Two of the "Big Four" Japanese motorcycle manufacturers have committed to a motorcycle racing season next year with no American riders on factory teams. Honda and Suzuki are taking a gamble that American race fans who ride Hondas and Suzukis will be content to cheer for ..... no one. At least no one from America. I think it is a mistake to take a publicity dive in the world's largest motorcycle market. American racers sell bikes in America. In 2009, the cheering and the sales in America will be around Ducati, Yamaha, and Kawasaki. Regardless of who wins the races next year, Honda and Suzuki are losers. Here's why.
America motorcycle dealers will have no excitement about their riders.
Imagine yourself next spring, talking with your local dealer about racing, saying, "I'm rooting for (insert rider name) this year." If you are a Honda or Suzuki dealer, the names they will mention will not be riding your bikes. No posters of Americans, no rider helmet paint schemes, no public face, literally nothing that represents "American Honda." Zip, nada. "American Suzuki" has (drum roll) Tommy Hayden. I love Tommy, but as an American, I'm not feeling the love.
In sharp contrast, Ducati dealers are literally sqealing with glee to get Nicky Hayden associated with their brand. They are going to sell bikes, and I suspect, a ton of merchandise. The better he does, the more they will sell. Yamaha still has Edwards, Ben Spies in World Superbike, and if American superbike gets sorted, they will have Americans there too. They are covered. Kawasaki has Hopper, Hacking, and Roger Lee Hayden. Covered. Lots of buzz and smiles at those dealers, feeling the love.
America media will have no excitement about their riders.
When local media covers the GPs at Indy and Laguna Seca next year, they will be drumming up the American riders and their chances. Do you think Honda and Suzuki will even get a mention? I seriously doubt it. No tv interviews, no serious ink. Although Honda has a great potential for more bad press, as it did at this year's Indy event. The void of charisma in the Honda and Suzuki garages is absolutely staggering.
Honda and the Spanish Mafia
The press has had a field day with Honda's generally accepted mistreatment of Nicky Hayden. The negative press around Alberto Puig and Dani Pedrosa is embarrassing. Honda wants to win, at all costs. Repsol, the Spanish oil Company is their major sponsor. Dorna, a Spanish media corporation, controls the series rules and media distribution. I don't know of a single American that is rooting for Pedrosa. Even if Pedrosa does win the championship, it will always be tainted in the eyes of American race fans. Honda has shown us that it actually is possible to use racing to reduce sales in your best market. (That's not a compliment.)
Suzuki embraces GP mediocrity
Suzuki had a promising young American rider named Ben Spies, poised to be the next Kevin Schwantz (at least a prayer anyway). So Spies was asking for too much money, so what. Try to actually get a rider who has the potential to win you a championship. There is literally no chance that Caporossi or Vermeulen will become GP world champion. There is no plan for the future. Why bother running the bikes at all? As bad as 2008 was for Suzuki, I expect 2009 to be worse.
Your last premiere class GP world champion rider was from.....America!
Honda's last champion: Nicky Hayden. Instead of supporting your champion, you built your next bike around your second rider. This is the same rider who took out his own teammate, and almost threw away the championship. This does not make sense.
Suzuki's last champion: Kenny Roberts Junior. The one before that: Kevin Schwantz. Those were great days, weren't they? I bet they sold bikes too!
Your last AMA Superbike champion rider was from.....America!
Honda's last champion: Nicky Hayden. So, you took him to Europe to give the GPs a try. Result? A world championship that you didn't even appreciate. Duhamel and Hodgson aren't winning races. Your efforts in America have pretty much imploded.
Suzuki's last champion: Ben Spies, three straight years, selling bikes, screaming potential for GPs. He's riding for Yamaha next year. I'll bet it's not much more, maybe less, than he was paid in 2008. The hope is gone now.
Respect
Get some! Honda has put all it's effort into a Spanish rider that American race fans openly booed at Indy. Suzuki took the one rider they had who had a remote possibility of becoming GP world champion, and left him out in the cold. Alienating American race fans is not good for business. American Honda and American Suzuki had better wake up and do something in 2010. Their 2009 is going to be a long, boring, lonely year.
Update 2009: Honda has announced that they are pulling out of the AMA altogether for 2009. The recession is hitting hard. Ben Spies and Nicky Hayden are doing good times in off-season testing.
No comments:
Post a Comment