The Ben. Again.

WTF you talkin' 'bout, Willis?

We had that.

 

I should have said "long term."

Spies was (IMHO) purposely put on faulty equipment as to have an excuse to drop him, making room for VR46's return.

Both riders on a Yamaha, designed with input from both, would still be cleaning up today, much less five+ years ago.

 

@DucatiBomber, I'm bringing an SV650 for you to race at PITT. It will be all white so plenty of room for your personal sponsor decals: Cytomax pre-workout, Creatine, egg whites, and hate!

 

LMAO!
As you know I’ve helped put teams on the MA grid in the past with funding, equipment etc. I support racers and teams.
MotoAmerica takes my money whether I’m a fan or putting a bike on the grid.
I’m a customer of MotoAmerica either way.
If I don’t like the way things are done I’ll point it out.

At some point growing pains become incompetence and they have been guilty of that.

Like i said in my post earlier the Truth hurts.

Edit
It also cracks me up that people have the terms “sponsorship” and “donation” confused.

Ride safe,
AAron

 

It is hard to measure, especially when talking about companies like Monster or Red Bull. Do they have any way of knowing how many people would NOT be drinking Monster, had they not seen those green claws everywhere?

But there is something to be said for ROI on sponsorship. I know I have brought a lot of business to Livengood, enough to drastically outweigh what he has given me.

But as talked about before, the big companies will write it off as advertising/business expenses, and they do get a ton of exposure. You can’t turn on a motorcycle race (dirt or street) without seeing the green claws.

 

"But for a rider like me"......damn Ben.

 

I read that as "out of practice for 6 years" not "I'm above this place".

 

huh? Ben replaced Vale and rode alongside Jorge for 2011 and 2012.

His mystery mechanicals didnt start until halfway through 2012. So even if we assume some shady bullshit because Lin wanted Rossi back, he still had all of 2011 to just ride a championship winning motorcycle. he crashed too much early that year, didnt finish on the box enough later, and lost to all the 3 factory Hondas and Jorge.

Ben needed the Dovi-style career, long and patient, to get up to contender speed. he didnt get that because, unlike Dovi, he crashed too much and got injured. oh wells.

 

Getting used to the Bstones was especially difficult and I considered him to have a good feel for tires and setup

 

Maybe. We will all read into it, but his $$$ demands don't match the humble interpretation of that.

 

I doubt anyone (with money/resources) is going to make the kind of commitment he wants, without knowing what they are getting.

If he actually does this World Endurance race, I bet there will be a lot of eyes on him.

 

Nope not happening, that last 10th of a second isn’t needed right now to win races. Why would any manufacturer take a risk on him and pay what he wants when they can get capable riders of winning races and championships for less.

He killed his negotiating power when he states that Europe is out. No one really knows how the shoulder will hold up. Hell, he’s injured it multiple times training for motocross races- which I don’t think he’s completed any of the big ones.

Edit: was typing mine when Broome posted and damn scary how he got it out in far fewer words than I. When did Broome become
Concise. Great minds though.

 

I’m sure Wayne’s really concerned.

 

Damn it! I came here for a Ben update and we are saving/condemning American road racing again! Can't you guys sort this out? Seriously, we are a niche sport and always will be. The series will stumble along. Just enjoy the racing.

It has been my observation that kids who grow up on the racetrack see bikes as disposable tools to get the job done. It's simply a different perspective.

 

Concise would not be a word normally associated with Chris.

 

I cant even see someone making that commitment for a WEC race. he needs plenty of testing, both at a local and the WEC track. thats track time, tires, crew, flights, etc. who's gonna pay for that, just to see if he can be competitive on a SBK? a WEC race would be a great low-pressure audition. but unless hes going to pay himself or do a lot of the legwork to get sponsor $'s to pay for it, I just don't see it.

 

I can’t see anyone giving him a seat at the prestigious Suzuka race. Teams want to win, not throw someone on the bike who hasn’t raced in years, just because he wants to see if he still has it or not.

As a potential teammate to others, I couldn’t imagine asking for such a seat. I would hate the idea of showing up and letting the team down because I was unable to hold up my end of the deal.

If I wanted to take a chance at racing again, I would want to do it in a situation where if I suck, it doesn’t ruin the efforts of many others.

 

Ben could get a Suzuka seat in a heartbeat. Next year. Too late for this one.

 

Obviously I’m just armchair quarterbacking it, but as a Team Manager there is no way in hell I would devote a Suzuka seat to someone who admitted he hasn’t even ridden a streetbike in 6 years.

How would they know he (or his shoulder) can even complete a whole stint?

 

https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/194004/1/schwantz-rolls-back-the-years-with-suzuka-podium

Schwantz was 49yo, hadn't raced in 15 years.
Ben is 34 - sitting on the bench for 6 years now.