Hayden's Debut

I will agree that Honda lost a marketing asset when Nicky left, at least in America. But if they were so keen and it was such a shock, wh y not make him a better offer?

I have read those same things that you did and came away with a bit different conclusion. It seems to me that Honda has decided that cruiser bikes and big ole Goldwings are the American market and whatever they may gain by keeping Nicky around can be offset by getting the same or better results with Dani and the Euro market.

What would be really interesting is to know exactly what the compensation offers made to both riders really was.

I dont claim to be a hardcore enough fan to have followed every single nuance of the relationship between Nicky and Honda, nor I have some insider knowledge of what goes on in Nicky's head, for all I know, he may have always had his eye open for a new ride. If I made my living writing for the cycling press, these things would be extremely important to me, but I dont, I just really enjoy watching the races and attending when I get the chance. The behind the scenes drama I just dont know enough about to comment on much beyond what you've seen.

Here's something I actually do know, I live close to Nicky's hometown and know some of his extended family. In Owensboro, Nicky can ride around visiting friends and family and appear in public without hardly anyone noticing him. He enjoys that, because in Europe that's not possilble, he cant go out in public without being pestered to death, cause everyone know who he is. That kind of says something for the state of sportbiking in the USA, and you can say maybe that wouldnt be true everywhere in America, but I say I'm not far off.


My comments were meant to be less about the semantics of your post and more about how racing is big business, and as we all know, businessmen always get it right, witness our most recent examples.

Thanks for responding bro. I always enjoy interesting conversation, and one certainly doesnt have to agree with me for it to be interesting.

 

I think Nicky will do just fine on the Ducati...in the same sense that he did "just fine" on the Honda which, from what I can gather is overall a superior machine (at least historically anyway). Remember when #46 rode the RC211V? He was so dominant that everyone else complained and Hondas seemed to be issued to everybody who was anybody in very short order...still Rossi dominated. His autobiography, "What If I Had Never Tried It" more than suggests a serious dissing from HRC which, in turn, caused #46 to turn from Red to Blue, a previously abysmal example of a GP weapon which went to the top step the first year those numbers were on it. Great book, albeit full of Rossi's ego, it explains his famous 80/20 theory well...80% rider, 20% bike. It will be interesting to compare Nicky's season performance on the Duc vs. the Honda.