The MotoGP grid could be cut down to a worrying 16 bikes next season if Kawasaki can't be saved from their financial woes. It seems the world economic crisis is a lot bigger and more real than many of us care to believe. The top flight motorcycling championship is hardly rammed with riders and teams as it is and it looks to be getting worse before it gets better.
Manufacturers all over the world are struggling with sales decreasing and their budgets tightening so, is it a case of who is next? A glimmer of hope in the shape of Jorge Martinez could keep a Kawasaki presence in the series but I can't see the Spaniard keeping on John Hopkins and Marco Melandri. I imagine that a deal would be struck so that Martinez could field his own choice of riders that is likely to include the likes of Alvaro Bautista, being a Spaniard and possibly Marco Simoncelli as Martinez's backers are Italian.
The one thing that seems a little unfair to me is that the reasons for the green factory pulling out is said to be poor results from Hopkins and Anthony West as well as the credit crunch. Both riders are some of the best in the world and I don't agree with the blame being put on the riders because the factory can't engineer a competitive bike. We all know Hopkins is good for a top six finish on any given day like when he was onboard the Suzuki GSV-R so the finger should maybe be pointing in another direction on that front.
MotoGP needs a radical solution to try and encourage more manufacturers and teams to the paddock before the class dwindles into non-existence. Teams have come and gone before now trying to break into the MotoGP paddock such as, WCM in the 990cc era along with Aprilia but the extortionate cost with little to show for it made it an unrewarding experience. The latest team to try their metal was Ilmore in the 800cc era that also fell flat on it's face before their first season was done.
It will be a big loss if MotoGP lose team green next season and that's not to mention the two riders that could be out of a job. The new tyre rule has been implemented to try and close the gulf that occurs between the teams and make the efforts of the teams more worthwhile but Kawasaki may not even get a chance to ride on the new spec Bridgestone tyres. We shall sit and wait to see where the blue ribbon class goes from here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
The grid really can't afford to lose another 2 bikes.
It's interesting that Martinez effectively holds some bargaining power to try and ensure that Kawasaki might remain, though obviously as he's said he doesn't just want to make up the numbers till the crisis is over - he's been moving towards having his own team in the top class for some time now, and it would be a wasted ambition if he didn't have a good bike for Alvaro to ride (as that's surely who's ultimately going to be on it...)
To me the problem is that if they stay, they still need to pull their finger out and sort a decent machine or else the whole exercise is pointless.
And I hope that Martinez and Bati end up with gear that will let them get a title not merely a spot on the grid.
By the looks of it now, Jorge Martinez will not be involved in that project though, because he wanted to stay in the class for at least three years and with a guaranteed development which Kawasaki apparently couldn't or didn't want to guarantee. It seems as if Dorna is trying to get a "privateer" deal in some way to keep both riders, but with zero development on the bike which would ultimately see them running around at the back of the field with no chance of a podium or even a win.
And I have to correct you on your Simoncelli thought, because Martinez' sponsors are not Italian, but Spanish. This was also the reason why he didn't get a third Kawasaki in the first place as he needed a Spanish rider (first rumoured to be Elias, then Gibernau, then Debon or Rodriguez) to make the sponsors happy and Kawasaki wanted to field Nakano.
I'm pretty sure Alvaro Bautista wouldn't move up with this deal, if he wanted to he had done it in the first place when there were negotiations about a third Aspar Kawasaki during the 2008 season. And even if Simoncelli was Spanish, it is highly unlikely that Aspar would want him in his team, for more than one reason.
Post a Comment