Does Red Bull Have The Wings To Replace Tobacco?

As long as there has been motorcycle racing there has been tobacco advertising gracing side fairings. Lucky Strikes, Marlboro, Gauloises, Camel and Chesterfield have all enabled champion riders such as Kevin Schwantz to ride winning machines developed by the likes of Suzuki, Ducati and Yamaha. But in the mid 2000s began to change. Teams such as Camel Honda would replace the ‘Camel’ on the bikes and leathers with ‘Bayliss’ or ‘Biaggi’ as more and more countries began to ban tobacco advertising. Some teams, such as Ducati, kept the sponsorship and instead had fairing or leathers that were similar to well known tobacco brand’s logos. But for the majority of teams the wealth of tobacco money was gone.

Since then the number of teams in all classes has shrunk, the quest for sponsorship not helped by the world’s economic troubles. Spanish and Italian companies, were MotoGP gets the majority of its viewership from, helped from a while but now even they have began to fade. Although a new industry looks to perhaps have a small amount of the much needed sponsorship money, energy drinks. The multi-billion dollar industry isn’t new to sponsoring MotoGP teams, sponsoring the Yamaha of Garry McCoy (amongst others) in the 500cc days of yore.

Energy drinks have seen an explosion in popularity from the early 2000s when Red Bull first came onto the market, now dozens of brands exist and nearly all of them seem to have an interest in MotoGP. Smaller brands such as ‘Go & Fun,’ which also make a variety of other energy products, have replaced San Carlo as Gresini’s title sponsor. ArmA has been sponsoring Scott Redding and the Marc VDS team for over three years and even budget energy drinks such as ‘Mad Croc’ have sponsored riders such a Ricky Cardus.

The two biggest brands, Red Bull and Monster, look as though they could potentially be sponsoring Honda and Yamaha’s MotoGP efforts. Red Bull have been sponsoring Dani Pedrosa and soon to be factory rider Marc Marquez for years and recently stepped up their support for Stefan Bradl and the LCR team, even being rumored as a title sponsor for them. Red Bull clearly has an interest in supporting Honda.

Monster, one of the newer companies in the energy drinks competition, have shown a huge interest in MotoGP. Sponsored riders include; Pol Espagaro, Valentio Rossi, Ben Spies, Andrea Dovizioso and the Tech 3 team. With Rossi’s move back to Yamaha it looks, if the rumors are true, as if Monster could now be a major, if not title, sponsor of the factory Yamaha team. Recent reports have it that Yamaha have bought out Lorenzo’s Rockstar contract for an estimated 2 million Euros, clearing the way for Monster, Rossi’s personal sponsor, to be a major player on the Yamaha’s fairing. It is estimated that between Eneos and Monster Yamaha could be gaining 7 million Euros, the same money Fiat once brought them.

If the energy drinks market continues to grow as it does and the world’s economic problems, hopefully, lift, they could offer a large amount of sponsorship for the struggling GP championship. Obviously energy drink money alone won’t be enough, but hopefully combined with Dorna’s cost cutting methods we’ll see the GP grid grow and just maybe more exciting racing on a regular basis.

Rookies Rule

         Each year a swell of new talent comes into every class. Being the smallest class Moto3 sees the most new talent, this year eleven rookies entered the lightweight class. Out of all of them all Rins emerged as Rookie of the year over Fenati in a battle that went down to Valencia. 

         There have been many replacement riders and riders with multiple wildcards throughout the year, but the official MotoGP riders class a ‘Rookie’ as someone with 9 nine or less race weekends in a single year. We’ll only be looking at riders who have competed in 9 or more races this season and are therefore at the end of their rookie season.

A chart comparing the rider who finished above the discussed rider accompanies each summary.

1st

         Alex Rins, the rookie of the year, had a consistent year, especially from Mugello onwards where he scored top ten points in all rounds, excluding Valencia. His first, and only podium, came in the soaking wet of Le Mans as he battled with fellow rookie Antonelli. The former CEV champion was always a threat in the wet and during qualifying, although his lack of circuit knowledge and experience at this high level meant that the likes of Salom and Vinales would often be able to pass him over race distance. Rins, who finished 5th overall, will stay with his Estrella Gallcia 0,0 team joined by former team mate and current CEV champion Alex Marquez, although the team will now run KTMs instead of the Suter Honda package.

2nd

         Moto3 saw Italy’s drought of lower class rider talent end as several riders burst onto the scene, especially Fenati with a stunning second in the first race. The former European champion, Romano Fenati, then went on to win in the damp of Jerez in only his second race. His trademark white helmet soon made him a popular paddock character. After Jerez his results dropped considerably with three DNFs in six races. However, once he came to home soil in Mugello Fenati, along with Cortese and Vinales, provided one of the best, and closest races of the Moto3 season. Not only did Fenati score yet another podium but he also provided one of the highlights of the season after speeding ahead of the pack on the warm-up lap and sitting on the line, arms folded, as the other riders crawled around. Fenati would end the season with four podiums, the most of any rookie and in 6th position in the overall championship. Next year will see Fenati remain with the FIM racing team and continuing to run the FTR Honda, a package that proved to be very strong.

3rd

         The first time Arthur Sissis rode a road-racing bike was at his Red Bull Rookies selection day. Within just a few years he was challenging for the RBR crown, narrowly missing out in the last race. His efforts in the RBR earned him a spot in the prestigious Ajo KTM factory squad. The former speedway champion often struggled during qualifying but proved to be a true racer, able to battle through the pack. When he did qualify well he achieved great things. At his home race at Phillip Island he achieved his first podium after qualifying in 7th and battling all race long with a brace of other riders. Like Fenati and Rins he will continue with the same squad next year, partnered by Luis Salom.

4th

         Niccolo Antonelli came into Moto3 in the Gresini squad as the other great Italian hope. The CIV champion was frequently seen battling for podium positions during the middle of races but had a tendency to drop off in the final laps. With two front rows, Antonelli was frequently one of the strongest rookies during qualifying but also had a tendency to get pushed wide by other more aggressive riders. Like Fenati, Antonelli stepped up to the challenge on home turf in Mugello, scoring a 4th after battling with Fenati for much of the race. He also scored a 4th in Le Mans, able to stay upright in the tricky conditions. Sticking with Gresini for next season with the same FTR-Honda bike provides an excellent base to improve from. If the Super Sic look-a-like isn’t on the podium next season it would be surprising.

5th

         South African champion and Red Bull Rookies front-runner Brad Binder had a tough season. He was plagued with technical problems and crashes out of his control, such as at Jerez. Brad’s season ended strongly with three point scoring races and a win in the last CEV race of the season. Initially Binder insisted he wasn’t a wet weather rider by two excellent races in the wet of Sachsenring (before his engine expired) and Valencia meant he wouldn’t be allowed to use the excuse ‘It doesn’t rain in South Africa,’ for a long, long time. Having a teammate the caliber of Luis Salom allowed Brad to learn a lot, and quickly. Next year sees Brad join the Ambrogio Racing team on the Suter Honda that saw him beat the likes of Antonelli, Rins and Sissis at the final CEV race of the year.

6th

         Frenchman Alan Techer started the 2012 Moto3 season well, scoring points in all but one of the first five races. Sadly, after that he scored points just once more during the season, struggling on the TSR Honda as other bikes, especially the KTMs, received frequent upgrades. Known for being a hot head, Techer, would often get involved in race long battles with slower riders instead of remaining clam and slipping past quickly. Having an uncompetitive teammate in Kenta Fuiji didn’t help with finding a setting or developing the bike. The CIP team will again allow Techer to race in the Moto3 championship next year onboard a TSR Honda that will hopefully prove to be more competitive.

7th

         Former IDM champion Jack Miller had a rough season to say the least. Three broken collarbones meant that he spent a large part of the season heavily injured, making the standard Honda an even greater challenge. When he wasn’t recovering from yet another collarbone plating and it was wet Miller was in his element, the lanky teen demonstrating his abilities in Sachsenring, a track he knew well from racing in Germany. Gaining Damian Cudlin as his riding coach during the closing stages of the year seemed to help Jack, especially with bike set-up. Continuing his relationship with all Germany, Miller will ride the FTR Honda for Racing Team Germany. Miller’s love for unique hairstyles and wheeling scooters with Sissis, have made him quite the character in the paddock.

8th

         Ivan Moreno had a difficult season on his FTR Honda. An injury half way through the season saw him replaced by Alberto Moncayo, he would not regain the ride. Before the injury Moreno had scored points on just two occasions, in the wet of Jerez and Le Mans. Moreno does not have a ride next year in the Moto3 championship and will most likely return to the CEV series.

9th

         Being the cousin of Maverick Vinales puts a lot of pressure on you, especially when you’re racing against him. Isaac didn’t quite live up to his younger cousin’s pedigree but did offer substantial confusion for commentators throughout the year. Isaac scored points on two occasions and tested the MIR Honda during the practice sessions at Valencia to no avail. Isaac will remain with the Ongetta team on an FTR Honda for next season where he will hopefully be able to show more consistent results.

10th

         Starting the season with MZ, Toni Finsterbusch had a bumpy start to the season as MZ quickly folded. Racing Team Germany offered him salvation aboard a standard Honda, known for being uncompetitive. Sadly Toni had several crashes throughout the year, which hampered his track time significantly. He did however score points twice, in Assen and the Sachsenring. He will join the Keiffer Racing team in Moto3 next year and ride the much more competitive Kalex-KTM bike.

11th

         Kenta Fuji came into the Moto3 championship as a Japanese champion; despite this he had a torrid season on the TSR Honda, unable to score any points and frequently the last rider across the line. A wildcard in the Japanese series during one of the none-race weekends resulted in a win, despite this he does not have a ride for the Moto3 World Championship next year.

Here is a chart showing all of the riders finishes together.

Finally we have a chart showing the cumulative collection of points. This more easily illustrates who had a steady gain of points as opposed to those who gained them all quickly before not scoring for several races.