Social Media, What's That?

Social media has become a huge part of our lives, particularly if you are running a business. In many cases social media sites and services such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram provide an excellent source of free marketing and exposure. In a clothing store I overheard that 80% of their business came from Instagram. An amazing statistic for a free service not even intended to be used as advertising.  

These services not only provide free exposure but also bring, or enhance, the personality of a business, product or person. Dorna uses Twitter and Instagram to great effect with MotoGP, not only is news posted there and links to videos on their website provided but funny little things, like the Cal – Marquez Parc Ferme ‘incident’ are also posted. Not only does this give a chance to have these photos and videos seen by a new audience, but small things like this show that even a big company like Dorna has a sense of humor, making it seem friendly. And we all like friends, right? Actions like this may seem small but go a long to keeping current fans and improving the overall image of the brand, even with photos like Cal’s and Marc’s that are a bit, questionable.

Considering all of this it’s a huge surprise that a global series like World Superbike has almost no social media presence. The name ‘WSBK’ on Instagram belongs to someone named ‘Wendy’ with zero followers or photos. Furthermore the WSBK Twitter links mostly to race reports and rider interviews, in text, on their website. Obviously there are some photos of riders and paddock personalities doing silly things but overall it’s a very dry affair.

The World Superbike championship has a lot of problems on and off the track, but social media, or lack thereof, seems a very simple thing to fix in the grand scheme of it all. But instead the championship lags behind and struggles, confusing when WSBK and MotoGP are both owned by Dorna now and one would assume they’d be able to apply a social media strategy across two championships. Video content is almost drastically different across the two championships, most likely a hold over from the days of Infront’s ownership of WSBK.

With an emphasis on social media and web content in general, video has become critical, especially in a sport with chances for spectacular replays, like racing. MotoGP, despite a few flaws, produces excellent video content, even excluding the season video pass. WSBK’s website has none of this, their YouTube channel has some content but not nearly as diverse as that of MotoGP. These videos also lack personality; they don’t play up the relationships of riders or any characters or drama in WSBK. This perhaps has to do with Eurosport having a significant hold on all the video content produced for WSBK as a result of a deal with Infront Media.

The general branding and presentation of the characters in the WSBK is lacking too. Many people who are not die-hard fans complain of not being able to distinguish between riders and teams in WSBK, especially with the majority of Kawasakis looking exactly the same in WSBK and WSS. As in GP, it is often difficult to balance the wants of a manufacturer, such as wanting to have their bikes green, with the needs of the series and promotion. To become a bigger series you first have to act like one, with all the extra flair and emphasis on characters and dramatic storylines. Sykes’ championship loss by half a point last season has set up a great story for this season, but there has been very little focus on it. Most races seem to be produced individually as opposed to being thought of as an overall series.

Obviously a better and more diverse web presence isn’t going to fix WSBK overnight, but it does highlight some of the bigger problems. Smaller details have been overlooked and continue to be, even when these small details are as essential as social media and web presence in general. With crowds at record lows in many events and factories pulling out left and right its time for change, not just with rules but how the series is promoted as a whole. Promotion is a huge part of sporting events, especially relatively small ones such as production motorcycle racing and the internet is an easy and often even free way to help with this, but like many things, the WSBK series has overlooked it.

The Australian Racers' Guide To Retirement

Australia has a proud history on two wheels: Mick Doohan, Wayne Gardner and Casey Stoner are all, even now in the case of Wayne and Mick, household names. But beyond these champions there is litany of other Australians who have fought for wins and championships in GPs and WSBK. Yet many of them, such as Garry McCoy, have faded into a quiet existence on Australia’s Gold Coast, well, most that is. Anthony “The Go-Show” Gobert has taken his retirement a little differently to the soft-spoken McCoy.

Garry McCoy was, and still is, a quiet man, more timid than you’d expect from someone known for slides that would make even a Japanese street drifter think he was crazy. McCoy burst onto the GP scene in 1992 in the 125cc class, having only been road racing for four months. The four years of 125s was McCoy take two victories and six podiums, enough to gain himself a ride on the big 500s in 1999. His impressive style earned him three victories, nine podiums and a truck full of burnt up tyres. The switch to MotoGP saw McCoy struggle aboard a variety of different bikes such as the Aprilla, Kawasaki and even the Ilmor, eventually landing in WSBKs on a Ducati where he won his home race at Philip Island. An ill-fated stint with Foggy Petronas saw a brief stint to supercross. Triumph then offered him a lifeline in WSS that saw McCoy score several podiums and dramatically improve the Daytona 675.  

            Despite this McCoy found himself without a third year on the Triumph and instead McCoy found refuge, all be it brief, with the FB Corse Team. The team, and the deal, fell through, leaving the once mullet graced McCoy without a ride. Then there was nothing, no one really heard from McCoy.  The Troy Bayliss Classic saw McCoy return to some form of racing and public venue. Since his stint in WSS it seems that McCoy has opened his own race school and has coached several younger Australian riders, although probably with less emphasis on being sideways as often. The combination of his school, general track days and being Australia’s Pirelli representative seem to be keeping McCoy’s head well above water as he quietly enjoys his retirement.

            Of all the Australians at the Troy Bayliss Classic there was one 'old-timer' who was a notiveable absence. The Go-Show was perhaps as far away from McCoy in attitude as anyone could get. The youngest ever WSBK winner, Gobert burst onto the international racing scene as the hottest property in a long while. His win and third place at Philip Island in 1994 on the Kawasaki was one of the most impressive rides around the world famous track. It was a strong enough result to get Gobert a fulltime Kawasaki WSBK ride in 1995, where he yet again showed strong results and finished 4^th overall. The ‘96 season was trickier, but a double win at Philip Island earned him a spot on the Lucky Strikes Suzuki 500cc squad.

             Unfortunately this is where things began to nose dive for the wild Aussie. Injuries interrupted the start of his season and the drug abuse began to become more apparent. He once famously showed up after the Brno test with nothing but the ripped leathers he had crashed in. The combination of this saw Suzuki remove him from the squad. 1998 and 1999 saw Go-Show go State side and compete in the AMA, and a WSBK round at Laguna, which he won. Gobert gave the world stage one last try with a Bimota in 2000, yet again winning at Philip Island. But the drug battle continued and the once young talent returned to Australian Superbikes with mixed results. Gobert had one last flash before fading away; he got arrested for stealing 50 Australian Dollars off a pensioner, and it apparently wasn’t the first time. In court he said he had applied for a job at Subway, he didn't get it.

              McCoy and Gobert both had careers that saw them ride in almost every championship around, and both had their ups and downs. Each rider overcame injuries and battled with demons, it’s greatly saddening that the Go-Show’s final episode was such a long way from his where he’d debuted. Chris Vermeulen is another Australian talent who is in limbo between retirement and racing. Currently he races in Triathlons at a very high level, waiting for a testing ride to appear. Luckily it looks as though he’s learnt from Gobert and McCoy and is spreading his post-racing career net wide, hopefully to avoid having to steal handbags from grannies.

Tom Sykes and Kawasaki Prove That There is Hope for Ducati and Their Myriad of New Talent

Kawasaki had, in years previous, been a team and a bike that struggled in championship racing, be it MotoGP or WSBK. At the end of 2008 they formally pulled out of MotoGP, leaving Marco Melandri to soldier on under the banner of the Hayate Racing Team in 2009, scoring a single podium in the mixed conditions of France, the odd wet podium had for a while been the best result any Kawasaki in any class could claim. 

Superbikes had been no better for Kawasaki as they struggled to score even the rare podium, the factory team often finishing mid back at best. But Kawasaki decided to change this, to focus more on the racing world. After the 2010 WSBK season the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R underwent extensive, race focused, development and in the hands of Tom Sykes managed a win. 2012 saw the Kawasaki become a WBSK title contender for the first time in over ten years and became competitive under the hands of not just Tom Sykes, but also Loris Baz. Tom Sykes would eventually lose the championship by just half a point, the closest ever margin in WSBK or MotoGP.

This stunning turn around of fortunes for Kawasaki prove that there is hope for Ducati, especially with the resources of Audi looming in the background. Similarly to Kawasaki Ducati to need make a change to return to the front of the pack as they had done with Stoner in his multiple years with the team. Ducati, and Audi, are willing to make the changes that are necessary and have enlisted four riders in the shape of Nicky Hayden, Andrea Dovizioso, Andrea Iannone and Ben Spies with wildly different riding styles in the hopes that one of their riding styles will ride the Ducati how it is meant to be ridden and provide a better base to make the Ducati more rideable, or at least show Ducati which riders to hire.

Ducati have shown this season that they are trying to improve the bike with a variety of swing arm upgrades for Rossi and Hayden, resulting in Rossi’s first dry podium at Misano earlier this year. This, combined with Audi’s support, sets hopes high that Ducati will be able to do what Kawasaki have done in WSBK and return to the front of the pack. The biggest hurdle they face is the creation and development of the chassis. This season Ducati had contracted out FTR to make their chassis as the small Bologna factory lacks the capacity to produce them at the rate required. Levels of worry about Ducati’s future raised earlier in the week when rumors began to circulate that Swiss chassis maker Suter had been in talks with Ducati about next season’s chasis. Suter have provide that their pace of development and chassis are somewhat lacking this season with their project in the CRT class, causing relations between Colin Edwards and Eskil Suter to become strained. 

There is no way to currently tell whether Suter will step up to meet a customer like Ducati or if there even is a deal. But the recent success of Kawasaki would suggest that by keeping the development in house, something that may become possible with the help of Audi, and by accepting radical changes that a struggling bike and team can turn around their fortunes, especially with a decent rider, in Ducati’s case four, leading development and riding the bike to the limit, that a change in fortunes is in-fact possible, especially for a team with a history of success like Ducati.

For more photos go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/harrylloydgp/sets/