Sponsorship Article
If you were to walk round the paddock of a local motocross meeting, you wouldn’t believe that some of the same characteristics ultimately defined elite motocross in the 1970’s. Transit vans would litter the muddy fields, riders would work frantically to get their bike ready for the next race and mums would make sure that a nice bacon sandwich didn’t go a miss.
Fast forward 30 years and things are very much on the other end of the continuum. Transit vans have been replaced by trucks the size of mobile homes and mechanics from across the world have been employed to make sure the rider is fully focused on their task ahead.
So what has changed this?
Like many sports, sponsorship has played an integral part in this revolution and its introduction over the past few decades has given the sport an added sense of professionalism. Rob Hooper, a former British and World championship rider in the late 70’s, explains the catalyst within this new era.
“When I was riding there was very little money at the top level. There was a slight change in the 1980’s when there was an increase in Japanese imports, such as Honda, Suzuki and Kawazaki, which signalled the end of European importers.” he said.
Manufacturers like Suzuki then contracted people to become Managers within the team and ultimately Rob made the transition from rider to manager in 1987. Although becoming a Team Manager was not on the top of his agenda, the sport offered him limited opportunities in carrying on his passion, yet he believes that the recent crops of riders are now blessed with a wide range of career prospects.
“When I finished racing each manufacturer only supplied one team to race in the British Championship. Suzuki, Kawasaki, Honda only had one team so I didn’t really have many options.” he said.
“This year in the British Championship, Suzuki now has three teams, with one of them our team. That means more sponsors can come into the sport and invest money and also more opportunities to further your career.”
Hooper’s Relentless Suzuki team now share Suzuki’s support with Banks’ Swift team and MVRD Suzuki, which ultimately means the need to produce good results becomes imperative.
“Of course, we do have to share the pie with both other Suzuki teams but we have come to accept that within the sport. It is competition and we are conscious that we need to do very well to retain that level of support and to attract beneficial sponsors.”
Throughout his post racing career, Rob has seen a major improvement in the sport and, as Team Manager of Relentless Suzuki, also gained knowledge of the importance of sponsorship.
“With a team like ours, I feel we are in the position of gratitude. Molson Kawasaki are probably the most established team in the British paddock and their sponsors have come from business associates of their Team Manager Mike Church. I don’t have them sort of contacts so Relentless has been very beneficial for us.”
Sponsorship has become a very lucrative aspect to many teams and various teams have piled great sums of money in developing their hospitality to attract sponsors. This has caused concerns for Rob, who believes that teams are going down the Formula 1 route of attracting executives, taking away the motocross aspect of it.
“I remember one race we had in England and one team had bought this great big truck all the way from Belgium with no bikes or mechanical equipment in. They had it in the paddock and it was basically there for show and to satisfy the sponsors.” he said.
“At World Grand Prix meetings I have seen some teams employ more room to eat there prawn sandwiches than work on the bikes.”
Motocross is a very expensive sport and to race at the top level requires serious amounts of financial backing. Although teams often check rider potential for a place in their squad, managers have to consider how much sponsorship the rider can bring with them. This is a system used a lot in other forms of motor racing but has this system neglected raw talent from coming through?
“It’s hard to say whether or not raw talent will always come to the surface. At the end of the day manufacturers only care in selling bikes, not making careers.” Hooper states.
“It seems in this country that we are not interested in making careers within the sport. The ACU has some sort of academy but you never here of any one coming through, unlike France where they have a special federation which breeds riders from a very young age.”
One raw talent who has made the surface is Lewis Gregory, who now rides for Hooper’s Relentless Suzuki outfit. His early career saw him gain various sponsors, with Race Spec becoming his first sponsor back in 1997.
“When I was racing in the youth Championships, sponsors played a very small role. Race Spec basically gave me the gear and I went out and got the results.” Lewis said
Over a decade later and Lewis has noticed a huge change in the system. Although he still has the privileges of smaller sponsors helping him out, he now has the added pressure of impressing big business companies.
“The difference in expectations is huge. With national sponsorship you are required to get results so the sponsor’s names are more recognised. Injuries have hindered my chances of getting a chance at the title so the remainder of the season is vital for me.”
