Is Hopkins in the HOT seat?

With McCoy breaking his leg in 2 places, does this move Hopkins to the #1 seat at RedBull?
http://www.cyclenews.com/ShowStory.asp?HeadlineID=3001

 

For the time being it sounds like it. They'll pin it and he'll be back sliding before the season starts.

 

Well, he better perform, cuz if he gets booted off the GP team, he ain't getting his old bike back from me...

 

Maybe, if McCoy can't get back on form in time. But 6 weeks is a long time...

Hope they don't pull a Ben Bostrom on Hopper...

 

No way.

It's a 3-year master plan for him.

He is in phase one, training and learning.

Papa's bike is safe.

 

Yeah, because he doesn't have it yet.

 

<snicker snicker>

 

I sure hope that's true, but with the amount of money sponsers put up for MotoGP I have a hard time believing that they'll be patient.

 

You don't know the players involved in this deal, and you don't know the deal. I know what the deal is, I've seen the contract, I know what it says, I've known and done business with the team owner and team manager for something like 25 years each, and I'm here to tell you that the situation is well in hand.

Refer to previous post...

 

Riiiiight. You did just say PAPA will be the new owner right? Is s-a-f-e the NEW way to spell DOOMED?

 

Papa which bike didyou buy? It's not the one I just hauled to the Show last weekend is it? A 600SS bike?

 

And why is that John? Because you won't release the information to the public on what happens in those secret RRW board meetings?

 

You're right, I don't know any of the principals, or the contract. It's not the team owner or manager that concerns me though. Believe me, I hope you're right. Even more so, I hope he does well enough that it's a moot point.

 

You have done it now Tom.. Doom on you... You wont see your monthly RRW for that one!!!

 

Toms magazines will now arrive printed upside down and backwards with every 13th word left out.

 

Some information even Tardholio can't get, and Hopper's deal falls into that category.

As for Rich's kind concern for poor Hopper's well-being, sponsors in theory may get to influence managers of teams they own and may be in that circumstance able to force them to do the wrong thing. In this case, the sponsor is not contractually allowed to force the team owner to do the wrong thing, and wouldn't want to anyway, because they're not stupid.

Think of it like an investment, like putting money in a term account. You can decide to take it our early, and get tagged with penalties. Or you can stick to the plan and end up with more money.

Or maybe a better example is a load of bread. You can say, "Emergency, I'm hungry right now!" and take it out of the oven before it's done, but it isn't going to be as good as if you let it finish baking.

Same with riders; only a fool would even think of putting all a team's hopes on a rookie kid before he's been seasoned and trained. Instead, if they felt they had to do something other than wait for the lead guy to heal, a savy person/company (sponsor or team), would get a substitute rider.

Now, given that you know that's the logical and correct choice, and I know that, what makes you think anybody who is spending a truckload of money in GP racing and has done so for many years, would not know that? You think as soon as somebody starts spending millions in racing, they become less intelligent than the posters on the WERA BBS?

Or what?

 

Who was that Honda rider last year that had a long term deal moving him from British SB to GP so he could learn and develop on the satellite team but was released after just a few races... only to be replaced by a teenage rookie?

 

dust off dem bikes john. hopper is coming home.

 

Walker was riding for a team owner rookie without enough money and/or sponsor backing, big difference.

And Hopper can ride my stuff any day!

 

And Hopper can ride my stuff any day![/B][/QUOTE]

here's a scandal!! quick, where's my photoshop software?