Valentino Rossi & Tiger Woods
Monday, June 7, 2010 at 10:51AM
I saw an item this morning that suggested that Valentino being out of MotoGp could be like Tiger being missing from the PGA Tour. Attendance down and TV figures reduced. Now Valentino has been dominant in MotoGp from the moment he arrived in whatever class he rode. His record of thirteen seasons without missing a race is incredible in a sport where the rider is so exposed, the machines balanced on a knife edge and the competition fierce. I am trying to recall what other riders or drivers have had similar records, but the only sportsman that come to my mind is Brett Favre.
I would hope and expect that the sport is big enough to survive his absence, after all he has been rumored to go F1 racing for a few years now, and he cannot go on riding indefinitely, although that seems easier these days. So you would think that someone in DORNA, the MotoGP rights holder would be looking hard to replace him, if as suggested the current high ratings depend on Valentino. As with any great sportsman Valentino has been able to not only be the best at what he does, but at also building an aura about him that appeals to the fans, something Valentino seems extraordinarily well tuned in to. So who is there? His team mate Lorenzo is no slouch, giving Valentino a run in the Championship even before the accident, and then there is yesterday's winner Pedrosa who had been predicted to be the next Rossi. Beyond that it starts to get a bit thin. Dovizioso is not quite there, Spies is in his first season and the jury is still out. We have Edwards and Capirossi , both beyond their use by date, and then a bunch including Stoner, Hayden, Melandri and de Puniet that may have an occasional good day but not going to set the crowd alight like Valentino. Simoncelli has enough hair to be a character, but needs to show something in the top class. We had 16 bikes in the race after Valentino's accident, not good for a world class show.
Mind you, even in the days of Gardner et al the 500cc class was never a large grid, mainly due to the problem of actually getting hold of a 500cc machine, but the depth of quality in the field was amazing when you look back. Rainey, Schwantz, Lawson, Gardner, Doohan, Mamola, Sarron, Magee, Koscinski, and fast Freddie, any one of which capable of leading a race, and often a pack of four or five doing just that. Then behind them you had the likes of Ron Haslam, Chandler, Goddard, Chili, De Radigues, Mackenzie, and McElnea. Maybe I am biased but I find it hard to compare that lot with today's field.
So where is the next Valentino coming from? Is he already in Moto2? hard to tell, that class is all over the place. Makes for good racing, but we had Kenny Noyes on pole in France and almost last in qualifying in Italy. Hard to see anyone for the US National Series, and I have no idea about the other countries. World Superbike has some young peddlers, Leon Haslam being one that comes to mind, but is he "continental" enough to appeal to Valentino's followers?
It seems harder today than ever for good young riders to rise to the top level. Despite the popularity of the World Championships with increased viewership in a large number of countries across the globe it still seems hard, if not impossible, to find the money required to go racing. It obviously costs a lot of money to race at this level, money that can only come with sponsorship. F1 seems to be able to raise considerably more money for the teams to spend, and yes the audience is larger, but I doubt that the sponsorship levels are in the same proportion. I see numbers of 600m for F1, and I have heard 100m for bikes in over 100 countries, so a good level of exposure. I would doubt that motorcycle sponsorship is anywhere in the same ratio to F1. So why is it so hard? Part of the problem we had when I worked for Kenny was that the manufacturers themselves treated the racing as an R&D exercise, not marketing, with therefore a restricted budget. It made us very annoyed to watch a Yamaha F1 engine explode every race at a cost of probably $100m a year, when we were winning championships at less than a tenth of that, only to be told the F1 engine was marketing !
Where are all the big name sponsors that F1 attracts? Does motorcycling still carry a stigma? Do motorcycle fans not buy anything? I would have thought the young fans I see at races would be a great demographic for someone. It cannot be for want of trying. The downside of course is Moto2. If you cannot raise the money to go racing you "dumb down" the motorcycles to make them cheaper. This is a death spiral which I fear we have already started.
I would hope and expect that the sport is big enough to survive his absence, after all he has been rumored to go F1 racing for a few years now, and he cannot go on riding indefinitely, although that seems easier these days. So you would think that someone in DORNA, the MotoGP rights holder would be looking hard to replace him, if as suggested the current high ratings depend on Valentino. As with any great sportsman Valentino has been able to not only be the best at what he does, but at also building an aura about him that appeals to the fans, something Valentino seems extraordinarily well tuned in to. So who is there? His team mate Lorenzo is no slouch, giving Valentino a run in the Championship even before the accident, and then there is yesterday's winner Pedrosa who had been predicted to be the next Rossi. Beyond that it starts to get a bit thin. Dovizioso is not quite there, Spies is in his first season and the jury is still out. We have Edwards and Capirossi , both beyond their use by date, and then a bunch including Stoner, Hayden, Melandri and de Puniet that may have an occasional good day but not going to set the crowd alight like Valentino. Simoncelli has enough hair to be a character, but needs to show something in the top class. We had 16 bikes in the race after Valentino's accident, not good for a world class show.
Mind you, even in the days of Gardner et al the 500cc class was never a large grid, mainly due to the problem of actually getting hold of a 500cc machine, but the depth of quality in the field was amazing when you look back. Rainey, Schwantz, Lawson, Gardner, Doohan, Mamola, Sarron, Magee, Koscinski, and fast Freddie, any one of which capable of leading a race, and often a pack of four or five doing just that. Then behind them you had the likes of Ron Haslam, Chandler, Goddard, Chili, De Radigues, Mackenzie, and McElnea. Maybe I am biased but I find it hard to compare that lot with today's field.
So where is the next Valentino coming from? Is he already in Moto2? hard to tell, that class is all over the place. Makes for good racing, but we had Kenny Noyes on pole in France and almost last in qualifying in Italy. Hard to see anyone for the US National Series, and I have no idea about the other countries. World Superbike has some young peddlers, Leon Haslam being one that comes to mind, but is he "continental" enough to appeal to Valentino's followers?
It seems harder today than ever for good young riders to rise to the top level. Despite the popularity of the World Championships with increased viewership in a large number of countries across the globe it still seems hard, if not impossible, to find the money required to go racing. It obviously costs a lot of money to race at this level, money that can only come with sponsorship. F1 seems to be able to raise considerably more money for the teams to spend, and yes the audience is larger, but I doubt that the sponsorship levels are in the same proportion. I see numbers of 600m for F1, and I have heard 100m for bikes in over 100 countries, so a good level of exposure. I would doubt that motorcycle sponsorship is anywhere in the same ratio to F1. So why is it so hard? Part of the problem we had when I worked for Kenny was that the manufacturers themselves treated the racing as an R&D exercise, not marketing, with therefore a restricted budget. It made us very annoyed to watch a Yamaha F1 engine explode every race at a cost of probably $100m a year, when we were winning championships at less than a tenth of that, only to be told the F1 engine was marketing !
Where are all the big name sponsors that F1 attracts? Does motorcycling still carry a stigma? Do motorcycle fans not buy anything? I would have thought the young fans I see at races would be a great demographic for someone. It cannot be for want of trying. The downside of course is Moto2. If you cannot raise the money to go racing you "dumb down" the motorcycles to make them cheaper. This is a death spiral which I fear we have already started.
Reader Comments (2)
I can't see motorcycle racing really being any more popular than it already is quite frankly. Thank god for the Rossi phenomenon over the past 10 years because it would have been much less popular without that.
Why? Difficult to quantify but undoubtably Rossi is a unique character with the ability to appeal to non motorcycle people just like Barry Sheene did 30 years ago. Those sort of people don't come around very often.
To be honest I'm surprised Valentino hasn't taken the opportunity to go F1. He has nothing left to prove in Moto GP and until Saturday has been very lucky as you say not to have injured himself before.
I'm a died in the wool bike racing fan and it would be a great loss to two wheeled sport but I would love to see him in an F1 car. In Italy his presence on the grid would treble the gate and if he was to take the undeniably deep plunge I'm sure Ferrari would move heaven and earth to accomodate him in their own particular carbon fibre tub.
Moto2. Good points you have raised Bob. I've just spent time recently trying to understand where the money is in the business model. Where is the money for the motorcycle industry? Show me the money for the longevity of the sport's future. You ask, where are the riders going to come from? The days of Aussies on the podium rapidly coming to an end as our racing does not support and connect with international racing in significant ways at all. Good question where is the next sporting character going to from with the style, charm and charmisma to have the world back on it's feet cheering and to attract sponsors into racing for sustainability.