4 replies to this topic

[brands77]

I notice in F1 Sergio Perez has been re-signed by Red Bull and given his performances of late I can only think that much of the decision has hinged on the very significant sponsorship he brings to the team. I know pay drivers are rife in F1, but they are less so in Motorbike GP racing as far as I can see. I can't think of a rider who has got a seat on the fastest or one of the 500c or MotoGP bike mainly due to their sponsorship.

Some of the Japanese riders in the 80s, 90s and 2000s were perhaps there when there because of their nationality, but they were also pretty close in performance to others and didn't stand out as being severely outpaced.

Any suggestions for pay riders who were there purely due to the money they brought to the team or why it isn't so ingrained in bike racing practice?

[philippe7]

The closest I can think of is when in the mid-80's , Honda (and to a lesser extent Yamaha) started supplying, at a very high cost, factory 250's to various importers. And the difference in performance versus the over-the-counter customer machines was so huge that it became hopeless to expect any serious results if you didn't have one. In many cases, the riders to whom those were allocated had the proper credentials ( think Lavado, Mang, or Wimmer ...) but in other cases, some "average" midfield riders suddenly found themselves at the top end when they managed to lay their hands on one of the factory-specs machines : from the top of my head, Fausto Ricci, Reinhold Roth, Dominique Sarron, Juan Garriga, or in later years, Helmuth Bradl, Carlos Cardus, Wilco Zeelenberg.... all of them good enough of course, but who rose up to the top suddenly when they  got one of  the "trick" bikes.

 

So not "pay riders" strictly speaking, as most of the times it was the importer and his sponsors who paid for the lease, but the closest to it I can think of ...... I had a conversation a while back with Stéphane Mertens, who told me that Yamaha had selected him to apply for a factory 250 YZR V2 for the 1987 season, but that due to the very modest size  of the Belgian market, neither the importer, nor his usual pool of sponsors, could justify the cost of the lease in their budget, and they were forced to decline. And that factory 250 went to the french importer Sonauto  for Patrick Igoa.

[brands77]

Yes, they were all pretty quick though, even Fausto Ricci and Wilco Zeelenberg managed a GP win each.

Igoa is a good shout, he didn't manage a podium on the 250 and nor on the 500c. Does anyone know if the 500cc Sonauto Yamaha he rode was a works machine? Then again did he bring sponsorship with him or was it because Sonauto was a French team and at that time pretty much only fielded French riders?

Johnny Cecotto had an ex-works Yamaha for 1975 and at the start of the season he was completely unknown, although after Daytona of that year, before the GP season started, we shouldn't have been surprised that he came out and won his first race. Andreas Ipplolito and Venemotos I understand put a lot of money up to get that bike.

I can't think of it happening in the 500cc class though. Perhaps Roger Burnett in Honda GB may be close, but it wasn't a full works machine, although I think Roger brought sponsorship with him, I stand to be corrected on that though.

Would it be harsh to describe Alex Criville, at the start of his works Honda career, as a pay rider? Before his promotion to the works team, whilst a top 10 rider, he certainly hadn't set the world on fire in the two seasons previously in the 500c class with Pons nor in the 2 seasons he had in the 250c class before that (and he did have a works Yamaha for 90). He did win in '92, but that was an outlier in terms of results that year and in '93 he only had 2 podiums. Did he bring the Repsol sponsorship to Honda, I am pretty sure that his bike ran with Marlboro and Repsol sponsorship? That year Kocinski, started off with no 500c ride (probably for reasons other than his ability), nor did Mackenzie, Chandler was on the Cagiva and Doug Polen had just won the Superbike Championship, I think Kevin Magee was riding in the Japanese championships (also probably for reasons other than his ability) and any one of the top 10 250cc riders would have had a stronger claim to a works 500c ride, such as Harada, Biaggi, Capirossi, Okada or Chili and notably Norick Abe was contracted to Honda at the time I think, before being drafted in by Team Roberts for the end of the season.

Edited by brands77, 10 June 2024 - 11:46.

[exclubracer]

Re Roger Burnett, he was given a V4 NSR500 in 87 after its Japanese pilot was injured although I don't know if he divvied up for the ride or it was at the behest of Barry Symonds.

 

Edit...Just remembered, the injured Japanese rider was Shunji Yatsushiro.

Edited by exclubracer, 11 June 2024 - 19:22.

[philippe7]

 

Igoa is a good shout, he didn't manage a podium on the 250 and nor on the 500c. Does anyone know if the 500cc Sonauto Yamaha he rode was a works machine? Then again did he bring sponsorship with him or was it because Sonauto was a French team and at that time pretty much only fielded French riders?

 

 

Patrick Igoa really wanted to go back to Grand Prix racing after his distinguished Endurance career, with Kawasaki then Honda. And he had the talent for it, remember that, as a totally unknown rider, he was on pole position for the first GP he entered, at Nogaro in 1982 (and before somebody asks, yes, a few factory riders boycotted the race, but they were all in for practice ....)

 

So Sonauto were certainly delighted to hire him for 1987, with a factory V2 YZR. But as things happened, he proved to be quick, but - maybe trying too hard to prove himself -  he fell off and hurt himself a few times and didn't score earth-shattering results.

 

He had a two years contract though, so in principle a second chance to prove his worth, the problem was that in 1987, a young rider by the name of Jean-Philippe Ruggia had done marvels on his private 250 TZ, and as there were rumours around that Honda was after him, Yamaha didn't want to lose him so Sonauto offered him a 250 contract for 1988, and Patrick Igoa was "promoted" to the 500 class on a year-old factory machine, ex-Christian Sarron. And this really proved to be a "poisoned gift" as we says in frenche, because by all accounts the 1987 Yamaha model was not a specifically good one*, and hopeless against the new 1988 vintage of factory bikes, Yamaha or others ....

 

* confirmed to me by kiwi Richard Scott, who did a few races for Team Roberts in 1987 replacing an injured Mike Baldwin, and who told me the chassis was terribly unstable and that he couldn't get to grips with it and fell off far too many times.