Honda Road Racerhead #39

Road Racerhead comes to you today from a couple different locales in America’s Southwestern desert region. By the time you read this, I should be pedaling down a singletrack trail in Moab, Utah, with my dad, while Laurel Allen is checking in from Arizona. That meant we had to finish up our content a little early this week, but that worked out fine since the week’s biggest topic—Honda’s official withdrawal from AMA Pro Road Racing—became public mere hours after we finished up the last edition of Road Racerhead.

As I’m sure you know by now, the six-sentence announcement said that because “the current AMA/DMG racing environment does not align with our company goals,” American Honda “will not be renewing contracts with Corona Extra Racing and will be terminating the on-site Road Race operations by” Wednesday of next week.

Although which company goals the current environment doesn’t align with wasn’t specified, American Honda Senior VP Ray Blank has stated in the past that he thinks the rules should be more open than the current production-based package. The general concept is that OEMs use series with relatively open rules to develop technology that eventually trickles down to production machinery. That’s not a part of AMA Pro’s visions, according to CEO Roger Edmondson in a January interview I did with him for our March/April issue: After explaining that AMA Pro isn’t anti-factory, but “only anti the influence and the advantages that factories have enjoyed over the last few years,” Edmondson said the following:

“We shouldn’t be using national championship races for research and development. I’m sorry, but it’s supposed to be competition—it’s not a test. If the companies want to test and develop stuff, there are tracks all over the world, including in America. They could do all of that on their own money and time. We don’t need to be doing that at the races.”

The general assumption has been that AMA Pro is sorry to see Honda go, particularly since officials were recently touring Southern California on a tour of the American subsidiaries of the various OEMs, presumably in an effort to foster goodwill and get everyone pulling in the same direction. Elsewhere in that interview, however, Edmondson said the following:

“I think in the long term it’s going to be a healthier sport if we can create an environment where the customer teams, the dealer teams, or the satellite teams can field the bikes, and that when the factories show up, they bring eighteen-wheelers full of demo bikes and marketing guys and use the events more as a sales media than R&D.”

So, although plans and opinions can change (particularly in the current economy), Edmondson has gone on the record saying that he’d like factories to get out of racing but support the events in other ways. He seems to be getting what he wants in the first regard, but as we shall see a few paragraphs down, the second half of the equation is anything but a sure thing, as races are struggling for sponsorship.

Before I continue, let me temporarily hand the wheel over to Laurel, who has a good take on the whole factory vs. satellite thing:

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With all the shape-shifting going on these days, it’s probably appropriate to take a quick second to examine what makes a satellite arrangement so attractive for factories that want to maintain a paddock presence but choose not to DIY the effort. Not surprisingly, it’s cost savings; it’s significantly cheaper to farm out your race effort than to keep it in house, and most of that comes down to labor. Crews like Yamaha’s—most of the members of which are actual employees of the company—are the exception to the rule precisely because employees are a heck of a lot more expensive than contract laborers.

Fulltime employees generally require paying out higher wages plus benefits, whereas giving a chunk of support to a satellite team leaves that team to deal with salaries (generally lower), benefits (if any), administrative costs, and so on. Plus, if you’re an OEM working with a satellite scenario, a million dollars in support doesn’t really add up to a million dollars out of your pocket, since much of that is delivered in the form of parts support (which costs you significantly less than it’s valued at in terms of support). While the shift toward satellites and contractors is more frenzied now, however, it’s not particularly new—Honda’s effort featured fulltime employees some years ago, but moved their factory crews to contractual status even prior to the dismantling of the factory team—it’s just easier to notice this year since the supply far exceeds the demand for talented crew members right now.

In addition to those upsides of the satellite model, AMA Pro’s new-ish rules package means there are also far fewer downsides. Because bikes are now required to keep closer to their stock origins, factory teams are no longer allowed to work the kind of magic they once did on their motorcycles, which in turn means the level of technology won’t suffer much (if at all) if racing efforts are moved out-of-house. In short, it’s hard to come up good reasons for an OEM to justify bothering to keep a team in-house.

So—race directors are seeing more high-level crew (and rider) resumes float across their desks these days than they can shake a stick at, and chances are good we’re not done yet, which means remaining rounds of the British Superbike, World Superbike, and MotoGP series should be good places to do some AMA-rider and –personnel spotting (next year’s Moto2 class is of great interest to more than a few American riders).

According to team owner Richard Stanboli, there’s no word yet on whether Monster/Attack Kawasaki’s contract will be extended, and Kevin Erion (whose eponymous team is currently the effort most speculated about in the wake of the Honda announcement) has been tight-lipped about plans for 2010, precisely because he doesn’t yet know what they are or whether there’s any support to be had. At least four Erion employees have been let go in the meantime, and if a necessary level of support isn’t found, it’s not outlandish to think that Erion Racing—one of the most successful mainstays of the AMA paddock and a Honda partner for the past seventeen years—could likewise withdraw from the series.

In light of the series’ slow but steady hemorrhage of teams, riders, personnel, rigs, and venues—Miller Motorsports Park is not likely to return to the fold in 2010, and it’s worth wondering how Honda’s withdrawal will affect the three events it sponsors each year (Barber Motorsports personnel said they’ve not yet been contacted by their traditional event sponsor)—it’s pretty natural to let one’s gaze wander back over Yamaha and wonder why, as one industry insider put it, “everything seems to be happy in Yamahaland,” particularly when they’re bucking cost-cutting trends by staffing their factory team with actual employees.

It’s a good question, since Yamaha’s racing-division manager Keith McCarty says he’s not entirely sure he knows the answer, either. As far as the team’s employee structure goes, McCarty said, “I don’t know that we tried to gain any advantage; it was more of a corporate guideline that we were following with the way Yamaha’s overall business is done. And I’m not sure that one is a better process over the other one,” he added. “There’s good and bad with everything; I don’t know that there’s a big difference between the two, quite honestly. It’s kind of like two pairs of shoes, only one’s brown and one’s black.”

As for the disparity in healthy race teams (specifically the fact that Yamaha’s effort seems at least significantly healthier than the rest), McCarty said, “I think the situation is hurting everybody the same; we’re part of the slice of pie out there and we’re continuing to pay attention to the customers, and racing is a derivative of that. We’ve had a plan all along and that plan’s been modified, but maybe it’s just less noticeable than [in other companies]. Everybody’s goals change as their world changes; for Yamaha, I’m sure we’re going to have change, but maybe we’re just later to change than everyone else is because we already had things in motion and we wanted to play them out. We’ve had a pretty good presence worldwide in racing,” McCarty added, “and maybe people see that a little more because we’ve been having pretty good results.”

One theory about why Yamaha appears healthier and more willing and able to spend money on races hinges on overall product inventory, and the idea that Yamaha did a better job than the rest of the big four of keeping that inventory low in the lead-up to the economic crisis. On that subject, McCarty said, “I think we’ve got a lot of really smart people here who look long-range, looking for trends that could pose a problem. I think we as a company have done a great job of minimizing our expenses and maximizing the results that we get from the money we have—maybe better than a lot of people have. I don’t know for sure. I don’t know if what you’re seeing is the lack of results from some companies versus the gains of others, but I think we’re constantly looking ahead and keeping the things that are very important to us and our customers—that’s really our main focus right now. It’s a pretty complex situation, for sure.”

On the Suzuki front, rumors have abounded this week that the racing effort will be handed over whole-hog to Yoshimura, including the handling of contingencies and other, smaller pieces of the road race program. While that would likely mean another couple of jobs lost, the effort itself would probably look much the same from the outside, particularly as Mat Mladin’s longtime crew chief Pete Doyle has reportedly been tapped as a replacement for current team manager Don Sakakura, who’s expected to focus more on Suzuki’s business side in the future.

Now back to CJ.

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Thanks very much for that insightful roundup, Laurel.

Convincing the factories to support the series financially can’t be easy these days, and not only because of the recession. In addition to the production-based rules package, that unsatisfactory environment Honda alluded to probably has a lot to do with the general air of negativity that the series seems to be cursed with these days. Frankly, the just-ended season wasn’t much fun for anyone, marred as it was by animosity between officials, many teams and riders, and much of the press.

No matter who’s at fault, that’s hardly a setting that’s bound to be attractive to corporations, whether you’re talking motorcycle manufacturers or potential non-endemic sponsors. The series finale—a first-time event at New Jersey Motorsports Park—was an unqualified success, with a very healthy crowd and incredible racing, but it wasn’t nearly enough to change the downbeat mood. The tone of Honda’s press release, in which AMA Pro is referred to by its unofficial name, DMG, is evidence of how far things have deteriorated.

Truthfully, Honda’s departure isn’t exactly a shocker, as they already appeared to have one foot out the door. In fact, you may recall that Honda actually withdrew from this year’s series following the Daytona tire test, only to later reverse course and compete by employing its one rider (Neil Hodgson) and much of the crew through the satellite Corona Extra effort.

And it’s possible that even that decision was more a matter of finding a place for workers who were under preexisting contracts than a genuine change of heart.

Does the fact that Honda changed their mind once mean they could do so again? I’m not holding my breath, but we have heard rumors this week that the door may have been left open to AMA Pro to come back to the with good reasons why they should return. The Honda press release closed by saying, “All assets will be put into storage for future consideration,” which I suppose does leave a little wiggle room, although I’m certainly not holding my breath.

Hard as it is to believe considering all the vitriol, an unemotional assessment of the current series suggests that AMA Pro actually got the hard part right this year: from the perspective of anyone who enjoys good racing, their technical rules are pretty close to right. Yes, there’s some ironing out to do (Edmondson has indicated the Buell will be slowed down for Daytona SportBike), but the racing has been fantastic in both classes. In American Superbike, we had three different winners on three different brands this year, plus close finishes and an unpredictable podium. I’ve heard some argue that Daytona SportBike doesn’t represent an improvement since the 600 class has traditionally enjoyed good racing, but that overlooks the fact that those riders have been diluted between two different classes for the past several years—Supersport and Formula Xtreme, much as the liter bike riders were split between Superbike and Superstock. AMA Pro has consolidated the top racers into two different classes on machinery that’s competitive and relatively affordable in a down economy. Not bad.

Unfortunately, they’ve pretty much dropped the ball with what should have been the easy part: public relations and race officiating. The ham-fisted manner in which officials have dealt with many of the stakeholders turned the mood against them, and their myriad public blunders on race weekends have only made that worse. One despairs to think of how long it will take to repair that damage.

Even the best-case scenario for 2010 would appear to be pretty humble, with belt-tightening being the rule all around. I suppose there’s an opportunity in there somewhere though. Anyone in banking or real estate knows that down markets are when you invest, and that’s how I’d look at it if I were a promising young racer. In the absence of a high-dollar factory ride, focusing on making ends meet while putting in good showings could be the best way to come out the other end of this thing looking good.

Okay, that’s more than enough of that topic. This weekend finds World Superbike racing in Italy at the Imola circuit, where Ben Spies hopes to extend his championship points lead. The race will also feature Marco Simoncelli doing battle on the Aprilia superbike in place of Shinya Nakano, something many had hoped to see at the season opener but didn’t happen. At the time, it was generally thought that Max Biaggi had nixed the arrangement, but whatever the case, the reigning 250cc Grand Prix champ will be in action at his home race. Perhaps fatherhood has mellowed Biaggi (congratulations on the Ines Angelica, Max and Eleonora!).

As we mentioned last week, Ducati Xerox will be debuting their new live-streaming garage cam this weekend (see www.ducati.com for details), but some other teams—including Stiggy Racing Honda, whose normal four-rider Superbike-Supersport effort is being cut to two—will be cutting back in an effort to make it through the final three races of the season.

I received the following email this week from RAB Racing’s Robert Bacosa: “Last weekend the Lodi Motorcycle Club hosted the Stockton Mile in Stockton, California, at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds. Several GNC Dirt Track Experts made their way out to compete for the nearly $19,000 in purse money. Sam Halbert won the Unlimited Expert main with Joe Kopp second and flat tracker-turned-road racer-turned-flat tracker Stevie Bonsey taking third. Nearly 7,000 spectators made there way to the pro day on Saturday, September 12. Who said dirt track is dead on the West Coast!”

On a sad note, Throttle Jockey’s Matt Davis let us know this week that Red Bull/Indianapolis Motor Speedway marketing employee Nic Nihiser (who is also a relative of a Throttle Jockey employee) was badly injured in a hit-and-run accident while riding his bicycle in Indianapolis very early on Saturday morning. Nihiser was reportedly struck by a dark-covered Chevy Malibu, which sped away. If you have information, please call Crime Stoppers at 317-262-8477.

You’ve got a couple chances this weekend to help out good causes. First, the special helmet that Nicky Hayden wore to a his first-ever podium finish on a Ducati at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP is still up for auction, with proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Go here for more information, and go here to bid. In addition, Riders for Health will have a presence at this weekend’s Love Ride in Southern California.

Finally, thanks to reader Joe Hilferty for forwarding me this week’s closing photo. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your weekend.