Comments on: Is it the rider, or the bike?

By: Bob Hogg

Bob Hogg — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:42:23 +0000

You will find the truth at only the top level teams…in any form of racing…money buys time..thats what wins.

There is no magic

I don’t know if I agree with that, Bob. Being a MX guy, I believe that it really does come down to the rider, not the bike. Although, in other forms of racing (road racing, F1, NASCAR), I believe less emphasis is placed on the rider and a little more on the bike. Set up seems to be much more crucial on the pavement, where as a good rider in MX can outwork others even if his equipment is subpar.

DanBro

By: rightarm

rightarm — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:48:42 +0000

I will never hold it against you or Yamaha but I feel that the best Brand out there in my opinion should have the best resources and finishing behind Clint Mcbain on a privateer program for a top level Manufacturer should not be acceptable or considered being competitive. That said I look forward to once again cheering on my favourite manufacturer when you return to the Canadian series and will always support Yamaha regardless of the decisions made,I am just disappointed and sad.

Thx Hurry back I miss you already
Bleeding blue 4 life

Kandu

We understand, Kandu. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and I’m glad we could have this conversation. I’m sure it helps provide better light into why and how we made the decision not to go road racing in 2010.

Huggy

By: rightarm

rightarm — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:59:09 +0000

Yamaha Canada pulls out of the Parts Canada Superbike series,congrats on the poor choice of team to go with last year {OSTFF} resulting in your dismal showing in the 09 season should have stayed with Fast Company/Rush Racing and you would have not been beaten by a {privateer operation} but I guess thats what happens when you have a dirt bike team trying to put together a road race program.If anything should have been pulled it should have been the extremely talented guy{not}that made this decision in the first place.Shame Shame Yamaha you are much wiser than this and have made this mistake in the past,I just hope you will learn from this and not make this mistake again.

Y4L

Hello Right Arm,

First of all I want to thank you for your comment but most of all your passion for racing. Internally, we squabble back and forth about racing and the directions it should take so this isn’t a new topic for us. You’re speaking to the guy who makes the decisions for racing so rest assured you’re getting it from the source. I just wanted to give you some background information on the decisions we (I) made. FAST company does a great job at being a top level team that competes for championships. They kept the Yamaha brand well represented in the hunt for a champion for a couple years and were always professional and well represented.

Racing being as it is though the money and resources that a top level team requires to stay at the top of the road race battles is fairly significant. Faced with declining sales in the economy and a slashed budget for 09 race season, we didn’t have the same resources available to re-sign FAST. Thus we had to look elsewhere. Enter OTSFF. OTSFF was able to assemble a competitive team for less due to the outside sponsorship they had attracted.

I do feel we were competitive. With a new team and all-new bike, Kevin finished 3rd overall in Sport Bike and was on the podium in 4 of the 7 Superbike races that he completed (crashes and mechanicals in the others). He was among the fastest lap at each race and battled with Szoke and McCormick on occasion (Mosport comes to mind when he was leading going into the final lap). Then there was Royce McLean who at 14 years of age was sitting in 7th until he broke his leg. He was clearly on track for rookie of the year and showed a lot of promise.

I think OTSFF did an admirable job this year competing against established teams who have years of experience working together, data acquisition, larger budgets etc. Yamaha Motor Canada withdrawing from road racing has absolutely NOTHING to do with the performance of the team last year. It’s got everything to do with the economy and how motorcycle sales are down quite significantly. You can’t spend money you don’t have!

I understand it can be frustrating to watch a team in transition (I’m a Leafs fan) but I wanted to give you a perspective of where we were/are coming from. Don’t hold it against us for too long eh? Thanks for riding Yamahas!

Huggy

By: Bob Hogg

Bob Hogg — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:28:57 +0000

Informative story… Danbro

Well..it depends on the level. Put me against any world class rider (15 years ago) on 80 cc bikes and it would be a good race….MX or road. Put me on a 125CC with a world class rider..and he may lap me.

Put Bubba on a stock YZ125 and let him go in a 450 Canadian MX race..and …I would bet he would win.

In the end…if you watched close at the indoor..James was struggling early season..riding over his head….the bike wasn’t right for the indoor. Once he got it dialled – he was gone. MX is more of a fear sport than road racing…so James can win with a bike that may not be world class.

In road racing…I’m talking world class riders. Anyone of the top 4 or 5 can win on any day depending on the bike.

Hats off to the Road Yamaha team and driver feedback. To win at that level..well – were talking very smart people. Driver feedback..

In its simplest form..how about F1 …Hamilton is a good driver…but a driver at that level needs the vehicle. I have only been to 1 high end car race..and it was clear – there were only about 5 drivers that had the capability of winning with the right car.

So..it depends on the venue.

Looking forward to more interesting stuff.