But an impressive set of improvements have already been introduced to the
MotoGP show as Dorna and the teams’ organisation IRTA strive to improve the sport’s appeal to sponsors, and many more changes are planned for 2008. To prove the point, IRTA chief Mike Trimby rolled out this list of developments when we spoke at Mugello:
• Teams leasing factory bikes from Honda, Ducati and Yamaha have been guaranteed that agreements will be renewed next year, so that they can now approach sponsors with firm plans;
• In conjunction with Dorna, payments for the bikes have been guaranteed;
• Dorna is working with teams on their marketing plans to help them attract sponsors;
• TV coverage of downfield riders is being increased;
• IRTA is funding its own research to measure how much TV coverage individual teams are receiving;
• Research at the Spanish round at Barcelona and the German round at the Sachsenring will analyse fans’ awareness of riders, nationalities, teams and bikes, and whether fans’ switch their spending to brands that back MotoGP;
• Every bike will carry an on-board TV camera in 2008 compared to the top10 bikes at present;
• The TV programme director will be able to monitor pictures from every on-board camera in 2008, instead of from four at present;
• 125 and 250cc teams will get their own sponsorship summit later this year.
You’ve got to admit, that’s a truckload of movement in just a few weeks. And there’s more. While the separate MotoGP paddock won’t work, in Estoril or Valencia this year the MotoGP hospitality units will be housed in a fenced-off area with wide streets and NO SCOOTERS. So no longer will a potential blue-chip sponsor risk having his ankle bone snapped by Valentino or Casey as they attempt a qualifying lap from the pitbox to a plate of pasta.
"We want to enhance the experience of the VIP guest who is sponsoring a MotoGP team," Trimby said.
Yup, it’s marketing talk. But you can’t have the joy of watching extreme-tech 20,000rpm bikes ridden at 210mph unless there’s someone to pay for it. And all these changes have immediate real-world benefits. The Anglo-American Team KR outfit, for example, will have an on-bike camera on their KR212V at their 'local' tracks at
Donington and Laguna Seca this summer - a real boost in their bid to haul in sponsors. Tech 3's
Sylvain Guintoli had one on his Yamaha at Le Mans - the race where he heroically led, crashed and remounted before finishing 10th.
d’Antin: 'Ban Works 125s and 250s'.
