Cycle News

FEATURE MOTOGP BOSSES P82 the bling without so many bucks. "I think the common software should avoid maybe some extra work at home of the electronic engineers trying to develop too much on that side, because, in the end, we know that whatever we bring on the table is available to our competitors," Ciabatti said. "So I think maybe once we are happy with the general software and then maybe on that side we slow down." MOTOGP GLOBAL EXPANSION The logistics and costs involved in globetrotting a race series are not small, and are a part of those running costs that Suppo refer- enced. Lately the trend is shifting to more "flyaways"—races outside of Europe, but despite those costs the big three welcome that global expansion. Why? Money. In this case, money means heading to markets where bike sales are blooming-Asia and South America. "We're very much market- ing focused," Jarvis said about Yamaha. "The main purpose to be here is really to promote the brand and to support the sales and the marketing at the end of the day. That's the main reason. Technical development is also very important, but if we didn't sell bikes, we wouldn't be here. The big areas of business es- pecially are in Asia, and some of South America is developing very, very well." These new markets are the fu- ture, but that didn't mean aban- doning Europe. "But we've got to make sure that we keep the balance between the traditional European venues, which are the classic venues of the championship," Jarvis said. "But we have to go to these over- seas places. It's the future." Suppo echoed that, calling for "This is why actually Ducati now has a plant in Thailand, which is providing all the bikes except for the Panigale to supply all the Asian countries. And this is why we have an assembly plant in Brazil to be able to export in Bra- zil with these anti-duties. "Obviously for us keeping a good number of races in Europe, but it would be great if we could expand the championship more to Asia and more to South America." Jarvis wanted to clarify one caveat: "Without expanding the number of races." The other bonus to MotoGP's increased popularity globally has been a shot in the arm for racing teams, who were hit with a drop in sponsorship due to the finan- cial crisis in Europe. "A few years ago we were strug- gling," Jarvis said. "I think many teams were struggling to get promotional sponsors and part- ners. And certainly in our case we feel there's a lot more interest coming from these outside Eu- rope sources. I think the source of funding from Italy and Spain has dried up considerably over the last years, but the source of funding from other regions, other places, other motivations, other markets has improved. Our team is in much better shape now, but that's not because of the Euro- pean market, that's because of the global popularity of the sport that's attracting it. I think that the popularity of the sport is bringing extra players to the game." CN "To reduce the R&D cost is in my opinion, almost impossible. Fillipo Preziosi taught me years ago that the cost is not related to the rule. It is more related to the interest in the situation." - Livio Suppo maybe fewer races in Spain and Italy, where they hold four and two a year, respectively. "We need to stay in Europe, because, of course Europe, es- pecially for us, is very important," Suppo said. "But on the other side, I think in the future, if we have less races in Spain and It- aly, for example, and more races in South America and Indonesia and Thailand, I think these are more than welcome." It was the same for Ciabatti and Ducati. "Also with Ducati, those mar- kets like Asia and South Ameri- ca are very important," he said.

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