MotoAmerica 2022 silly season

Hopefully you didn't post this on a forklift....

 

no worries, I made sure it was in park

 

+6

 

After the 202o season we talked about it alot. He has raced a 600 before and did pretty well. But the costs are pretty high (especially the initial investment in getting the bike set up), and the available rides that are capable of winning a championship are few. You can't show up with a new bike and figure it out on the first weekend. Even ponying up and paying for a ride with a top team doesn't necessarily mean you'll fit right in with them and immediately rise to the top. Not everyone has the same style. Look at Herrin and his experience with Attack. Attack clearly knows how to win but Herrin (who is clearly a top talent) wasn't able to gel with their system and it didn't work out. So you could invest $100K and it's still somewhat of a gamble.

There is a possibility of getting "stuck" in 600's for years and no matter how well you do, it's hard to move on without another big upfront investment on a 1000 or SB. You could theoretically skip the SuperSport "step" in the process and save those funds.

All options were considered including STK 1000 which we acknowledged would be a better stepping stone towards the premier class- but Kaleb doesn't own a 1000 and we would have to find one for him to ride in the off season to get up to speed. He's done well on an R1 out west, a few years ago.

At the end of the day, he took the best opportunity which was Veloce.

All of this shit costs money. There are how many riders getting a paycheck in MA? Less than you think. These rides don't just materialize, you have to make it happen. Even in the vaunted European series, there are more riders paying than you think!

 

There are probably, currently, more people in space.

 

I’m gonna say 10 or less are being paid.

 

RB is da winner. 6 but "technically" 7 from sources as was discussed just this past Thursday.

 

https://www.howmanypeopleareinspacerightnow.com/

 

I had a few questions with this post, as someone not in the know on these things. Most here talk about travel being the biggest hurdle in professional racing these days, but then a post like this appears that makes me wonder. Looking at top 5 top 10 bikes in both the supersport and twins classes, I am guessing this comes down to electronics? Is there simply that much money invested in electronics over the course of a season to separate these two? Both bikes are using top suspension, with the addition of cams, etc maybe the motor builds are somewhat close in build cost, initial bike purchase from a dealer if going that route doesnt seem like it would be a hinderance for someone at the top level. Both bikes will use fancy wheels, will have plenty of spares, but hard parts like exhaust, controls, brakes etc all seem to be relatively close. I am just a regular nobody, can someone explain what I am missing here?
Thank You

 

I don't know about the Twins class... but electronics play a major roll in bike performance in the superbike class.
I think electronics performance literally separates the Attack team from the other top 2-3 teams vying for wins!

 

THIS ^^^^^ Teams have access to the same electronic kits, it's the folks like Stanboli that can maximize the data and application to make the bikes do the voodoo that he do.

 

Twins are not dependent on electronics, 90% of the bikes are using the same stuff you would see at any club level Lightweight class race. The Aprilias are a little more complex, but I think they are still using a factory kit ECU with a basic tune.

When looking at SuperSport or Stock 1000, let me ask you this- do you think the Attack R6's that were running the 200 are the same as most of the Pipe, tune, and suspension bikes running around most club races? Sure, the hard parts are the same, but in the podcast Stanboli talks about how they used the Kit ECU to develop their own maps, individually mapping each cylinder. That's hours and hours on a dyno, not to mention welding bungs in the exhausts, etc. That is why the Attack R6's are for sale for $40K vs $15K for a nicely built club raced R6.

Look how fast Rocco is and how his results were in SuperSport last year. If you want a supersport championship, you have 2 options: Buy a ride on a top notch team, or buy a top notch bike and hire some people and go it alone. But you had better have the bike by September because you need time to test on it and get your setup right- can't do that with 1 practice session at the opening weekend.......

You're right that once you have the bike and setup done, the actual costs of entry fees, fuel, tires, transportation mechanics, etc. are the same regardless of the bike (in 2020 Kaleb used his whole tire allotment every weekend) but to switch classes is a large up front investment, that's what I was referring to.

 

I think the twins class is developing into the stepping stone class of the future. I believe the 600 class is going to die out due to cost and complexity in addition to a lack of bikes from the Japanese manufacturers. Stepping from twins to STK1000 is a good way for many riders to go. I hope the twins don't turn into electronics monsters and get priced out of affordable racing.

 

Man-hours are expensive. SS has 2 races each weekend and longer practice times than Twins. SS also wears tires faster and may swap tires during sessions more often. That not only means more tires, but more tire swaps, tire changes, and more carrying stuff between hot-pit and cold-pit. SS also offers premier entry, so you need a good rig with a big awning. That's a lot more setup than 2 ez-ups - and you don't want to tax your rider by having them help. All that probably means the top teams use an extra crew member or two in SS compared to Twins. An extra crew means another plane ticket, another hotel room bed, higher food costs, more crew shirts, another credential, etc etc.

The lower you go down in classes, the less all this occurs - and therefore the less it matters. Each class has some maximum amount that the top teams are spending. Each class also has some level of effectiveness for all that money. In SBK, the cost is high and the effectiveness is high. Example - Stanboli can't be cheap and the results show how effective he is. Lower classes likely have lower levels of effectiveness. Some of that is due to a lower spec for electronics, engine, and suspension - so there's no point in spending that much. But it's also partly because the teams don't actually spend the $$, ie the max amount is also lower. But if Stanboli went Twins racing with a rider like Gagne, the cost to win might go up 50% once everyone else realized what they needed to beat him.

 

Maybe I'm just blind this morning but I cannot find anything regarding the Moto America schedule for this weekend in Austin. Anyone know what classes are racing and what times they will be aired? I see Moto 2 goes on at 11:20 Sunday, following by Moto Gp and then Moto 3. But nothing about Moto America scheduling on their web page.

 

https://www.motoamerica.com/paasch-ruled-out-of-motoamerica-superbike-debut-at-cota/

 

http://www.motoamericaregistration....OTA Schedule and Supplemental Regulations.pdf

 

Good points
I think twins is still at a point where you can compete with the best without spending a ton of money (see Jody Barry last season) But as more "big" teams enter it will indeed get more expensive. Supersport still costs a lot more though.

And btw, MotoAmerica does a great job with the premier entries, there is a guaranteed, decent, payout no matter what position you finish. I think this year there will be a few more premier teams than last year.

 

LOL they went on the internet on how to pop his shoulder back in.

 

saw Stamboli said the payout for place 8 and below went up and the payouts for 1-7 went down.. they had the opportunity to win $100k for the rider if they won every race and now its maxed about $70k