MOTOGP » Suzuki close to revealing riders for '09

The reason most AMA superbike riders don't go to WSBK is simply becasue they don't have to go. WSBK is a lateral move and in terms of pay it is definitely a step down. AMA guys will only go to the world level on their terms for this reason - they don't have to bend over backwards for a world team. If Nicky didn't have a plush Repsol ride waiting, he probably wouldn't have left. Spies knows he can do the job because he believes he is better than Nicky and Hopper. I believe he is a better rider than they where before they went across the pond. Hell, Hopper didn't even race superbike before he went to 500s - just AMA supersport and formula extreme.

Raw Dawg - learn to read, I was refering to the Hodgson interview that _YOU_ brought up earlier in the thread. But yes, in its current state AMA is crap (my opinion as well, no longer refering to the Hodgson interview). There's many reasons it's crap, one being the ridiculous amount of riders that they let participate. 2nd being that half those riders don't even follow the rules and move over when blue flagged, etc. 3rd being that there's only 1 really competitive team and the rest are sucking hind tit and work as grid fillers (not counting the poorly funded privateers without access to the top notch gear, I'm just speaking of the factory teams sans Suzuki).

There are racers that want big pay checks, and there are racers who strive to be world champions. If Nicky wanted a big pay check he could have stayed in AMA and collected one, but he wanted a world championship under his belt. I don't understand why you defend people who sit around in lesser series and cherry pick rather than trying to achieve something better. As for the 'would i', if I was getting 6mil a year like Mladin... half that is 3mil a year, so i'd still be sitting pretty if I took a 50% pay cut and went to the world scene. Not only that, but you guys keep talking about a riders potential as far as results go. ... cont'd....

Why not examine their earning potential as well. The potential to earn big bucks in the world scene is there, you just have to go for it. The average factory rider in AMA gets paid more than the average rider in MotoGP/WSBK, but the potential is there to make big bucks. Take a pay cut to move away from AMA, get good results in MotoGP/WSBK, renegotiate your contract, get paid more. It's not a hard concept to follow.

Another comment to add, you mention all those champions that AMA has produced... how many of them were in the past 10 years? Roberts and Hayden? And prior to those two, what was the average salary in AMA compared to MotoGP/WSBK? Some riders have GOALS and others just collect pay checks. It's that simple. Hayden could have collected Mladin sized checks if he stayed in AMA, Edwards could have collected large checks from Ducati had he stayed in WSBK instead of taking a pay cut and going to Aprilia, etc. It just comes down to whether or not the rider wants it.

Matt
I didn't argue or contradic what Hodgson said - I only quoted his statement about the pay and yes I know the world doesn't respect AMA.

You keep saying that AMA is a lesser national series but what national series are you comparing it to? BSB? All Japan? Italian or Spanish? How many champions have they produced? What other national series is soooo much better? Yeah, it's a 2 pony show know but I can't fault Suzuki for building the best bike.

And yes some riders do have goals. And over here that goal may be to win AMA. I know it's hard for Euros to image but everyone's goal isn't to go to Europe.

Hayden just won 2 years ago. Here is our national series champion turned MotoGP champion. So where are the recent national champions turned MotoGP Champions from the other series? When you find them, let me know...........

Not sure if anyone has posted this already, but the Hodgson interview about the AMA in 2009 is here:
(www).superbikeplanet.com/2008/Aug/080819b.htm