Casper Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 http://www.motogpmatters.com/news/2008/12/16/honda_could_announce_motogp_withdrawal_o.htmlIf Honda did pull out of MotoGP, it would have a devastating effect on the series. Honda currently provides 6 of the 19 bikes on the grid, and with FIM rules requiring a minimum of 15 entries for a world championship series, the prospects of the 2009 MotoGP season being run as a cup, with no world title at stake, do not bode well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Yikes, say it ain't so. I hope they don't pull out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natedogg624 Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 i highly doubt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CbrGirl Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Firstly, the MotoGP program costs about one tenth of the approximately $500 million Honda is believed to have spent on Formula One every year. Secondly, and more importantly, most of the tab for Honda's MotoGP budget is picked up by Repsol, the sponsor for the factory squad fielding Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso. So pulling out of MotoGP would not produce much of an actual saving.Because of that quote I think it's just a rumor! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casper Posted December 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 i highly doubt it.Announcement is supposed to be Friday. They've already pulled out of F1 and AMA Superbike. Why do you doubt this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kawi kid Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 this sucks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natedogg624 Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 (edited) Announcement is supposed to be Friday. They've already pulled out of F1 and AMA Superbike. Why do you doubt this?not sure. just a gut feeling. F1 and AMA i can see them dropping out, F1 is pure boring what did they get like maybe 10 constructors points? ama same thing - suzuki rulesmotogp is the only place where they are thoroughly challenged to do better than the other guy with a greater chance of reward unlike AMA and F1, and are consistently competitive. Edited December 17, 2008 by natedogg624 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e-flores Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Announcement is supposed to be Friday. They've already pulled out of F1 and AMA Superbike. Why do you doubt this?because they are actually making a profit in motogp. Unlike in the AMA and f1 where they keep throwing money down the drain in order to market themselves. Motogp does more than just market the Honda name for them, if they keep a competetive machine that customers want to buy and they keep there high paying sponsors around like repsol they will not back down from the motogp stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kawi kid Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 F1 and AMA i can see them dropping out, F1 is pure boring what did they get like maybe 10 constructors points? ama same thing - suzuki rulesagreed +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomin40 Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 I agree with Natedogg and Kawi kid. The Honda F1 team spent over $500million that resulted in 14 constructor points.Suzuki does rule the AMA seriesIn MotoGP and WSBK, they are always in the Top 3. Also most of their R&D is done in both those series.Plus they just developed the pneumatic valve engine and should be even more competitive this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jermattak Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 f1 is boring?! whaaaat?anyways, i dont doubt it, and im sure one of the big three will take a few top riders in to make 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e-flores Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 f1 is boring?! whaaaat?thats what i said!!! im sorry but the last two years in f-1 have been nothing short of astonishing if you ask me. 2007 and 2008 championships have been decided by 1 point!!! yes 1 point!!! in 2007 that 1 point! was contested between three different drivers and 2008 that 1 point! was taken at the last corner last lap and last race of the championship. tell me where the boredome starts and i will give you a cookie!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarvismb Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 wait, what kind of cookie? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e-flores Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 havent decided that one yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moto-Brian Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 because they are actually making a profit in motogp. Unlike in the AMA and f1 where they keep throwing money down the drain in order to market themselves. Motogp does more than just market the Honda name for them, if they keep a competetive machine that customers want to buy and they keep there high paying sponsors around like repsol they will not back down from the motogp stage.MotoGP makes Honda a profit? Guessing here or do you have actual proof?I suggest that Honda will cut support team stuff and keep their factory efforts. Besides, Resol has a TON of money in the venture and it wouldn't hurt Honda that much to stick with the series.As far as keeping a competitive machine - how so? MotoGP technology does trickle down into street based machines, but it is very slow to do so after much R&D beyond the racing. What they learn in certain areas is quick, but again, not until a lot of R&D.Point is that MotoGP isn't selling bikes. If that were the case, Yamaha would be the best selling machine and Ducati probably second. Since it has been a pretty long time since Honda won anything...Racing is something that is needed to a degree, but the R&D will continue and the technology will still be tested via some sort of racing. WSBK is going to continue and so will some sort of MotoGP effort. Now, if they cut it to only a Repsol effort, then it will actually be a good thing as they can test and be much more intimate with their riders and the notes gathered... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarvismb Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 havent decided that one yetif it's oatmeal, you can just forget it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e-flores Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 MotoGP makes Honda a profit? Guessing here or do you have actual proof?I suggest that Honda will cut support team stuff and keep their factory efforts. Besides, Resol has a TON of money in the venture and it wouldn't hurt Honda that much to stick with the series.As far as keeping a competitive machine - how so? MotoGP technology does trickle down into street based machines, but it is very slow to do so after much R&D beyond the racing. What they learn in certain areas is quick, but again, not until a lot of R&D.Point is that MotoGP isn't selling bikes. If that were the case, Yamaha would be the best selling machine and Ducati probably second. Since it has been a pretty long time since Honda won anything...Racing is something that is needed to a degree, but the R&D will continue and the technology will still be tested via some sort of racing. WSBK is going to continue and so will some sort of MotoGP effort. Now, if they cut it to only a Repsol effort, then it will actually be a good thing as they can test and be much more intimate with their riders and the notes gathered...sorry profit meaning selling engines/technology to the lower teams such as scot or gresini, and customers the same. i was under the impression it was much like f1 where as manufacturers such as ferrari and renult sold engines to teams like red bull and toro rosso, but apparently not so much I didnt take into effect the keyword support, not customer and i know i am a honda guy and this may seem like a biased opinion, but its not i swear, i dont see where honda isnt a competitive bike??? pedrosa had a chance with the bike the whole year. he was leading the championship at the start of the season and if it werent for a couple of mistakes pedrosa made he would have been in the hunt all season... i know they havent won a world championship since 2006 but they have been there fighting for the championship since and i doubt that they are just going to set aside a perfectly raceable bike. unlike the f1 situation where they only scored 10 points in the whole season between two drivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moto-Brian Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Being competitive is definitely a thing to consider, but budgets and the economy are to the point that cutting budgets is needed to keep things running. Marketing is the first to take a hit and racing is covered under that. So, they can be the best bike out there and if it is a matter of losing money and winning races, they're going to choose staying in business.Trust me, if Honda takes a year or even two off, it isn't going to hurt them too much in terms of technology.The pneumatic motor isn't something they just came out with - it's been around for a while and was just now being tried out in MotoGP. That being said, technology will not wait, but the stuff they have on hold is enough to last them a good while.They also do not sell the bikes and technology. Teams "rent" them and have to return them at the end of the year. Now, some older bikes get bought and used, but typically, support teams pay rental fees and have REALLY strict guidelines as to how they can use them.F1 is a lot farther from reality in terms of cars than MotoGP is from motorcycles.HOWEVER, what you need to realize is that the motorcycle industry plays a DISTANT second to the automobile side of things. Suzuki makes more from other aspects of their company than with bikes. Same with Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, etc.They can cut budgets all day long and still support teams and or support series to keep them in the hunt technologically speaking.Again, I doubt they pull out 100%. It's like everyone saying Honda pulls out of US racing. The factory solo team effort has been dropped, but Honda is still going to support the Corona and Erion teams. It allows them to still be racing and yet, cut their budget TREMENDOUSLY in an effort to save money.Remember, Japan has been in a recession for a while. Even though we really have, too, we only "admitted" it recently... They need to be smart and no matter how much we may hate it, racing is an expense that can be cut back a LOT and not hurt the company... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomato_racing Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 While I agree that cutting MotoGP, for Honda, not being much savings I still think next year will suck for motorsports in general. Heck after Subaru pulled out of WRC I realized that its not just Honda yada yada yada Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natedogg624 Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 thats what i said!!! im sorry but the last two years in f-1 have been nothing short of astonishing if you ask me. 2007 and 2008 championships have been decided by 1 point!!! yes 1 point!!! in 2007 that 1 point! was contested between three different drivers and 2008 that 1 point! was taken at the last corner last lap and last race of the championship. tell me where the boredome starts and i will give you a cookie!!!i must have spoken too quickly then... my bad. i just remember the days where it was basically the same finishing order as the starting grid. no passing at all. i think the last F1 race i watched was where lewis ran into the back of kimi "iceman" raikonnen at pit out. that was kinda interesting lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moto-Brian Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 While I agree that cutting MotoGP, for Honda, not being much savings I still think next year will suck for motorsports in general. Heck after Subaru pulled out of WRC I realized that its not just Honda yada yada yadaIt's everyone, man. Like I said, Marketing gets the first hit and racing is an expense that can wait until it gets better... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kawi kid Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 They also do not sell the bikes and technology. Teams "rent" them and have to return them at the end of the year. Now, some older bikes get bought and used, but typically, support teams pay rental fees and have REALLY strict guidelines as to how they can use them.same with nascar. if a team "rents" a rousch or hendrix motor. its not to be adjusted or touched by anyone other than the mechanic that is sent with that motor from the maker of the motor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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