Ducati Not Being Sold
Last week reports surfaced that auto giant Volkswagen was considering parting ways with Ducati, which they acquired in 2012, to raise capital to off-set the massive fines the company has incurred as a result of Dieselgate. According to a report from Bloomberg last week, the company set aside “16.2 billion euros ($18.2 billion) for fines and expenses to fix as many as 11 million cars worldwide.” Cycle News reported that Volkswagen could fetch $1.5 billion in today’s market for the Ducati brand. Ducati was purchased for $870 million. None of this will happen, though. From Cycle World:
Additionally, when asked for a final word, Rupert Stadler, CEO of Audi (and thus directly involved in the management of the Ducati Motor branch), definitely denied any plan to put the Bolognese firm on the market. This should close all speculation, and probably also send positive signals to all the Ducati workers that their jobs are secure. To round things up, the Volkswagen/Audi management confirmed that in the case the financial need should materialize, they would rather put MAN heavy trucks and diesel engines specialists on the market than Ducati.
Being a Motorcycle Stuntman
A couple weeks back, we showcased a cool behind-the-scenes segment from the movie Deadpool, which featured a custom hybrid camera/stunt motorcycle. Of course, it was ridden by stuntman Andy “Regis” Harrington, who is also a former professional supercross rider and all over the stunt scene. Here is the video if you’ve yet to see it:
How Harrington actually got into the business is a story itself. Revzilla recently ran a profile on Harrington detailing how he got into the business, what movies he’s worked on and more. You can read the entire piece here, but I thought it was cool that the first movie he worked on was “Motocrossed.”
It turned out to be a Disney Channel movie called "Motocrossed." Jeremy McGrath, Travis Pastrana, and Dave Castillo were on the set. That seemed cool. But when it was time to eat, he recalled, “My boss told me that I didn’t get to eat with those guys.”
That was when he learned the difference between being an extra and being "talent."
He wasn’t an extra for long. After lunch, the stunt guys wanted to blow off steam and ride for a bit. Somebody vouched for Regis — even though he was just an extra — and he cut some laps. It was his home track, and he’d just come off a pro season. When he pulled in, the producer and director were waiting for him. They asked him if he wanted to be in the movie.
Ronaldo Underpaid?
Last week we told you about a study Forbes, with the help of Hookit (which tracks sponsorship value in social and digital media and is featured frequently here on Racer X Online) did that tracked how much value global soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo brought to brands he is sponsored by. (You can read about it here.) So how is it that an athlete that racked in $88 million in the last 12 months to rank as the world’s highest paid athlete underpaid? He’s not on the playing field, according to Forbes, who reports that he “made $56 million in salary and bonus from Real Madrid, the most valuable soccer club in the world worth $3.6 billion.” But he may be underpaid off of the field, where he makes $32 million from sponsors that include Nike, Tag Heuer, PokerStars and more. From the article:
Sure, Ronaldo made more in endorsements than 89 other athletes did on our list of the world’s highest paid, and more than the total earnings (salary, bonus, and endorsements) of 67 of them. But he should have — and then some. He is the second-highest ranked active athlete in terms of influence in the world, according to The Marketing Arm’s global celebrity index powered by Repucom – one behind Messi. He is also the most popular athlete in the world by social media standards, with 215 million followers across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter – 60% more than any other athlete.
Plus the Portuguese-born star generated $176 million in earned media value, per Hookit, which tracks sponsorship value in social and digital media. His 255 branded posts produced an average 651,778 interactions (likes, shares, comments or retweets), and each was worth $689,426. Continuing with the theme, this is better than any other athlete.
All told Ronaldo generated a 449% return for his sponsors through social media, before considering television, print and other media, in exchange for the $32 million he pocketed from them, making him the best bang for a sponsor’s buck of any athlete on our list. That’s great for big business.
You can read the entire article here.
Behind the Scenes with Kawi
Kawasaki recently released a behind the scenes video of their world launch of the 2016 Ninja ZX-10R. The video features World SBK champion Jonathan Rea and Isle of Man TT rider James Hillier and is a cool look at how all the promotion stuff for a bike launch comes together.
Herrin Gets Air
Holy smokes. This photo is apparently legit and not some sweet photoshop job. The insane human above is MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 racer Josh Herrin who is jumping a Yamaha R1. Per Cycle World, this took place at Thunderhill Raceway, “in a section of the track that's referred to as "The Cyclone." I've never seen anything like this. Simply amazing!
Mnt Biker Runs Into a Bear
Mountain biking has certainly seen a rise as an outdoor activity in the last few years, including being 99.99999 percent of the motocross industry’s favorite thing in the entire world to do, bro. An Instagram user was certainly enjoying a stroll down the Mills Peak trail in Plumas County, California, recently when he ran into a $*&#$*&*&&*# BEAR. Seriously, he ran over a small bear! A bear, people!
His caption is amazing:
savydouza#tramplebearstuesday this bear came out of nowhere and was gone before I could ask if it was alright or anything... Volume up!
(The video does feature cursing. So keep it away from small children. Or just turn the volume down.)
Folding Bikes
According to Sports Illustrated’s Tech and Media site, a new company is utilizing 3D printing technology to design and create performance bicycles that fold. Montague Bikes started in Washington D.C. in the founders father’s garage before becoming a global company headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. The important thing when talking about the bikes is that they are standard size and made for athletes. Here’s more from SI and make sure to check out the video below.
Working with Shapeways, a 3D printing company out of New York, they printed DirectConnect prototypes in plastic from which they were able to get a sense of scaling and test various elements. Once they got it to a point where it worked, they printed a DirectConnect in aluminum that they could weld to the frame to really test it. “What used to be a months-long process that cost thousands of dollars can now be done in a week for a couple hundred dollars,” Montague expressed.
Lorenzo and F1
Autoblog released some big news this week regarding reigning MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo. Apparently, Lorenzo is trying to arrange a test with Mercedes Formula 1 car before the end of the season. How is he doing this? Aside from being a MotoGP champion, the two teams share a very big common sponsor—Monster Energy. Obviously, there are a few hurdles in place.
The obstacles are mainly reasons related to safety and the calendar. Lorenzo is very likely to fight for the MotoGP title until the end of the year, something that would put the test at risk because Yamaha would probably not allow him to drive the under those circumstances.
Besides that, there are not many days available when it comes to mixing F1 and MotoGP. If there was a way to agree to it, with Mercedes as well as Monster and Yamaha, they would have to find a place for the test to take place, something that is not clear either.
You can read more here.
