RL Hayden to WSBK

good! i hope we see more of our young talent signed up in moto2 & wss.

Pov, are you link challenged?

waste of his talent unless Kawasaki give him a really high level of support. He should be on the factory squad with Verme b/c unlike Sykes, Hayden has actually won a championship. Nothing against Sykes, but Hayden has definitely got the raw end of the deal for the last 2 or 3 seasons.

With some luck he'll be boosted up with Vermeulen for 2011 and he'll be on a competitive team in WSBK.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mylexicon @ Jan 2 2010, 09:27 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>waste of his talent unless Kawasaki give him a really high level of support. He should be on the factory squad with Verme b/c unlike Sykes, Hayden has actually won a championship. Nothing against Sykes, but Hayden has definitely got the raw end of the deal for the last 2 or 3 seasons.

With some luck he'll be boosted up with Vermeulen for 2011 and he'll be on a competitive team in WSBK.
IF you are on any Kawi, you got the raw end of the deal! hopefully he'll do ok

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jumkie @ Jan 2 2010, 04:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Pov, are you link challenged?
'Missing Link' challenged more like.

This just hit the kill switch on RLH's career. I agree Lex, he is far too highly talented for team Pedercini, but Paul Bird's quasi factory squad will not fare much better. Such a shame that Kawasaki should be regarded as such dead end option in racing, when you think back to Scott Russell's achievements.

Agree with the above, Kawasaki anywhere means dead end. Sucks too because people will see his result and conclude he's subpar.

I wish him the best, hope he can pick up some respectable results. It's going to be a challenge though, it's been a while since anyone has been able to get much out of a Kwaker in WSBK.

Roger Lee mentioned on CycleNews that he signed with Pedercini because he go tired of waiting for a Moto2 offer. I had read previously that teams were interested in him but he could not secure the "funding".

Someone help me understand this, there are plenty of seats for Spanish and Italian riders in Moto2, some of which have far less racing pedigrees and few with an actual noteworthy title, some with limited high level 600 racing; yet there is no room for a Roger Lee? I realize I'm a highly biased opinion on this one but Moto2 is a new series of 600s and Roger Lee was recently an AMA Supersport champion, before this was Rookie of the Year in the series; he went on to be runner-up in the championship, second to his brother no less. He's got a respectable top ten finish on a Kawasaki (add a few positions to adjust for the fact it was on a Kawasaki GP bike); he would be the lone American (thus far) in a ground level series that will be highly looked at in its first year--it would seem a great opportunity for a sponsor to get coverage. What in this equation for a Moto2 team makes sense not sign an available rider such as Roger Lee? It couldn't have been the demand of salary since while in the AMA he's earned a factory ride several years; yet, with Pedercini, a privateer/satellite team who's riders have sometimes paid to ride, is a low level effort on already non competitive program that is miserable Kawasaki WSBK.

Somebody help me understand what the Moto2 owners were thinking...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jumkie @ Jan 3 2010, 04:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Roger Lee mentioned on CycleNews that he signed with Pedercini because he go tired of waiting for a Moto2 offer. I had read previously that teams were interested in him but he could not secure the "funding".

Someone help me understand this, there are plenty of seats for Spanish and Italian riders in Moto2, some of which have far less racing pedigrees and few with an actual noteworthy title, some with limited high level 600 racing; yet there is no room for a Roger Lee? I realize I'm a highly biased opinion on this one but Moto2 is a new series of 600s and Roger Lee was recently an AMA Supersport champion, before this was Rookie of the Year in the series; he went on to be runner-up in the championship, second to his brother no less. He's got a respectable top ten finish on a Kawasaki (add a few positions to adjust for the fact it was on a Kawasaki GP bike); he would be the lone American (thus far) in a ground level series that will be highly looked at in its first year--it would seem a great opportunity for a sponsor to get coverage. What in this equation for a Moto2 team makes sense not sign an available rider such as Roger Lee? It couldn't have been the demand of salary since while in the AMA he's earned a factory ride several years; yet, with Pedercini, a privateer/satellite team who's riders have sometimes paid to ride, is a low level effort on already non competitive program that is miserable Kawasaki WSBK.

Somebody help me understand what the Moto2 owners were thinking...

I think some of it has to do with the perception of the 'quality' of American-based road racing. Don't the Euros turn their nose up at AMA competition (inferring that it is inferior to Euro based racing)? Didn't Spies encounter this perception when he began in WSBK, that sure he was 3-time AMA Superbike champ, but it's a low quality series and his accomplishments meant little because it was basically the Spies/Mladin show?

I think you have pointed to another fact, there are only 2 races staged in America under the MotoGP banner, most other races are in Europe. It would be hard to convince that many American companies to sponsor Hayden if they barely get any exposure in their home market, and frankly Euro based companies are more apt to fund riders that are from the same country as them (they can speak the language and market in that language), why would they sponsor an American?

Also, isn't the Moto2/MotoGP paddock pretty political? Like any job hunt, it pays to have connections and I don't think Roger Lee had that many people who could pull strings for him. Not even Nicky could have given him a ride. Plus I think it hurts that Kawak is not involved in any GP racing at the moment, obviously Roger was a Kawak guy, so that obviously didn't help either.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jumkie @ Jan 3 2010, 05:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>he would be the lone American (thus far) in a ground level series

jumkie there is an american in the series...... kenny noyes, son of dennis noyes the writer of many articles we read on this sport. most americans have never heard of him because he's spent most of his time racing in spain.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jumkie @ Jan 3 2010, 02:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Roger Lee mentioned on CycleNews that he signed with Pedercini because he go tired of waiting for a Moto2 offer. I had read previously that teams were interested in him but he could not secure the "funding".

Someone help me understand this, there are plenty of seats for Spanish and Italian riders in Moto2, some of which have far less racing pedigrees and few with an actual noteworthy title, some with limited high level 600 racing; yet there is no room for a Roger Lee? I realize I'm a highly biased opinion on this one but Moto2 is a new series of 600s and Roger Lee was recently an AMA Supersport champion, before this was Rookie of the Year in the series; he went on to be runner-up in the championship, second to his brother no less. He's got a respectable top ten finish on a Kawasaki (add a few positions to adjust for the fact it was on a Kawasaki GP bike); he would be the lone American (thus far) in a ground level series that will be highly looked at in its first year--it would seem a great opportunity for a sponsor to get coverage. What in this equation for a Moto2 team makes sense not sign an available rider such as Roger Lee? It couldn't have been the demand of salary since while in the AMA he's earned a factory ride several years; yet, with Pedercini, a privateer/satellite team who's riders have sometimes paid to ride, is a low level effort on already non competitive program that is miserable Kawasaki WSBK.

Somebody help me understand what the Moto2 owners were thinking...

Very few American sponsors shell out the big bucks necessary to get top talent into the WSBK or GP ranks. When American companies do shell out the big bucks, they don't demand that Americans ride for them. Xerox has never fielded an American on the factory Ducati team!

I think the reason American companies don't show a preference for American riders is two fold. First, American companies care more about results than hiring riders with the correct passport. Secondly, motorcycling is an obscure sport in the US so sponsorship is most likely part of a global marketing plan aimed at foreign markets (mainly European markets). Hiring Americans isn't preferable or necessary.

The sponsorship problem stems from the size of the motorcycle racing demographic in the United States. American sponsors can't use motorcycle racing as part of a national advertising campaign b/c nobody in the US bothers to watch. The anemic fanbase is at least partially attributable to the horrible last half decade of racing in the AMA, imo. Ducati don't even really bother with the AMA even though they sell nearly as many units in the US as they do in Italy. It is kind of difficult for Xerox to boost someone to WSBK when Ducati doesn't even have a talent-base in the American market.

Eltoro & Lex, good points.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (frosty58 @ Jan 4 2010, 09:09 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>jumkie there is an american in the series...... kenny noyes, son of dennis noyes the writer of many articles we read on this sport. most americans have never heard of him because he's spent most of his time racing in spain.

I stand corrected. Is the boy any good?

BTW, you heard it here first. Benny Solis, the American Rookies Cup campion, got picked up by Graves Yamaha to ride WERA this year. The plan is to put him on a Graves AMA effort for the following year, and if everything works out, then seek a Moto2 ride. His ambition is to go to GP racing as soon as possible. I got my figures crossed.

Roger should have jumped to Europe to WSBK or WSS after the 07 season after Kwak gave him the Laguna wildcard. His stock was high at that point. I remember reading how he was ambigous about
going over to Europe even to race motogp. I thought after hearing those comments that he had a motivation problem. You should sell your left nut in order to race at the highest level. He's been fast on a 600 but never consistently fast unless he was racing his brother. His stint on the superbike was a disaster that can't just be blamed on the Kwak. He crashed and hurt himself way too much. I would like to see him on a moto 2 because he has the potential but like Arabb said this WSBK ride just may be end of his career. Whatever happened at the beginning of last year with him missing a few weeks is still a mystery and I wonder if that hurt his ability to land a job as well.
I used to hold him in much higher regard because it's been said by those close to the family that he had the most raw talent out of all the brothers but I don't see him have the drive that Nicky has and the last few years have been wildly inconsistent. You can't point fingers at the Kwak in the 600 class either because for the last 5 years they have had a very competitive bike. So while I believe that he should have gotten a better shot at a moto 2 ride I also think that the WSBK ride he got is no better than what he deserved.
The one AMA rider who deserves a moto 2 ride more than any other is Tommy Hayden. I think he is one of the best 600 riders in the world. He's been forgotten because of his disaster on the big bike but it was just a few years ago that he was dominating on the 600's

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JohnnyKnockdown @ Jan 4 2010, 08:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>The one AMA rider who deserves a moto 2 ride more than any other is Tommy Hayden. I think he is one of the best 600 riders in the world. He's been forgotten because of his disaster on the big bike but it was just a few years ago that he was dominating on the 600's
That's what I kept thinking of Tommy, if anyone could make an impact in Moto2 it would be him, but I'm not sure the motivation is there any longer.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (L8Braker @ Jan 5 2010, 08:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>That's what I kept thinking of Tommy, if anyone could make an impact in Moto2 it would be him, but I'm not sure the <span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%motivation is there any longer.
sadly i think alot of the top riders lost this.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jumkie @ Jan 4 2010, 05:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I stand corrected. Is the boy any good?
http://www.roadracerx.com/features/tuesday...on-kenny-noyes/

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jumkie @ Jan 4 2010, 01:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Eltoro & Lex, good points.




I stand corrected. Is the boy any good?

BTW, you heard it here first. Benny Solis, the American Rookies Cup campion, got picked up by Graves Yamaha to ride WERA this year. The plan is to put him on a Graves AMA effort for the following year, and if everything works out, then seek a Moto2 ride. His ambition is to go to GP racing as soon as possible. I got my figures crossed.

I haven't seen Kenny race very much, but he is a pretty solid rider who gets good results in the CEV Spanish National SBK championship. He's like Hacking in that he has a lot of talent, but he didn't start racing until he was in his twenties. I think Noyes is pretty old now.

Also, we still don't know what is going to happen to Hacking. Roger snatched the Pedercini Kawasaki seat, and Hacking still hasn't made any announcements about his future. Maybe Monster had to choose between Hacking and Hayden. Hayden's terrible season and his "personal" sabbatical may have sealed the deal for him. Maybe Hacking's hard work in the face of a miserably put together 2009 racing effort will boost him into Moto2 with Monster sponsorship?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mylexicon @ Jan 5 2010, 11:14 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Maybe Hacking's hard work in the face of a miserably put together 2009 racing effort will boost him into Moto2 with Monster sponsorship?
i'm not much of a hacking fan but i would like to see this. he's excellent on the 600 but he's well into his 30s...