Ducati Lenovo Race of Champions

I'm not a MM fan boy. If we have to choose a GOAT between Rossi and Marquez, I'll choose Rossi every day. That said, MM is the current leader when it comes to marketing value. That's not saying he's nice, going to win, or anything else. He leads marketing by leaps and bounds. That + the fact he has more world championships than anyone else out there also by a mile. 8 compared to the next most being Bagnaia with 3. Whatever speculation and "feelings" people have is mostly irrelevant after that. We all know he's going to be a regular top 5 finisher at least if not fight for a championship. PLUS, best marketing package and most championships.

Pretty easy decision.

 

When someone is on a normal racing line, what constitutes the door being 'open'? I'd say, whether you can make it through before the line closes. If you hit the guy, then the door wasn't open. Not sure if you remember the story I told about me getting my head run over at IRP, but that's exactly the same situation. I came from a mile back because I straightlined from the corner prior, but should have known that old Doug Gere was aiming for the apex. No way was I going to get through before that closed. The difference was, I tried to stop before I hit him, which meant I crashed instead of Doug. MM just used Nicola as a berm.

Honestly, I'm really happy that MM has made it back from the brink of oblivion, but that kind of move he's been pulling since Moto2. I remember him stuffing Pol Asparagus that way, multiple times, and he just never learned from it. I don't know that it's a conscious strategy on his part the way some others do. I think his brain goes blank for a second and his body just goes 'PASSING OPPORTUNITY - FULL SEND'.

 

I'd also argue that this seems to be more of the type of racing most people on the beeb were recently in support of. Chastising the penalties for "rubbin is racin" and wanting to dial it back to the years where you could fire it up the inside and if the other guy runs off or crashes... oops.

 

From that POV, only thing wrong (or worst: 'Dickish'), is this was a silly exhibition race...

There was absolutely no need.

I like Marc. Good kid.

 

I wonder how many people here “got” this…

 

Pretty sure the guy hiding in the grassy knoll got it.

 

Not to challenge your perspective, but where (i.e., which market(s)) exactly does MM's marketing value shine?

If we say Spain, then his marketing value growing Ducati in Spain is fairly low, especially given the mix of motorcycle products predominantly sold in Spain (i.e., 125cc scooters).

Globally, the top 5 markets for motorcycles are India, China, Thailand, Brazil, and Indonesia. And Ducati's #1 selling motorcycle is the (expensive) Multistrada, by a decent margin over the Scramble and Monster. Now, MM could have tremendous value and mindshare in those countries, but a coarse google search didn't turn up any market specific ads featuring the guy even though Honda has product offerings aimed directly at those markets. More to the point, Ducati doesn't have a product to compete in the southeast Asian markets (at least not yet) so their biggest signing (and growth lever) and their product offering don't align to gain market share. As an example, let's take India and Ducati's least expensive bike the Monster 797 at $9K USD (753K Rupes). The median HHI in India is 24K Rupes. Ducati's least expensive product is 31X of the median HHI. Not sure MM's image overcomes the economics.

So then we say, okay, Ducati wants to grow market share in existing markets. Fine. Ducati's top three markets are Italy, America, and Germany. MM isn't going to drive sales growth in Italy. As mentioned previously, sentiment in Italy is neutral at best. As for the US, there's a fair deal of support for MM, but most of that's off his Honda days. Most motorcycles in the US are ridden 4K miles (average) and kept for 4-5+ years. Most buyers who bought a bike from Honda based off MM's marketing value are out of the market for the foreseeable future. Germany... not sure how Ducati will position MM to sell more Multistrada's over BMW GSs and/or Monsters and Scramblers.

I know Corse and Ducati know what they're doing, I'm not just not seeing between the tea leaves from here.

 

I’m not here for a deep dive into the economics of market penetration strategies.
MM commands more eyeballs and attention. Watch a race and tell me otherwise when he’s featured more than anyone while starting 13th. He also has a personality. I like Pecco and Enea, but they’re “just” racers, without much personality.

I stayed my opinions. You’re free to have different ones. ✌️

 

I had to look it up… he does that shit just so I have to use a search engine because he knows I hate it…

 

*raises hand

 

https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/1...epts-blame-nicolo-bulega-clash-it-was-mistake

Jeezus, could he be any more douchetastic?



"but in the moment I didn't understand that I was riding a street bike," said Marquez.

"Even if it's a really good bike, the reaction of the bike I didn't expect and couldn't stop well. It was a mistake. I cannot say anything more.""

 

He can't make the distinction between a street bike and a MotoGP bike?

What a clown.

 

His ambition outweighed his talent.......

 

His ambition outweighed the ugly new Ducati's street bikes capabilities....

 

MM93 did punt Bulega off track: "Marquez’s first World Ducati Week saw him nudge Nicolo Bulega into the gravel in the final moments of the showpiece event last weekend at Misano."
https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/1...marquezs-blame-after-recipe-disaster-incident

 

To be fair, the Ducati street bike is faster than the Yamaha and Honda MotoGP bikes.

 

Sounds like well planned marketing to me

 

Sounds to me more like Marquez is a dunce but hey, he's the GOAT in the eyes of some.

:shrug:

 

And suddenly all of the people that were so sure he didn't make contact were never to be seen again in this thread.