Edward's Replacement @ Valencia!

[Hogboy]

Josh Hayes of all people.

While I admire anybody who can successfully race a bike I have to admit I was a bit disappointed at this news.  I've done a few mini-tirades at the horrid state of AMA racing (or whatever it's called now), but letting one of these B-class riders loose on a MotoGP bike just seems dumb.

There are oodles and oodles of great MotoGP2 riders out there (Bradl, Marquez) as well as BSB guys like Shane Byrne or Tom Hill who just might be more deserving.  Maybe it's $ and sponsorship, but I don't get it.  Hell, I would call Yvon DuHamel back just to see the dust fly!

Remember when AMA racing was every bit as good as F1?  Whaaaa happpened??

p.s. the Valencia race is on Speed Nov 6 LIVE!  That's 8:00 a.m. EST.

 

[terrynyc]

Can't hurt to give him a shot and its just a temporary seat so I think most Moto2 riders want to stay with their bread and butter.  Might be a contractual thing too.  Spies and Hayden stepped up their game lets see if Hayes has it in him.

 

[krumgrinder]

Maybe they're throwing the AMA a bone?  Especially since it's an American rider that's out, and with Spies still seeing stars or double or whatever, I can see it- but I agree there are probably more qualified and deserving riders.  Hell, what about the WSBK guys- they're already done for the season- I bet Checa would dig this!

 

[centex]

Not arguing that there may not be "more qualified and deserving riders" (however one judges that  : ) ....

I'm not sure I see how giving Josh the ride equates with "...throwing the AMA a bone"?  I can't see any benefit accruing to the AMA series as a result of this.

It would seem more likely that the Graves Yamaha connection may have facilitated this as a short notice deal (IMHO).  It may not hurt that Colin, Ben Spies and Josh Hayes all play together here at home in the states .... for example, Josh and Melissa were guests at the first session of Colin's Texas Tornado Boot Camp and Josh / Ben were reported to do joint bicycle training stints between the '10 - '11 seasons.

And / Or:

Teknic, Josh's primary sponsor, may well have helped buy the ride for an international advertising bump.  Very often indeed the money flows upstream when talking about 'test' rides in a racing series', both 2- and 4-wheeled 

 

[krumgrinder]

Not arguing that there may not be "more qualified and deserving riders" (however one judges that  : ) ....

From the perspective of riders winning/placing in their time spent at the lower series/levels/classes such as Moto2, Moto125, WSBK, etc.?

I'm not sure I see how giving Josh the ride equates with "...throwing the AMA a bone"?  I can't see any benefit accruing to the AMA series as a result of this.

Simply for publicity, that a top AMA rider gets a shot at a ride in the premier international series.

It would seem more likely that the Graves Yamaha connection may have facilitated this as a short notice deal (IMHO).  It may not hurt that Colin, Ben Spies and Josh Hayes all play together here at home in the states .... for example, Josh and Melissa were guests at the first session of Colin's Texas Tornado Boot Camp and Josh / Ben were reported to do joint bicycle training stints between the '10 - '11 seasons.

Seems logical, and as good a guess as any.

And / Or:

Teknic, Josh's primary sponsor, may well have helped buy the ride for an international advertising bump.  Very often indeed the money flows upstream when talking about 'test' rides in a racing series', both 2- and 4-wheeled 

Also certainly a possibility; goes back to marketing/publicity angle.  ;D

 

[Hogboy]

Here's the sponsorship angle - from Soup:


From Teknic: Josh Hayes To Replace Colin Edwards at Valencia MotoGP
by staff
Friday, October 28, 2011
This press release just in from Josh Hayes' leathers sponsor:

Josh Hayes and Teknic Go MotoGP Racing in Valencia.

An opportunity of a lifetime, Josh Hayes received a call from Yamaha late on October 26th asking if he would like to fill in for the injured Colin Edwards at the last round of the Moto GP series in Valencia Spain. Teknic has agreed to support Josh's first ever Moto GP effort by making suits in the next five days. It's a massive effort to design and complete these suits on time said Chris Hayes of Teknic, but well worth the effort.

Josh will compete aboard the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 on November 4-6 in Valencia , Spain. The race will be broadcast live Sunday November 6, 8am - 9am on Speed.

Josh Hayes is a two time AMA Superbike champion and Teknic's premier athlete and racer. Teknic has supported Josh and his career for over 12 years. We are extremely excited that Josh is being presented this opportunity. He has worked very hard for many years and deserves it. We are honored to be able to support him added Chris Hayes.

 

[krumgrinder]

Do the rules allow a certain amount of time for a replacement rider to become acquainted with the bike?  I would think making the jump from an AMA bike to a MotoGP bike- even if it is a factory satellite team- would be quite the new world??? 

 

[mnofpeace]

As more information has come out about this...Hayes has a similar sponsor in Monster energy drinks, has the same backing as Edwards in Yamaha USA (which has the same amount, if not more pull as the European wings/markets of the respective Japanese manufacturers-see Nicky's first ride with HRC facilitated by Honda-USA), and there simply arent many other riders out who already work for Yamaha who they can put in that seat to cover the grid.  The Yamaha WSB riders are already under contract to ride for new manufacturers for next season; Melandri, Laverty, Davis, & Scassa. 

When you add the 'politics' of the situation, Dorna always wants to keep riders on the grid from the UK and the USA, to keep their TV viewership up as well.  With Spies, at the time of the initial press releases, questionable for the race, there had to be a little bit of a push to get Hayes on the bike from that direction as well.  Now, we see Spies IS going to race anyway.

It would be great if Hayes did get a season on the bike.  There has been easily seen proof that champion-riders coming out of the AMA series are very credible and competitive on the world stage: Hayden-AMA champ to MotoGP champ, Spies-AMA champ to WSB champ & MotoGP race winner, Mladin-AMA champ and considered one of the top 5-10 riders world wide during his prime seasons.  But Hayes' age isnt helping him unfortunately.  Plus, he probably is making more money riding for Yamaha USA than he would as the last guy in the door at a Yamaha Satellite team.