The Official 2020 Silly Season Thread

That is odd, from what I remember Zarco was a very calm level headed rider. That story seems to portray him as the opposite.

 

You have to remember that he was on a year old bike with all the set up data and settings already known for each track. He could just focus on fine tuning and going fast. It’s easy to be calm in that situation. He wasn’t expected to win races so he far exceeded what was expected from him. Compare that to what he was expected to do at KTM.

 

He was but that KTM (and his personal life) broke him. Take a look at the views into his pits during the MotoGP races from this year and the guy you see is the polar opposite of the guy you saw in 2015/2016/2017.

 

All of my interaction with him came from 2007 when he was a young teenager.
I reckon people can react differently though when they have high expectations of themselves and are in a environment they cannot succeed in....

 

So does that mean Ducati offered Bautista $100,000 -$999,999 for the next two years?

If so, second in the championship and 16 wins in a row in wsbk should be worth at least a mill.

 

"6 zero in two years" kinda sounds like in the millions on a two year contract, but it is very unclear. I think something is lost in translation.

 

Yeah that could mean over a million for both years combined instead of over a million per year for 2 years. Still think he’s dumb. Nicky was promised an all new bike too if I remember right. No way he starts the season out winning all those races in a row next year.

 

Thanks for the clarification. I had just woken up and was drinking coffee.

 

AB19: Ducati brought no updates

https://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/bautista-ducati-v4-no-updates/4547983/

 

I read that Chaz was getting paid more than Alvaro.

 

For this year yes but that was before they knew Alvaro would be doing any winning and Chaz already had his contract. It's kind of like Fabio in GP. You think Morbidelli would be getting paid more than him if they knew he'd be performing so well? Nope. Bautista had noy many exceptional results (not to mention lots of crashes and inconsistency) on his resume before SBK.

 

In Gregs last podcast he stated some rule change about flat track wanting racers in the premier class to be full time, so im guessing JD may be out.

 

Yeah, and even with that contract that Claudio Domenicali is spouting off about, Chaz would still be earning a higher base salary than Bautista in 2020. How do you logically justify that when you look at their respective results on the same bike?

This isn't the first time Domenicali has ended up with egg on his face, and probably won't be the last.

 

It makes no sense for Domenicali to even post anything. Nothing good can happen. Not a good look for the CEO.

 

It's about controlling the narrative, regardless of facts. This is the new normal for targeted communications for your base. It cements your existing customer base, and you weren't going to gain the non-believers no matter what you say. If it divides your constituency, so what? You are controlling the narrative and putting the other party on the defensive. No matter what Alvaro says it will be in reply to the previous statements.

 

Then it shows that Ducati didn't want to pay Bautista a competive salary if the only reason he signed with Honda is for the $. If its soley based on $ they didn't offer enough.

 

I agree, if it's solely based on money. However, and here's where I'm going off of my "six zero job offers*" experience, it ain't always about the money. For example, Ducati could have said "We will pay you $Xm per year for Y years and continue the same development path, but zero chance of going to MotoGP on a Ducati." Is it still about the money? And the fact that Domenicali only stated value and nothing about other clauses could lead one to believe that Alvaro's decision is solely about money, when it was less about money and more about treatment.

I believe that there's an adage that says "You don't leave because of money, you leave because of attitudes/managers." I work at a large company and have made several lateral moves (salary level-wise) due to management direction knowing that my future earnings would be neutrally or negatively affected.

In short, it ain't always about the money. See Lawson, Rossi et al.

* Six zeroes including the decimal places

 

Or because you did not want to pay me what I think I am worth you are treating me unfairly. They are not mutually exclusive.

 

You think Honda is sending him to MotoGP in a couple of years? Same Honda who strung Rea around until he went to Kawasaki?