Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/471913
Dorna's never-ending economy drive, necessary though it may be. Racing at this level, surely, is meant to be expensive. The logos of the old days were rather better known than that of finance-fixers and on-line foreign exchange brokers CWM, who are engaged in a necessarily shadowy business where secrecy goes hand in hand with gambling with other people's money. The old badges were the likes of Marlboro, Lucky Strike, Rothmans, HB and so on. Dirty cigarette companies rolling in dirty money, banned from spend- ing it on advertising, and looking for ways to get rid of it. Racing provided the ideal outlet. Not only was the activ- ity itself eye-wateringly costly, but there were any number of other ways in which to burn the promotional budget. Just one example: Lucky Strike flew a big contingent of the professional press out to a superlux five-star resort in Bali, to launch the 1995 team. The holiday lasted several days, including white-water raft- ing, gourmet feasting and lavish barbecues on the beach. Then there were the trips to Brazil and Argentina, the din- ners in Malaysia, the celebratory jamborees for every race win, let alone those for championship success. The firework displays alone probably matched a mod- ern Moto team's annual budget. It was not only the journalists smiling bravely as they clung on for the ride. The numbers of happy fellow passengers included also the Japanese factories and their staff, the pit crews, and any number of willing hangers-on. By no coincidence (in case you think we were all just along for the ride) it was a time of brilliant racing as well. The main reason it's still referred to as The Golden Age. Great times, and a long way from the modern discipline of one-for-all restricted tires, limited engines with "frozen" develop- ment, and a ban on private test- ing. The last replaced by the ad- mittedly enjoyable but ultimately very limiting mass tests like those recently concluded at Sepang. I was particularly struck by a phrase in one of Suzuki's releas- es. The company had, they said, "improved overall power output without affecting affordability." It may have been a slip of the pen: surely they meant "reliability." But it is revealing of the general mind-set. One advantage of the old spend-spend days was that teams could test stuff privately, and then turn up and surprise their rivals. That's not allowed any more. Any surprises come in public. For example, the impres- sive initial out-the-box speed of the all-new Ducati GP15 at Sepang; likewise the advent of Yamaha's full both-directions seamless-shift gearbox. Doubt- less both would have preferred to reveal these publicly in the full heat of combat. I can't recall which of the two CWM riders said to me, with some trepidation at the unfamil- iar lavish spending: "I hope it doesn't all go horribly wrong half- way through the season." Hope so too, although since the CWM FX whizz-kids already sponsor the London Boat Show and the Wigan Warriors rugby leaguers, and are "partners" of Chelsea Football Club, there is every suggestion that their pockets are very deep. I hesitate to call this "dirty money," because although bank- ers and associated financial trad- ers don't enjoy the brightest of reputations at the present there is no suggestion of any illegality. But I am more than ready to welcome this kind of backing for bike racing with open arms. Let's have some more please. Extravagance makes for better racing. CN "But I am more than ready to welcome this kind of backing for bike racing with open arms. Let's have some more please. Extravagance makes for better racing." VOL. 52 ISSUE 9 MARCH 3, 2015 P135