Kawasaki PUNTS DMG-controlled Road Racing

[Warchild]

Kawasaki pulls out of DMG circus for 2010

The reason cited is the "current economic situation", but I suspect everyone knows the primary reason... DMG has fucked up American Road Racing so badly, Kawasaki doesn't want to be part of the laughingstock it has become.

Now, I have no doubt the economic climate isn't helping the situation, but.... just like Suzuki, I doubt Kawasaki wants to be part of the embarrassing joke DMG has made of Road Racing in this country. What a pity.

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

Shoot..., we (probably?) won't be able to watch the 250 Ninja Spec. class whoop-up on the H-D XR1200 Spec. class...!

I'd actually pay to see them run together...

 

[madmike2]

All Buell all the time!

They put all of their eggs in the "interesting racing" basket with its bastardized, rule-of-the-moment rather than class structure, thinking no manufacturer would actually pull out.

Whoops! :dribble:

Dayam! :blink:

Maybe they can quickly finance and inaugurate a class whereby the left over Buells can race against modified Hyosung 650s.

 

[Crash Cash]

Maybe they can quickly finance and inaugurate a class whereby the left over Buells can race against modified Hyosung 650s.

Well, they wouldn't want the Buells to lose THAT badly!

Seriously though, who is left? Honda & Kawasaki are gone. Suzuki factory is gone, and the team is run by M4 (I think?). Is Yamaha still here?

 

[Bugnatr]

We always have the Chevy, Dodge, Ford- Pork the other White Meat 300.

 

[scubatech]

Usually i'm looking forward to the next season of racing about now. I guess it will be Moto GP and WSB.

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

AMA screwed up the management of professional racing, but it took a big outfit like DMG to destroy it. F*ckers.

 

[madmike2]

I'm only a casual spectator so I don't understand all the political moves and the "ins-and-outs" of what has transpired.

From my perspective, as a part time observer, the class structures and names were all too confusing for me to differentiate. To me, being an "old" drag race fan, it was like the difference between the AHRA class names/structure and the NHRA class difference/structures. In motorcycling there are/were many different names with very little distinction as all the bikes LOOK the same.

Why couldn't they do something as simple as a 600cc amateur class, a 600cc professional class, the matching amateur/professional 1000cc classes (or whatever maximum displacement they decided). If there was a major discrepancy in performance (for engine style) simply add weight or limit intake size to equalize the difference for closer racing.

I guess I'm getting too old...and I remember when men used to reminisce about the "good old days" and how foolish I though THEY were. Doh!

Somehow, 1200cc Buells racing against 600cc other brands, and celebrating a "win", just seemed so...well...wrong. <_<

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

I can't say I have all the in's and out's of American racing in my head either MM, but you are trying to apply logic and fairness to a system which has as it's highest priority: Profit. The racing last year was not about competition or fairness, it was about money for DMG. (my guess). DMG thought the Harley faithful would watch and go to races and eventually build the brand (like NASCAR), thus making DMG more money. What they did was fail at that goal, make the racing a joke, and create huge enmity with other marques and riders.

 

[madmike2]

What they did was fail at that goal, make their the racing a joke, and create huge enmity with other marques and riders.

I gathered that. And I understand one wouldn't expect logic, guidelines, rules or the enforcement of those rules. Like I said....I'm turning to a rather simplistic orderly view of how things could be done.

Heaven forbid any sanctioning body would make it easy for the competitors or spectators!

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

What they did was fail at that goal, make their the racing a joke, and create huge enmity with other marques and riders.

I gathered that. And I understand one wouldn't expect logic, guidelines, rules or the enforcement of those rules. Like I said....I'm turning to a rather simplistic orderly view of how things could be done.

Heaven forbid any sanctioning body would make it easy for the competitors or spectators!

Oh. :blink: Yeah.

I reread your post and musta missed that little bit. doh! hno-smiley02:

 

[Randy]

Factory Suzuki is still in. They consolodated the factory on and off road racing programs under the Yoshimura banner. Tommy Gun and Blake Young riding. M4 will also be there with Martin Cardenas. Team Roadracingworld.com will be there with Chris Ulrich riding. Larry Pegram will again be on the Foremost Ducati. Factory Yamaha is still in. They moved the roadracing effort under the Graves banner. Danny Eslisk will be on the Geico Suzuki. Haven't heard anything about Roger Lee Hayden. I know he had something in the works for Moto2, but, not sure if anything has solidified. No word on Disalvo, but, I would assume he'll go overseas. No word on Hacking - heard there might be some WSBK teams looking at him. Haven't heard anything about Celtic racing. KWS is still trying to line up sponsors for the factory Aprilia effort. Jordan deal is still being worked. There were talks earlier that they might be on a BMW, but, last I heard, they were trying to get a Suzuki deal done.

Look, I'm not a big fan of DMG, but, using them as the scapegoat is getting old. Kawasaki is definitely hurting financially and is scaling back/pulling out everywhere. Same with Honda. The Canadian Superbike series is all but dried up (1 single race event and 3 double header events). British Superbike is losing title sponsors and riders are being forced to bring more money with them just to throw a leg over a bike. World Superbike is losing teams and we've all seen the limited MotoGP grids. Things suck all over right now.

 

[Crash Cash]

Look, I'm not a big fan of DMG, but, using them as the scapegoat is getting old.

It's not a scapegoat. I'm specifically not going to races because of DMG, so they don't get my money, and I'm thinking of canceling my AMA membership for the same reason. So are several other racers/spectators I know. This has nothing to do with the economy. It's also known that the factories are not happy with the current situation. The Buell rulebook situation was one major reason that Honda left, according to Ray Blank at Honda, even though it wasn't cited in their statement.

DMG made it a waste of time to go to the US races for the manufacturers. I'm thinking they would have stuck it out with a smaller program since the US is a major market, but now it's a waste of money to show up at all.

 

[Randy]

Look, I'm not a big fan of DMG, but, using them as the scapegoat is getting old.

It's not a scapegoat. I'm specifically not going to races because of DMG, so they don't get my money, and I'm thinking of canceling my AMA membership for the same reason. So are several other racers/spectators I know. This has nothing to do with the economy. It's also known that the factories are not happy with the current situation. The Buell rulebook situation was one major reason that Honda left, according to Ray Blank at Honda, even though it wasn't cited in their statement.

DMG made it a waste of time to go to the US races for the manufacturers. I'm thinking they would have stuck it out with a smaller program since the US is a major market, but now it's a waste of money to show up at all.

I don't disagree that there are people not going to the races because of DMG, but, that wasn't the issue being discussed. What was being discussed was teams, not spectators, falling out of the mix. To say that DMG is the primary reason for Kawasaki and others leaving isn't 100% accurate. Regardless of what Ray Blank says, they didn't bring a competitive package. It's not like they were running at the front and only being beat by the Buell. Even if that was his argument, now that Buell is out, what will he blame it on? I will agree that DMG is part of the reason for Honda's pullout, but, not 100%. Blank states that he can't say to his boss that racing in the US is helping to sell motorcycles, but, on the flipside, if you aren't putting a package out there that puts you at the front of the pack, of course it isn't going to help you. What do they think the buying pulic is thinking -'man, that Honda must be a great bike being able to consistently run mid pack - I've got to get me one'.

 

[Warchild]

I definitely place the blame of the demise of American Road Racing on DMG. They are as fucked up as a soup sandwich. I am not alone in this thinking. I think it is just more convenient (and politically 'erect') to blame the economy.

Several other articles also suggest who the actual culprit is - some vague, some not so vague:

https://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Dec/091202purseinfo.htm

https://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Nov/091111c.htm

https://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Sep/090918hondaout.htm

But the following two articles (by those much, MUCH closer to American Road Racing than any of us) provide a crushing tale:

Kevin Schwantz gives DMG a grade of 'D'

Reg O'Rourke Grades DMG: F

 

[Randy]

I'll continue to admit that DMG is fucked up. What I won't cave on is the fact that the economy is playing a significant role in the current situation. I am friends with someone who was directly impacted by the latest Kawasaki news. The economy played a much much bigger role in the pullout of Kawasaki than the DMG clusterfuck. Isn't that what this thread was about?

- Reduced purses can be argued either way - series sponsors aren't going continue to participate because the show is fucked up or series sponsors aren't going to continue to participate because the funds aren't there. Regardless, the purses for the front runners have never been significant and are not what kept the factories at the races.

- Rob Dingman - AMA is the one that sold the series off. You can't sell it off and then later whine about not having a leg to stand on if you didn't put articles in the terms of the sale that would allow you to regain some level of control

- Honda - already been discussed

Schwantz and Reg - I agree with most of their points.

 

[Warchild]

I'm just saddened that it has all come to this. I just can't get terribly excited about the series anymore.

On a positive note, World Superbike and MotoGP are as exciting as it's ever, and I am really looking forward to next year's racing, particularly World Superbike.. I'm guessing James Tosland is going to be hungry to prove himself on the seat vacated by Ben Spies. I'm actually pulling for Haga, though... the dude is just beyond awesome, but always manages to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory year after year. He sure is blistering fast on that Ducati, as well as Fabrizio.

And while I hated Biaggi in MotoGP, I have completely changed my tune about him in his WSB role. The guy kicks ass, and that Aprilia is amazing.

Glad to see Andrew Pitt returning to WSB next year; he oughta be fun to watch on that BMW race bike.

And Chris Vermeulen dropping out of MotoGP to make his WSB debut on that factory Kawasaki along with Tom Sykes.... that should interesting to watch, too!

 

[Randy]

To be honest, I didn't pay that much attention to WSBK before last year, but, now I'm hooked. I think 2010 is going to be a fantastic year. As much as I would like to see Haga win, I'm not sure he's got what it takes to pull it off.

Wouldn't be surprised if:

- Crutchlow outperforms Toseland

- Fabrizio outperforms Haga

- Camier outperforms Biaggi

- Vermulen/Sykes are rarely in the top 10 (take a guess where some of the money came from to help fund the Kawi WSB team)

- Rea wins the championship

Heard there might be a press release today or maybe later this week about Edmonson...we'll see

 

[MotorToad]

To be honest, I didn't pay that much attention to WSBK before last year, but, now I'm hooked. I think 2010 is going to be a fantastic year. As much as I would like to see Haga win, I'm not sure he's got what it takes to pull it off. Wouldn't be surprised if:

- Crutchlow outperforms Toseland I'll be surprised if he doesn't.

- Fabrizio outperforms Haga Certainly he will for a couple of races, but he's just too stupid to perform all season.

- Camier outperforms Biaggi I don't expect that. At least not at first.

- Vermulen/Sykes are rarely in the top 10 Kawi hasn't made a good race bike since the 7RR.

- Rea wins the championship Far from impossible. It needs to be Haga, though!

As for the factories dumping DMG racing, yeah it certainly has a lot to do with the manus being broke, but what I (and I think "we") am saying is that DMG really encourages the factories to quit. I mean, if you're $2M short for the season and you're going to make cuts, you look at the situation and notice WSB treats you well, BSB treats you well, and AMA sucks out your will to live. Sure a couple of teams have dropped WSB but the factories are still involved. Same with BSB. The only other series I know where factories have pulled out are Kawasaki in MotoGP (and who could blame them, their pissing money on horrid results) and Canadian Superbike, where no one ever will notice.