a factory speaks...

a factory speaks...

Last week's Cycle News includes an interview with American Honda's Ray
Blank, which I believe is the first real comment I've seen coming from a
factory on the AMA situation (not including things from people in the
racing teams themselves).

What he mostly talks about with HR Abrams is concern that the fate of
the factories is not being given adequate consideration in the
decision-making regarding the AMA's future commercial partner. Abrams
says, "The OEMs are crucial to the continued existence of racing, Blank
and others believe. Not only to do they fund the teams, but each of the
manufacturers sponsors various road races, and they pay for almost all
of the television advertising." Blanks says, "We're the ones who are
doing it. We pay for the show, we pay for the premier riders. We put it
all out there."

What Blank says the OEMs want is a seat at the table, as in MotoGP where
the MSMA is one of the four bodies that makes the decisions on that
series. Abrams goes on to say, "If rumors are to be believed, the AMA is
leaning toward a bid from a group of investors led by Jim France, a
motorcycle enthusiast who's part of one of the great racing families in
America. The France family owns NASCAR, while international Speedway
Corporation, which owns a dozen tracks including Daytona International
Speedway, is publicly held. The NASCAR model diminishes the
manufacturers to the benefit of the teams, sponsors and drivers. Blank
doesn't believe that model works in motorcycle racing because of the
much smaller number of riders."

Blank says no one at the AMA has talked to him about what is happening,
and they have no say at all in what is happening. Abrams finishes with,
"Like the rest of the industry, the most powerful man at the biggest
manufacturer can do nothing but wait and hope. 'I wish I had a more
optimistic viewpoint', Blank said. 'I love the sport. I hate to see it
treated this way right now. And I feel at a loss to do anything about it.'"

Abrams also does another editorial on the situation, and in it he
focuses on how important the factories are to racing in this country. He
starts out with this: "Today's episode of Chicanery is brought to you,
like most everything else in racing, by the American distributors of the
Japanese factories. Without them, there would be very little television
advertising on the racing telecasts, little in the way of contingency
programs, much less support for the privateers, no factory teams, little
magazine advertising, and almost no road racing event sponsors... And
yet, the industry leaders directly responsible for the continued good
health of the racing of the very racing series they've seen put on the
auction block have been completely ignored by the princes of Pinkerton.
Must be hard for small minds to see the big picture."

He goes on to further rip the AMA for not seeing the value of the
factories to racing, regurgitates various firings, the membership thing,
etc., etc., before getting back to the point, how much the factories are
responsible for the big-time racing in this country, saying things like
Mladin probably being the 2nd-highest-paid rider in the world today,
thanks to American Suzuki. He says, "No one is suggesting that the AMA
or whoever has the deepest pockets revert to the days of non-production
racing... But you simply cannot ignore the factories if you want to
maintain or improve the current level of Superbike racing in America. No
one else could afford to pay the riders, support privateers, or
advertise on TV." Then he quotes Blank: "[The AMA] look at it from a
facet that says, 'Well, that's because we [the factories] want to be in
control.' It's a matter of involvement, because it's critical for the
continuance of our investment and I think our investment is critical for
the sport. If that's taken away from us, a lot of other things go with
it. It causes a big vacuum. And it's going to put us years behind."

Now the elephant in the room in all of what Abrams has written here is
the unasked, obvious question - Has Blank called the AMA? If racing is
so important to Honda, why has the guy responsible, who says he's so
worried, not even bothered to pick up the phone? We know the AMA is
dealing with a whole bunch of stuff right now, but what is Blank doing?
A little background on his role has to include the American Honda
withdrawal from the two top AMA boards that control racing a couple
years ago (specifically, withdrawing Blank), and the bigger picture of
Honda making the highest-profile withdrawal of involvement in WSB a few
years earlier, and having so far stayed at the greatest distance from
that series. So is Honda's apparent lack of desire to impose themselves
on the process somehow tactical?

Of course Abrams doesn't pursue any of these more complex questions, to
him it remains black and white - the AMA are a bunch of fuckups and
everything is blamed on them, no need to dig any further. And with that
attitude/laziness goes any hope that the fans and participants really
interested in the fate of racing might be better informed by the genuine
efforts of racing journalists in this country...