Suzuki to Cut Amateur Racing Support Team
December 6th, 2008 • Motocross News, My Thoughts
A few weeks ago, I posted about the current state of the motocross economy. In the post, I talked about how I felt the motocross economy would crumble from the bottom up. However, it appears as if I may have been incorrect in this thought.
Recently, Suzuki decided to cut their amateur racing support team. In other words, the factory Suzuki team ran by Cole Gress in years past is now debunk. According to AmateurMX on Vital Mx
…Suzuki has dropped their amateur program. In the current economic climate they just couldn’t justify the expense of continuing with their current business model. Basically, no more free or discounted bike deals and no more factory trackside support in the fashion they were providing it. And no more factory amateur team.
Suzuki is clearly being strongly affected by the current economy situation throughout the world, and is starting to cut expenses to survive, however, I believe that they are cutting the wrong expenses.
Amateur Riders are the Backbone of the Motocross Community
-Photo by Paul Buckley.
What Suzuki is failing to realize with this move is that the amateur riders are the backbone of the motocross community, and of their motocross business as a whole. Granted, the amateur racing team only supported a small number of elite amateur racers, the results of this decision will have a ripple effect throughout the industry. There is no denying that Ryan Villopoto has greatly affected Kawasaki’s popularity, even before he turned pro. Similarly, Suzuki’s upcoming amateur riders, such as Eli Tolmac, Nico Izzi, and the Trettle brothers could have potentially made Suzuki “cool” again. By completely cutting out their amateur team, these riders will almost certainly be forced to another amateur team (Kawasaki’s prospering Team Green program, for example), in order to continue racing at the elite level. This, in return, will bring their present and future publicity and fan base to another manufacturer.
The transition from amateur to pro is difficult for even the most talented 16 year old amateur stars. Kawasaki Team Green has managed to make this transition easier by supporting their riders throughout the transition, so they are free of worrying about what team they will ride for. This method has worked really well for Kawasaki as it provides them with a steady stream of talented incoming riders and it benefits their riders by providing them with a solid ride in one of the biggest transitions of their career. Because Suzuki has canceled their amateur racing team, they will be void of this luxury, and will have an extremely difficult time convincing amateur riders to switch from a bike they know and personnel they are friends with, to a new team with a new bike and a new group of people around them. This decision by Suzuki could potentially cost them thousands of dollars, and hundreds of wins by cutting off their steady supply of fresh pro riders.
All is not lost
-Photo by John Parkinson.
While Suzuki is essentially cutting off all direct elite level amateur support, they have not lost all hope for their top amateur racers. Although they will not be organizing an official team, their hope is that the dedicated Suzuki dealer’s throughout the country will field smaller amateur teams. Similar to Honda of Houston, these teams will be run by the dealers and funded in part by Suzuki. Hopefully this will provide some avenue for Suzuki’s top level amateur racers in the immediate future.
Contingency?
When this story first broke, there was a number of stories stating that Suzuki had eliminated all contingency for 2009. Thankfully, this is not true. This is great news for Suzuki riders throughout the country. Contingency is a great way for riders to recoup some of their expenses, and shows them that Suzuki appreciates their choice to ride their bikes. For now, contingency is safe, however, with Suzuki showing obvious signs of economic difficulties, I would not be shocked if they dropped contingency in the future as well.
Conclusion
The United States, and the world as a whole is experiencing a time of serious economic turmoil. The motocross industry will not be exempt from these troubles. Suzuki is the first company in the motocross community to show signs of economic troubles. They have cut out their amateur racing program in order to save money. While this will allow them to save money in the short term, I believe that this is the wrong area to be trying to save money. This decision will have long lasting impacts on their professional racing program, and their public relations. For now they have kept their contingency program in place, and hopefully this does not change in the future, however, I fear that it may.
What do you think of Suzuki’s decision to cut their amateur racing program out? Do you think it will have long term effects on their pro racing program?
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March 10, 2009 at 7:37 pm
[...] few months ago, Suzuki announced that they were going to cut their amateur team. When the news was announced, ...