Psalm 46: Jesus of Tavullia Reborn

"The concerning thing is, and the sad thing for me is, he is finishing about where he qualifies.

 

Makes me wonder if Yamaha honestly feels they can’t get a better rider. They certainly seem content with riding along with Rossi towards the bottom of the order. I can’t imagine the spirits are good at Corp Japan as Honda and now somewhat Ducati are regularity kicking their teeth in. Especially Honda. No love loss between these companies. At what point do they become more concerned about saving face.

 

It's really a judgment call whether or not keeping him and his brand on outweighs the less prize money and giving up on the constructors title, plus the opportunity cost of building up another rider's career.

I could see it argued either way, who wants to build the financial model?

 

when you see way more red than yellow in the stands, then that is where you can start to even discuss any of the above.

 

Possibly. I still question the actual impact he has on motorcycle sales or that racing does in general. Most sport bike riders I’ve ran into have zero idea about MotoGP, let alone Rossi. Might be different around the globe but the impact of one individual racer towards influencing sales is minimal.
Or what other product do you mean? I’m sure he helps sell t-shirts and hats at the races or through Motogp merchandising site.

 

Prize money? I don't think they have F1-type of money here. The difference between podium and 6th is probably meaningless to the team's total budget.

 

I guess my question is, how many of those yellow clothes wearing fans in the stands are regularly purchasing Yamaha motorcycles?

 

Yeah, I would think it’s of no consideration or at least I’ve never heard or read otherwise.

 

It's not just the bikes. You get to tell your sponsors that lots of people will buy their products because their stickers are on Rossi's and they better spend the money now before those people are no longer interested in MotoGP after he retires.

 

Not sure this is a good idea. From a pure marketing standpoint that is.

 

Trying to tap into that Colombian market

 

Whole thing is stupid. Honda marketing has gone steadily downhill ever since "You meet the nicest people..."

 

Right now it really doesn't matter who is on the Yamaha as the Honda and the Ducati suck the paint off the side of it as they go by anytime there is a straight or coming out of a corner.

 

no impact

 

You mean this didn’t get you excited about all things Honda motorcycles?
This always make me think that something was lost or missed in translation.
But hey, at least it has a Monkey in it.

 

They do have this, though.

 

Exactly. No translation required so it didn’t get screwed up.

 

Was at a bar watching WSBK qualifying, and the bartender asked me if Rossi was winning.