Deffo all good banter, I'm so glad we all have different opinions I like rossi, but I like motorbike racing more, I think Hayden was a good rider not a great rider, plus those eyebrows wow![/QUOTE] LOL fair play mate.. just reread what i posted and although it was meant in good nature it may have sounded a lil harsh.. not my intention. glad you like a wind up and didnt take it the wrong way! Still dont agree with ya views on hayden though! anyone who gets as far as the gp is a great rider and anyone who can stay there for a decade and have a title to his name surely has to be considered as a lil bit good? yes his achievements and style might not be on par with some he has raced against but its all relative... even though he was relegated to an open class bike and has hardly featured in the headlines of late, he's a class act and a champ that truly deserves his lil slice of history. also probably the only rider the no one in the paddock has a bad word to say about
Bike racing in Spain is not popular because there are so many Spanish riders. There are so many Spanish riders because bike racing is so popular. The Spanish just love the internal combustion engine. In the UK, bike racing is on a par with canoeing as far as the media is concerned, and maybe less important than sailing. Mainstream opinion in the UK still sees bikes as oikish conveyances for people who are irresponsible or can't afford a car. I find it significant that although William and Harry are bike (indeed Ducati) fans, there is very little reporting of this in the media. It might even have created a groundswell for people to re-evaluate the acceptability of bikes, but it hasn't. Corporate sponsors are not interested in putting money into things with little return. MotoGP is not only no longer on the Beeb (lack of viewers and interest, apparently), it's not even on ITV or Sky. How would you sell that to a potential sponsor? The nation knew Barry Sheene (Rossi levels of charisma) but that's about the only racer they did know. Would bike racing be more popular with more British entrants? Clearly not. The Brits have totally dominated WSBK almost since its inception and no one outside bike fans has ever heard of it.
thats cos wsb's a complete snooze fest and the riders have about as much personality as a paper clip didnt seem to fare so badly when senor fogarty was packing brands hatch and the like out in the 90's
Well put, I had started to type in something similar a few hours back in reply, but couldn't be bothered to really counter the reasoning behind the argument and gave up. Why not make MotoGP along the lines of "It's a Knockout" where every rider has to be of a different nationality? That seemed to be the point of the post and the reason for my indifference in replying. Thanks for helping me out.
You got me on that one...im not disrespecting mexican motogp riders im sure they have some very fast ones,it was just a example.
Being popular in Spain won't keep MotoGP in business,and btw I was not implying that riders should be all of different nationalities.If thats what you interpreted you were mistaken.(rest assured if that was the point I was trying to make I would have made it obvious).But would you be watching if it was an ALL Spanish grid? Or if ALL of the works rides were taken by one nations riders? Motorcycle racing was incredibly popular,(far more than it is now), throughout Europe back in the GP days,drawing mega crowds not only for the World Championships but also for series like the Transatlantic Trophy:even with snow on the ground Mallory was packed to the rafters,most spectators on bikes too.A lot of Brits planned their holidays around that short series-all the top yanks vs all the top Brits at the beginning. Many of my generation stopped being interested when almost all of the works rides were taken by Americans...and then when Honda spat out the dummy and said they'd piss off unless two strokes were banned,the FIM capitulated and moto-cross crowds dwindled too. If people have got someone to cheer for,especially if they have a chance of winning,then the crowds will come. If there's going to be an endless procession of Spanish riders winning and no one else has a chance,a lot of people stop watching...and if they don't pay their BT and MotoGP subs,Dorna will have to sit up and take notice.
Emmetts opinion: The Editor's Opinion: How Heroes And Villains Can Help Save World Superbikes | MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks
That was your post and you seem to be getting your knickers in a twist becasue I "face palmed it". Nothing has been misunderstood. It's ridiculous thinking.
LOL not at all old bean. As you pointed out to someone else earlier in the thread,they hadn't actually addressed the comments you had made. And as you hadn't addressed the point I had made,I felt that the 2015 entry list might be useful in further illustrating the point. No problem if you disagree,but I would appreciate hearing your view on why you think it's a ridiculous idea,rather than a lofty,"I can't be bothered". Also,just because I punt a suggestion into the discussion,doesn't mean I believe it's necessary,or workable,or even worthwhile. But I don't suggest it lightly,I do it because I've been thinking about something and I'd like to comment on it. And what I was thinking was,"would the current Valencia results controversy have occurred if the the first three places had been taken by riders of different nationalities"? Or are Rossi fans whinging simply because it's three Spaniards? And then when I looked at the entry list,I noted how many Spanish riders ride in MotoGP and how many are riding works bikes. Which made me wonder whether this was acceptable:not because they are Spanish,but how many riders from one nation would be acceptable to the viewing public. Which led me on to thinking : as good as Marquez is,would he be an,"alien",if he wasn't on a works Honda?.He's been beaten plenty of times by other riders in the smaller classes,so if the riders who beat him were on works Honda's too,would they be able to stay with him? A good many of us fervently desire seeing a Brit on the top step of the podium,(thats human nature),but that chance may never come if they don't get the best machinery,or at least an opportunity to ride it.
That's a good and interesting article with an interesting thesis. Unfortunately, having told us that BSB is a lot more successful in GB than WSBK, he then completely ignores this when trying to make his point about heroes and villains so I am still none the wiser as to what "entertainment" has been created with BSB which hasn't been created in WSBK. Are there heroes and villains in BSB? I don't really follow it at all. The WSBK races I have watched have been on French Eurosport. You can sense the commentators' ennui with a series where all the podium places are consistently filled by Brits. Do they really care if Rea beats Sykes? No. What interests them is Guintoli, but unfortunately, Guintoli was pretty much nowhere to be seen this year. And I confess that my interest is pretty much limited to Chaz Davies on the Ducati. When all the other riders are Brits and not on Ducatis I don't much care who wins. I've been to see WSBK a few times over the years at Monza, Hockenheim or Magny Cours. It used to be a great event with real atmosphere back in the Foggy Falappa Slight days, but now? Pfffff... Having a dominance of Spaniards in MotoGP doesn't do the sport any favours. But things are looking up. Moto 3 is not dominated by Spaniards and that is the future. The Moto 2 champ is French and Swiss and Brit contenders have won races this year, so it's not a one-way street there either. I suspect Spanish domination will wane just as American or Australian domination did. These eras come around and then disappear.
It is true that eras wax and wane. The difference is that a Spanish company, Dorna, controls racing - this was never true of the Americans, Australians, etc. If it becomes apparent to Dorna that their commercial interests are best served by not having GP dominated by Spanish riders, will they turn out to be more motivated by nationalism or by greed?
World championship racing is dominated by Spaniards in almost every category, whether trials, MX, or road racing, because they start 'em young in so many junior championships (Marco Morelli is a National Champion in the 4 to 7 yr old category at 5 years of age!). The weather is also in their favour so that doting parents need not fret over little Pancho sliding off in the wet every other weekend. There has always been genuine fanaticism for 2 wheel sport and that creates a seemingly annual crop of next generation World Champs, so until we have global warming throwing us a hand with the weather, British business and industry willing to sponsor anything and everything to do with the sport, parents willing to make sacrfices to invest in expensive kit, or find sponsors, then give up their time to lug their children to races, organising bodies to lay on championships in every region, I suppose we'd better get used to seeing Spanish domination on starting grids, because whether we like it or not, that is where the talent is largely going to come from for the forseeable future
