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1/11/2016
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NL
Edited Date/Time
5/31/2018 4:52am
After receiving the news of 8Biano Husqvarna closing his doors, I just read that Cervelin parted ways with Martin Honda. These things make me scratch my head. How is it possible that certain riders (whom are talented enough to ride the world championship) have to choose to ride national championships instead of the MXGP races worldwide. It is just unbelievable that riders that can ride top 15 in a world championship on any occassion, can't earn their money with these results. If you look at risks they take versus the reward, it is just crazy.
Nowadays if you aren't a factory rider, you can better ride the French, ADAC or English championships and ride selected GP's.. It is just plain silly man. On top of that, seeing great 250 riders jumping 'back' to the EMX250 because of the age limit is just beyond crazy. What are your thoughts about these things? How healthy is the MXGP championship with all those overseas races? How is it possible that a riders like Jasikonis, who had his first podium last year at the age of 19 can't get a great paying ride and has to get race-by-race sponsors in order to keep racing the championship?
Don't get me too wrong. The infrastructure of the tracks, pit presentation and overall atmosphere at these races is beyond amazing and I absolutely love going to the GP's. (Something the AMA nationals could improve in my honest opinion). But it really affects the paychecks of the riders. You can say what you want, but nowadays paying €1000-1500 to ride a GP instead of receiving that amount as prize money back in the 90's hurts the riders really much..
Nowadays if you aren't a factory rider, you can better ride the French, ADAC or English championships and ride selected GP's.. It is just plain silly man. On top of that, seeing great 250 riders jumping 'back' to the EMX250 because of the age limit is just beyond crazy. What are your thoughts about these things? How healthy is the MXGP championship with all those overseas races? How is it possible that a riders like Jasikonis, who had his first podium last year at the age of 19 can't get a great paying ride and has to get race-by-race sponsors in order to keep racing the championship?
Don't get me too wrong. The infrastructure of the tracks, pit presentation and overall atmosphere at these races is beyond amazing and I absolutely love going to the GP's. (Something the AMA nationals could improve in my honest opinion). But it really affects the paychecks of the riders. You can say what you want, but nowadays paying €1000-1500 to ride a GP instead of receiving that amount as prize money back in the 90's hurts the riders really much..
Having races in Mexico and only half the field shows up isn’t as important as having them in neutral locations so more riders can attend from several countries in the region.
Arenacross folding is a perfect example of guys being forced to go somewhere else. Take top guys in that series and put them in 15th in SX series making no money and getting no bonuses. It won't last long.
It probably does make little sense to everyone but the factory teams, but it broadens the audience and can open new markets.
Motocross was HUGE in Argentina back in the eighties/early nineties. Then it kind of faded away. Thanks to the Dakar and MXGP there was a resurgence of the sport. That translates to sales.
On the other hand it is a great opportunity for host countries to showcase themselves as vacation/adventure destinations and -at least in Argentina- tourist-promotion funds poured big amounts of money to get races to come to this end of the world (We had the Dakar, MXGP, WRC, Formula-e, MotoGP, to name a few).
I guess you can't call it a "world championship" if you don't race around the world...
Closing note: The Dakar is gone from Argentina in 2019, and MXGP will probably follow suit. It makes little sense to bring the whole circus to South America for a single race (years prior there was another one in Brazil). That'll be a shame.
The Shop
Especially when taking into consideration that the reward is split only between the first 3 guys (if I remember correctly) and even that is just silly how small it is. Price to line up in MX2 is 500 euros, in the 125s 250euro, not quite sure about the EMX250...
I can see how the riders just don't see the point in racing without some sort of a factory support. For example ADAC pays higher rewards to top 5 riders and has a lot lower starting fee if I'm not mistaken, so why bother with the whole mxgp thing...
It is not super big, but still allot better then riding for Free a MXGP season or a 9 to 5 job.
The FIM/Youthstream certainly isn't going make less money to help the sport. They have proven that many times.
Unless Herlings breaks a leg its just going to be boring as hell.
The MXGP is all about the factory teams & bringing them the exposure they need.
Not only has the business model changed & world has changed. Travel costs are very high, 4 stroke tuning to be competitive, it all goes against the journey man or small team.
Really privateer efforts are about national or euro series, MXGP is about the factory teams. Will mean less riders but if were being honest most people only care about the top riders.
I am pretty sure there was a tie up with the GP in Ottobiano, and this was a way to try and finance the job, one way or another , but it didnt add up, and the riders and staff werent getting paid, Husqvarna took the bikes back and they were done.
As for Martin Honda, that just strikes me as either a personnel issue, or Cervelin has had a shot on the Yamaha and realises he cant win on that Honda.
Riders have been shafted for years by non paying teams, some teams were notorious for it, Bobryshev, De Dyker and Mike Brown all falling victim at some point.
All motorsports gain and lose teams through money issues, its nothing new, and with a longer season, its not getting easier.
Also i have seen teams fold through non payment of sponsorship dollars, having set up on promises of money that never came... Knich anyone ?
Youthstream is trying to get another south american race. If they get that Argentina might still be on. If not it is probably gone.
Pit Row
Track always looked good but thin crowd.
Kinda like the F1 circus only the teams there get big TV money. Probably no such deal in the GPs.
You have to start somewhere and they've been making slow and steady progress with their business model.
this year
So, 'They', have taken the model of contracted teams, and limited numbers - MotoGP and WSBK have limits around the low / mid 20s for the grid in case any of you have not noticed - as being what's important.
And 'they' justify limited fields as having '"the best of the best". Not always the truth, but it's a a thing prevalent in many TV / Streaming sports - the screen doesn't need the back markers , only the 'Stars'.
Indeed, a few seasons ago Luongo / Youthstream had the MXGP class (and tried for MX2) limited to 30 riders. It was changed back to 40 max. They yielded to pressure from many true 'stewards' of the sport, but also realized "why the hell not take peoples money" through their exorbitant entry fees.
Luongo / Youthstream really do 'work' the Government / Industry paying for events model that so dominates much of Most sports today. It's the sign of the times.
And then you have Luongo, constantly saying that he chooses to not offer 'prize' money, because he puts it back into the ('his') sport. "He', shouldn't be paying the riders - that's for the Industry to do - that's his reasoning. So, every cent he gets from Monster, goes into his pockets. If Monster cared at all for the sport, they'd have a separate prize fund set aside for the Riders and Teams. But, hey, one can understand a corporate entity having Naming rights to a sport for the minimum cost to themselves. They really don't give a fuck.
Luongo / Youthstream are a Cancer on Our sport, and He / They've got it, currently, up to 2026.
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