WWhile the transfer process in the Motocross World Championship used to get underway around May, it's now happening increasingly later. Moreover, for Japanese motorcycle manufacturers, whose fiscal year runs from April 1st to March 31st, financial decisions are usually made later than for their European competitors.
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Why am I telling you all this? To give a glimpse into an interesting, yet rarely discussed, topic: how do motocross GP teams come up with their budgets? In the past, full factory teams, like the Austrian Red Bull KTM team with Jeffrey Herlings, Andrea Adamo, and Marc-Antoine Rossi, set the tone. The budget, the technology, the rider selection—in short, all the decisions—were in the hands of the motorcycle manufacturer.
Another example from the past? Yamaha's in-house team that launched the groundbreaking YZM400F in the 1997 500cc World Championship. The bikes were prototypes built in Japan, but the team, managed by Yamaha Motor Europe, was based in Belgium. Or the Kawasaki factory team, run by Kawasaki UK director Alec Wright in the late 80s and early 90s.
A new kind of factory team
Motorsport entrepreneurs like the late Jan de Groot (Kawasaki), Michele Rinaldi (Yamaha), Paolo Martin (Honda), and Sylvain Geboers (Suzuki) ran a factory team with the budget of a motorcycle manufacturer and their personal sponsors. Current examples include Marco Maddii (Ducati) and Claudio De Carli (KTM). This is their main activity, for which they pay themselves a monthly salary.
Over the years, these types of entrepreneurs have made way for a different type: successful businessmen with a huge passion for the sport. Think of Giacomo Gariboldi (HRC Honda), Hans Corvers (Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing MXGP), Louis Vosters (Fantic Factory Racing MXGP), Kimi Räikkönen (Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP), Thierry Chizat-Suzzoni (Monster Energy Triumph Racing), Wim Hutten (Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing MX2), Kay Hennekens (Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing), Elio Marchetti (MRT Racing Team Beta), or Tim Mathys (Standing Construct) and Harry Fasé (F&H Racing), who closed down their successful teams last year.
These businessmen want to run a factory team for a competitive and major brand because it projects a positive image of themselves and/or their business. They're willing to spend a fortune for it. The fact that the title of "official factory team" offers this desirable image is something the manufacturers eagerly capitalize on. After all, the more the wealthy team owner is willing to contribute, the better for the brand from Japan, Austria, or Italy. In the 80s and 90s, tobacco manufacturers often still provided a large portion of a factory team's budget.
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Fifty-fifty a.u.b.
With investments multiplied and declining sales in the motorcycle market, we've entered a completely different era. Speaking with current team owners—some of whom were very transparent—50% of the annual budget seems to be the best deal motorcycle brands are offering in the current climate. Beyond that, the team owner must cover the remaining 50% of the annual budget through personal sponsors and their own contributions.
He is also responsible for the “investment goods”: the purchase of the building in which the workshop will be housed, and the leasing or purchase of trucks and other rolling stock.
There's a major caveat, though. A 50/50 deal sounds as straightforward as the 2-for-1 offer at your local optician's. That would have been too easy. Sometimes the manufacturer's share already includes mandatory sponsors for oil, clothing, tires, gears, and so on. One of our insiders commented on this: “As a team, it's better to be able to negotiate one-on-one with an oil brand like that, then at least you get the full package.”
If those external factory teams have to make do with only 50% (and many even less), how do the manufacturers treat their semi-supported teams in the World Championship, or in EMX250, EMX125, or even, god forbid, the WMX? I was very dismayed to hear that some brands only contribute 5% of the annual budget, but for that, everything has to be in the respective manufacturer's colors. And just as an official brand garage in the automotive sector has to comply with a series of obligations, these teams are given a list of specifications that are hard to beat.
Motorcycles for sale
In such an external factory team, the manufacturer generally covers the riders' wages. This expense is then included in the 30 to 50% contribution made by the motorcycle manufacturer. For a semi-factory team, it is usually the team that pays the riders' wages, as they are then directly contracted to the team.
To cover the remaining 50 to 70% — depending on the brand the team owner has “chosen” — he can also use the supplied engines. In other words: after being used for X number of races and training sessions, these engines are sold as standard. Or they are marketed as a “replica factory racing bike” with many nice extras.
In some cases (HRC Honda & KTM Group), factory motorcycles are delivered ready-to-run. The team is then, on paper, solely responsible for the logistics and practical aspects such as maintenance and facilitating races and training sessions. These prototypes may not be sold.
If the supplied engines don't meet their performance (or reliability) standards, the proverbial troubles are bound to begin. Expertise or not, improvement or not: for every change, the team must consult the engine manufacturer. From suspension to the chosen tuner to other components: every adjustment is a political minefield that makes the Binnenhof or the Wetstraat pale in comparison.
And let's face it: even a top brand has peak years and lean years where their motorcycles struggle with problems, big or small. The first year of a new generation, in particular, has often proven to be delicate. The increased complexity of electronics and suspension also often gives riders and teams headaches. The solution to actually have their hands free on the technical side? Buy everything, including the motorcycles, yourself!
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More factory than ever before!
Anyone looking at the impressive line-up of factory bikes in the World Championship would say that the motorcycle sector, and more specifically motocross, is flourishing more than ever before.
Unfortunately, we've had to do without the GasGas factory team since last year and Suzuki since 2017, but don't worry. Honda, Husqvarna, KTM (twice), Ducati, Yamaha (twice), Kawasaki, Triumph, Fantic, and Beta all have factory teams in the World Championship. And that's not even mentioning TM, which will be stepping up its game in MX2 next year!
It seems obvious to me that one factory MX team is not the same as another. However, does the average fan realize this? Does they realize how big the difference is between the efforts and expertise of, say, Honda and that of Beta? Anyone who just looks at the shiny trailers, big-name team names, and strong riders might suspect otherwise. The Motocross World Championship is a fairly even playing field with minor differences and only highly professional organizations. A kind of F1 with two wheels on dirt, if you will.
Closing note
We're not going to portray the team owners as victims. To quote a friend: “Nobody holds a gun to their head to do this.”
Personally, I assume most people enter with the ambition to further highlight their already successful careers and possibly the businesses they've created by creating a successful sporting story. They do this in motocross, not because the return on investment is highest there, but because they are passionate about the sport or even madly in love with it.
Everyone immediately knows that love and ambition can be blinding. Add to that the ego of a businessman who also wants to be successful in his beloved sport. This creates the perfect mix, which manufacturers cleverly exploit to reduce their own expenses while still seeing their motorcycles in action (at the front) in the Motocross World Championship.
Ready to reap the rewards and sell engines, because nowhere does the proverb seem to be “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” As applicable as in motocross. But who wins in the situation I just described anyway? Answer on a yellow postcard to the motocross expert.
Text: Matthias Van Eeckhoven – Cartoon: CoPilot – Photo Adrea Adamo: Juan Pablo Acevedo (KTM Images) – Photo Jeremy Seewer: MX July (Monster Energy Media)
