Looks like Petronas have pulled the moto 2 and 3 sponsorship as well. https://www.bikesportnews.com/news/...on-and-mcphee-future-in-doubt-as-srt-pull-out
Rossi retiring is going to have a significant negative impact on Motogp sponsorship. There are a lot of viewers who watch and turn up only to see him race.
He pulls in tens of millions of pounds per annum and that's a huge hole to fill for any up & coming individual rider in todays negative climate.
They say that they are concentrating on MGP so doesn’t sound like it. Domt blame them tho. Mcphee is just a mess, whoever thinks he’s worth a front team ride is crazy. And Dixon hasn’t shone at all yet. Occasional few laps but, imho, he should have gone the wsbk route as he is too old to jump on these things and ride them like the front runners who have been on this type of pre prod chassis since children. Lowes seems to sometimes get to grips then has disappeared again
I notice in the article that only JD and JMcPh are mentioned and not Darren Binder. An indication he has the spare SRT MotoGP seat for 2022 ? Andy
I have to agree, Rossi although his results aren't what they were is still the biggest name in MotoGP and ultimately puts bums on seats, subscriptions to MotoGP videopass/BT Sport etc etc and with that comes sponsorship, not just for Yamaha/Petronas but across the board. If SRT are pulling the plug then that must signal $$$ challenges, and McPhee/Dixon haven't done enough to warrant a ride in that team and likewise a top flight team IMO. It just seems Yamaha are all at sea, god knows what they will look like next year.
Hodgson touched upon this on BT Sport, he went back to his Dantin Ducati days and said he wasn't getting paid, but contractually had to be at every round, wearing team clothing etc to keep up his side of the contract so there was reason not to pay him eventually. I wonder if it's the same for MV?
They have had some bad luck with riders tbh, Morbidelli was running a hot pace last year and I expected a better season from him this year. But bad luck so far. Rossi to Petronas....hmm, not competitive so a wasted ride. Yamaha have picked some dummy spitting babies, Lorenzo (who at least won championships) and Vinales more recently. Attitude problems. As Fabio said when asked about Vinales, he dodged around the personal bit, but he stated he thought the bike was clearly competitive. As even his results at circuits that are not right for the bike show. Next year? Morbi teamed with Fabio. Two new riders to Petronas?
You'd think Morbidelli has done enough to get that factory ride, despite not being on great form atm Would love to see Dixon on the Petronas but sadly just isn't quite doing enough in moto2 i wouldn't have thought. Really not sure if I see Dovi coming back, but could be good to settle the team if they do end up with 2 new riders, I wouldn't mind seeing Canet on one of those bikes.
Not fussed about MV either way tbh and I get factorys pay riders but they also get a free ride most of the time especially when it comes to treating riders like shit. As un-professional as MV seems to have behaved, i dont suppose this has been all one way and he woke up one day and decided to commit career suicide, it will be interesting to hear his side of the story when its time (although it wont make a jot of difference by then of course lol). While Zarco is riding around, 2nd in the championship on a statelillite Duc and sticking two fingers up to ktm, id like to think all riders would be given another chance or at least have their side of the story heard.
Shocks me how stupid some people are. His actions are burning all his bridges for the rest of his career. Who would want a rider like that in their team? Unless we all don’t know something critical, he’s being a complete fuck puffin.
Meh. He is a muppet. Riders out there that would kill for the opportunity he has had, team firing on all four or not. Some people just do not appreciate the life chances they have been given.
