Amen, brother. If the costs bother you, you could always take up golf......Originally Posted by chubb
Seriously though, it's not that hard to make it less expensive for privateers in either of the main series. Both promoters are frankly as bad as each other, and neither cares about the privateers - they pander to the couple of factory teams (or in FX, just one team), and ignore the privateers that make up 90% of the grid and thus provide 90% of the revenue. If I ran a business where I ignored what 90% of my customers wanted, I'd be out of business. Except we have a duopoly situation, so they have been able to get away with it for so long they think it's accepted by everyone. I've heard one of the promoters bragging that they've been running race meet for years so they must know what privateers want, but it's a flawed argument because they are only still in business as there's no alternative. It's not that they are right, it's just simply a lack of options! If you want to race, that is.
People burn out so quickly because of this. Some better known examples of this kind of behaviour are Telstra, the big banks, and even ECRD. None are providing what their customer wants, particularly, at an affordable price; they are maximising their profit because they can. What the promoters don't realise is that short-term benefit comes at a cost of long-term viability.
Take the example mentioned earlier, the FX500. Any right-minded person would immediately realise that by only offering one prize, and limiting the class of motorcycle to one class (and cutting out virtually all privateers by not allowing people to ride their own bikes), AND allowing overseas professional ring-in riders, you would get a maximum of 3 entries because that would be the limit of the people that would think they might have a chance to win it. If you know you have no chance of winning the single prize AND you know that the cost of entry is very, very high with no way to minimise the cost - specific homologated refuelling rigs, DOT road tyres that nobody has ever raced on before, single shared bike, etc etc etc - why would anyone else enter? And they didn't enter. In droves. Tells you that they didn't know what the racers want.
Ditto the piss-poor grid sizes in the premiere classes of both series. If you supply a rubbish control tyre, with fronts that don't last 8 laps, then you need the allocated 2.5 sets per 6 races. If you had a decent front tyre and a rear that wasn't so damn sensitive to pressure and temperature, and could mix and match as many of us do, then you'd be like most people and only use one front and maybe two rears - maybe. For the whole weekend. And have plenty left over for all the track days in between. But who benefits from forcing a control tyre and providing crappy tyres that you are forced to use? There are only two people that benefit - the promoter (upfront fee to appoint the exclusive supplier, plus a cut of every tyre sold) and the tyre company they are in bed with (selling crap-loads of rubbish tyres). People are voting with their wallets, and the grids are empty. Except club racing, and F-Oz (same rules as club racing). What else do you need to know, guys? We are not, and are never gonna be another BSB, so get over it. The glory days of the Australian Superbikes being as big as the V8s has long since passed, and wishing isn't going to bring it back.
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