs. His age is not really too much of an issue for me....he showed poise and maturity when given his opportunity. as opposed to some of the younger guys who have pissed their chance into the breeze.

Niche sport and ...... global economy in my opinion is just a cop out. The sport is niche because the governance has failed to market it properly. In todays world a motorcycle makes more sense then it ever has - cheap to buy, cheap to run, cheap to park and easy to get through gridlocked traffic consisting of vehicles with a single occupant. I can think of no decent reason why motorbikes are not part of the solution to todays problem. MotoGp as the pinnacle should have been looking to develop the market and take the sport beyond "niche" but epic fail. MotoGP is niche because its strategy has been clowns and circuses which really is "niche".



The Global economy is ......? Well we all know Talpa's $400million budget for Honda's MotoGP effort is like all things Talpa ...... fantasy. So what does a competitive MotoGP budget consist of? 10 - 20 - 30 - 40 million dollars? There are huge numbers of businesses global that those figures are just their stationary bill for a year. Look at Apple, I can't even keep up with their profits as they are in the multiple billions each year. How much do the large stock markets fluctuate each day? Australia's fluctuates in the billions each day. A bad or good day maybe 20-30 billion. There is money out there changing hands every day, the problem is MotoGP has failed to secure any of it because they have failed to market their product.



Grand Prix racing has always been about being in technically in front of what you and I can buy. Now it is a race back to history rather than extending its historical place.



Name me one successful company where the Principle/CEO/MD's responsibility is sales? This is the problem. The Principles role is not generating sponsorship it is managing a successful business. My point was that the governance is allowing the teams to be unprofessional by changing the sport to accommodate their inability to run successful business because the governance has itself been asleep at the wheel and has been completely unprofessional in their governance of the sport.

Mick D said:

1. Yes prototype racing in any form is expensive.

2. Niche sport and ...... global economy.

3. Gand Prix racing has always been a mix of leading edge prototypes and less advanced privateers.

4. Fund raising is probably on the principals minds more than any other single consideration.

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On point number 2 there are also a few other factors involved.....



The sport has failed to market itself outside of its Eurocentric sweet spot and ridden the Rossi gravy train for too long. There seems to be a distinct lack of long term strategies to replace these core assets into the future...with the GFC hitting Europe hard and Rossi recently losing some of his luster whilst also approaching retirement age combined with the points you have already made, the end result has been inevitable.





Considering the vast populations and rider bases that abound throughout Asia they should have been concentrating their efforts on marketing their product to an established motorcycle mobile generation - you would know this better than anyone having lived in SE Asia. From my perspective they should have looked to promoting the sport in these potential growth areas rather than where MGP is already well established....



They have also failed dismally on using modern media to promote the series....their banning of any MGP related clips on you tube etc whilst offering up a sub par on-line alternative at very high prices isnt doing them any favours. They should be embracing this new technology as a way of establishing a larger fan base - instead they are squandering the opportunity for mass marketing the sport for short term financial gain.

Agree with everything there Mr Squig. Much more complex than my point form response. Certainly lots can be done in SE Asia and South America to expand the fan base.

Mr Squiggle said:

should riders be able to buy a seat in MotoGP

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How do you stop it? It isn't possible. The teams pretend the sponsors and the riders are not connected, and who are Dorna to say otherwise. Dorna can take control of the issue by sponsoring the riders themselves. I'd like to think Dorna would solve the problem, but in reality, they'd pick under-qualified riders for the same dumb reasons as the sponsors.



Regarding CRT, it isn't a direction to take or not to take. CRT is the result of deregulation and liberalization of the formula, specifically the re-legalization of production parts, which were banned at the inception of MotoGP. At the time, IMS were worried that 990cc MotoGP and 1000cc WSBK would cannibalize one another. No one presumed that IMS were already planning to dismiss the manufacturers and write their own rules, though, in defense of IMS, they had no idea the manufacturers were not going to participate directly and promote.



CRT looks horrible right now b/c there is no one to fill the void of satellite teams. In sociological terms, the plutocrats in the MSMA wiped out the middle class by writing terrible rules, and if not for the responsiveness of Aprilia, CRT would only be a gaggle of underfunded boffins with more ambition than talent. In the interest of being fair, though I don't think the MSMA deserve it, the middle class racing teams were already dead before MotoGP, so the MSMA only killed a group of people that they helped recreate.



If Dorna and the MSMA create a decent formula, the middle teams will become much stronger. New prototype engines will be developed by production manufacturers or by specialty racing companies, and "CRT" will continue to evolve. The bigger the manufacturer base, the bigger the sponsor and technical partner base. The bigger the sponsor base and technical partner base, the bigger the fan base, and the more valuable the B2B network becomes. The sport picks up steam again.

The reason it's hard to answer the original question is because the OP and everyone else engage in tangents. But I think the question was answered. Racing is a rich mans sport for the most part and here and there talent shines through for the not so rich and we are all ok with that. There are qualifying rules and they are good enough to remove those not up to par with the rest.



Should we remove Statistical Outliers from both ends of the range? Maybe if a racer is 2+ seconds ahead in pace from the top 30% median pace we should send them to do time trials while we watch some good racing? I don't think so.



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To ignore the global economy and call it a cop out is silly.To ignore the loss of tobacco sponsorship is silly.To ignore that it is a niche sport is silly. To ignore the past is silly. To ignore that the promoters could do a better job is silly.



Catching up to, passing, and lapping back markers was quite common in previous generations of MotoGP and just another part of racing. Equal environment for all competitors, so how they deal with back markers will be just another part of their skill sets. For me this just adds another exciting aspect to the race, if we wanted perfect lines with no one else on the track we would watch Time Trials.



CRTs have the potential to create excitement by:

1) Allowing an underdog to shine against factory and satellites

2) Create drama by interfering with the race

3) Creating mid pack battles due to more bikes on the track

4) Bring more manufacturers to the top game and benefit the whole industry



As always the economy will recover. We can hope to see Suzuki and Kawasaki back. Hell, in the last 5 years Suzuki and Kawasaki were the CRT bikes.