sorry folks but you are all wrong, spectator attendance is going to suffer badly this year at motoGP, after a boreing 2008, its time to go back to the days of "Mike the bike"and the old formular 1 or remember the AGV Cup? it would be cheaper to run too.what motor cycling needs now is the likes of valentino,casey,marco and all the other stars who risk their necks for us to be on a level pegging with them riding road bikes on circuits like the IOM or Olivers mount, could you imagine the spectacal? could you imagine the interest and spectator attendance? it would be fenominal this is what is needed if the big race is to survive!!!

I think we are about to witness the end of MotoGP as we know it. Suzuki will have another bad year and pull out. The field will be too short to make it a show. The top ten MotoGP stars will filter into WSBK, AMA and BSB. All the kids in 250 will filter into supersport in various champoinships. When? 2010! DORNA will call for a 3 yr economic hiatus and in the meantime will re-invent Moto GP into a stand alone one class champoinship. They will alternate the races between WSBK, AMA, Aus Superbike champoinships and book the tracks on the coat-tails of the various champoinships. That way the support races can be handled by the "local" championship (kinda like GP does at Laguna Seca with the AMA). DORNA (and the Corse teams) will pay various champoinships to "house" their racers for a few seasons. Meaning Nicky, Casey, Rossi, Pedrosa, Dovi and for or five others will get DORNA supposted Factory rides in the championship that can best support them. BTW-Hopkins WILL race in AMA this season for Monster Kawi in 2009 because he has a signed contract and Monster won't let him sit on his rear for a season. It's going to be ugly, but think about the situation like this: The technology between Superbike and GP is closer than ever. At this point why develop two types of the same technology? It's simply cheaper to suspend operations for a few years and come up with a new direction. Is my idea of blending the GP event into "local" championships correct? Maybe not. But I bet it's close.

It's no shame. I feel for Hopkins and Melandri being left in the cold. But I don't feel for Kawasaki at all. Why do they spend over 40 million dollars to run two bikes, when Yamaha spend the same to run four? At Kawasaki, there are too many fat cats taking a slice. The world is in a strangle hold for cash, yet share holders at Kawasaki are demanding a 4% increase in revenues (Tokyo Sankei sports). If people, weren't so gready there would be 30 on the grid. Why are IRTA and the FIM considering rises ticket prices to as much as 70 pounds for a race day pass? That's more than a 15% rise. TOTALLY RADICULOUS...This is how Motogp dies. With idiots at the helm.

Where is the initiative? Why not push Honda to add engines to their lease agreements and also Yamaha. Allow Suzuki the third bike they have requested for the last three years. Be pro-active FIM / IRTA. Forget the Moto2 championship, infact bin the idea completely. It will drive prices yet higher and mean falling bike numbers on the grid. The 250 class and 125 boast around 35 bikes each. Moto2 will boast around 15!!!! Why bother?

It's a shame for this Kawasaki lover. Please KHI, you
know you can afford it; cut some CEO's salaries &
put a few bikes in the field.

17 bikes or less will not get me to the GP stands; if the
same procession of bikes winning and no passing I
will probably not even watch it on TV...

cheers ebd

BACK TO BASICS, I LOVE BIKE RACING OF ALL SORTS, ALL THE FANCY TECHNOLOGY GOING INTO BIKE'S IT'S NOT CREATING A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD. FOR YEARS WE THE BIKE LOVING FOLK OF THE WORLD BACK RIPPED F1 FOR THE WAY THE DRIVERS DROVE THE COMPUTER'S(SORRY CARS).

SOMEONE NEEDS TO GET A GRIP AND STOP THESE FAT CATS DICTATING WHAT HAPPENS IN ALL TOP LEVEL MOTOR SPORT. IT'S REALLY SAD TO SEE MOTO GP GO DOWN THE ROAD OF F1..

PLEASE KEEP THE SPIRIT OF THE REAL BIKE FAN ALIVE IN WSB WHERE THE COMMON MAN CAN STILL DREAM.

THE TECHNOLOGY HAS GREATLY MOVED ON IN WSB, GRANTED THE THE BIKES ARE NOT THE SAME FROM MOTO GP.

MORE THE MAN IN WSB...

KEEP ER LIT..

ANYONE OUT OF A RACE THIS YEAR, IN NORTHERN IRELAND WE ARE GOING TO HAVE AN AWESOME NORTH WEST 200 (NW200) THE BEST ROAD RACE IN THE WORLD YES I SAID ROAD RACE NOT A TIME TRIAL (IOM)ISLE OF MAN TAKE NOTE..
I'M SURE WE COULD FIT YOU IN FOR AN AWESOME WEEKS RACING..

IAN LOWRY FOR BRITISH SUPER BIKE CHAMPION.
JONNY REA FOR WSB CHAMPION.

The official press release from Kawasaki in Japan came out today. It doesn't state a full withdrawal, but instead calls it a partial suspensions of Motogp racing. It has also been rumoured in Japan that Kawasaki will continue to race and develop, but consider the task a privateer run team under the management of Jorge Martinez accepting his business ideas and rider lineups for 2009 and 2010. Japanese newspapers have been littered with this idea from Firday, but I have not seen or heard any news to back it up yet. But as usual, if it's in the news papers in Japan, then there's some truth in it.

I think a lot of the issues for Kawasaki is that the prototype racing does not allow enough back into the road bike scene, the rewards are not high enough.

The excitement levels of seeing who gets into the lead at first corner is how the spectators like to see the whole race playing out, in Motogp that was nowhere near the case last season - it is good to see they are still going to be in WSBK & other local championships.
With the WSBK level of racing they just continue to build the machines they have used the R&D for & then their WW customers can go race - where we get the ones without some of the tricker bits for the road.
Which has got to be better for the company

I'm sorry to hear this has happened and am especially sorry for Marco Melandri, as he's always been a favourite of mine. Moto GP is changing so much, and not for the better. Dreading the pitiful Beeb coverage too - we'll probably watch the racing with the volume turned off!

I am a old fart I remember when anybody could buy a Yamaha TZ 750 for little money. The fields were full and like allways the fast guys were there and the privateiers could compeat on there winnings. If you cannot afford to race on the your winnings then the fat cats are making too much money. The orginazitions are in love with manafactures. They are not as important as you think! Racers like to race! True racers will race for no money. They did that when they started racing. By the way what is the purse for a Moto GP and what is the gate?

The talk of less than 17 bikes on the grid came out of Japan four weeks ago, when Yamaha admitted their budget for this season and next was reliant on riders taking a wage cut. Honda have also said over and over "they might need to scale down sooner or later". That is old news. The real news here is that Kawasaki are willing to pay a fine for withdrawing from the championship, rumoured to be around 30 million dollars, IRTA reported they signed a contract of intention to field bikes until 2011, so to opt out they have to pay the riders, staff and IRTA as part of that agreement. If this is the case, why are they really pulling out? Could it be, no Japanese rider on their bikes for the past few years has seen widespread criticism of Kawasaki, and also Yamaha and Honda in Japan?

If the solution for Motogp is to stagnate the sport, ie restrict engine and chasis development for a few years, then we may aswell admit defeat. The sport we all love would be over....No development, no improvements...The answer for me is to revert to the era that worked, not the 500cc class but the 990cc class.

Carter talks about how the financial squeeze is unsettling the sport. For sure, it will affect every sport in some way. But, we should not forget the dealers of motorcycles in the UK add a mark up of 12% on top of the regulated price Kawasaki set. Everyone wants a slice of the cake. And when the cake is getting smaller, the fatter cats tend to still want more. For example, talk of motogp ticketing rising by 15% for this year, meaning a race day ticket is more likely to be around the 75 pounds mark. That for me, is a larger concern, and will turn away spectators. How can we change the sport? Revert backwards, or press forwards?

The politics involved in motogp racing continue to dictate the sport and the people who consider themselves the right choice to create rulings. However, the sport is still better off than F1 where two people dictate the whole sport and continue to press forward with radically bad ideas. For sure, the four stroke era has not changed the esculation of costs. To think that Kawasaki spent over 40 million dollars to race last year is a travasty itself. Yamaha spent around the same amount and fielded four bikes. So what exactly was Kawasaki doing with that cash? It's not just down to sponsorship, for sure Kawasaki's reluctance to change their colour scheme turns most sponsors away. And also, theie stance on always choosing the riders means many promotors and sponsors say "no way" to them.

Where have you been Mvanja. Eurosport lost the MotoGp coverage to the Beeb....

i think that people tend to forget why cost are so high in moto gp and wsb, its not just the price to race at a circuit, the riders and staff's wages. The development cost to make a competetive bike, its the hidden costs. Its things like free lunch,drinks and free entrance for media to the event(even though its part of their reporting job and even if they didn't camp in the field with no clean toilet and no ammenities, "must be a @#$% staying at the brands hatch thistle" Its just what the sport needs. People who can tell me why the racing isn't as good as it used to be and why the shrimp salad isn't as good as lasts years event.And to ask the question again, i really do not no why teams find it hard to race and pay the bills...........

I have just seen the comercial on eurosport about the program for 2009 and it never mentioned moto gp for this year. Is it possible that they are not planing to cover this year moto gp live??????????????? Please somebody answer

Maybe Kenny Roberts can find a sponsor and continue the effort. He did it on his own

I wish they could have found a sponsor so they could continue. It is a lot for the factory to shell out.

im not surprised of kawasaki jacking , they are doing it to them selves by developing so much so fast which costs .but if anyone else finishes is it soon gonna be worth watching a dozen bikes going round ???..... i dont no the answer to solving cost cutting in motogp as its development for all bikes , come racing or just on the road . ps i hope melandri gets a ride somewere cos in my eyes he is a top six rider