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One of the greatest fears which World Superbike fans expressed when it was announced last year that control of WSBK would fall under the responsibility of Dorna was that WSBK would either be killed off as a series, or absorbed into MotoGP as a glorified support class. The continued existence of two motorcycle road racing world championship seemed in serious doubt; in dire economic times, one of the two must give. And with Dorna having invested so much in making MotoGP the dominant championship, WSBK fans feared, it would be World Superbikes that suffers.

That fear, at least, is groundless. Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta told German-language publication Speedweek that he could not conceive of the two series being run at the same events. There would always be come circuits and some countries that would prefer one series to the other, Ezpeleta explained to Speedweek. "We will be keeping the two series separate, and supporting them both," Ezpeleta said.

The advantages of having two series is clear. World Superbikes, for example, has always had a huge following in Britain, while being largely ignored in Spain, even when Carlos Checa was in the process of securing his first WSBK title. Maintaining both WSBK and MotoGP allows Dorna to exploit the two series in their strongest markets, while coordinating to expand motorcycle racing as a whole and reach a broader audience.

Though Ezpeleta's expression of support for WSBK may go some way to calming the worst of World Superbike fans' fears, major concerns remain. WSBK fans fear Dorna will destroy the heart of the series, by imposing massive technology restrictions and reducing the series to a glorified Superstock spec. Recent reports intimated that Dorna was considering scrapping the Superstock 1000 and Superstock 600 support classes, and replacing them with a junior series to be raced using 250cc four-stroke machines based on production bikes. Though it is still unclear exactly what effect the scrapping of Superstock will have, and whether it really means that both WSBK and WSS will be reduced to glorified Superstock machinery, WSBK fans fear that any further reduction in technology will see the series lose what makes it so attractive.

Those worries were heightened when a number of high-profile names, such as WSBK Director Paolo Ciabatti, series press chief Julian Thomas and Infront CEO Paolo Flammini, revealed that they would be leaving WSBK. The people being drafted in to take their place have served to calm the nerves a little. Gregorio Lavilla is a former rider who has raced in both Grand Prix, World Superbikes and national superbike series, and could form a bridge between the two paddocks. The name of Javier Alonso will be less comforting: Alonso is widely regarded in the MotoGP paddock as Carmelo Ezpeleta's right-hand man, and is a member of MotoGP's Race Direction and a key executive inside Dorna. On the one hand, Alonso is a Dorna man through-and-through; on the other hand, having such a high-profile figure inside World Superbikes is at least a sign of how seriously Dorna is taking the series.

Ezpeleta himself will not be involving himself too closely with the World Superbike series. When asked by Speedweek whether he would be attending a WSBK round this year, he replied that it was unlikely, given his current commitments. Aragon was one possibility, Ezpeleta told Speedweek, another being the Indian round, if they were forced to postpone it to later in the year, due to the current difficulties facing the race planned for the Buddh International Circuit near New Delhi.

The inaugural round of World Superbikes in India is under serious threat, leaving Dorna facing severe problems just months after taking over the running of the WSBK series. Bureaucracy, customs formalities and import bonds threaten to see the race, scheduled to be held on March 10th at the Buddh International Circuit near New Delhi in India, either postponed or called off indefinitely, according to reports over on GPOne.com.

The problem revolves around the difficulties faced by the need to temporarily import large quantities of material into India, and consists of two parts, GPOne is reporting. The first issue is one of timing: the Indian round of WSBK is due to be held on March 10th, just two weeks after the opening round of the series at Phillip Island in Australia. The problem is that Indian customs regulations demand that the technical equipment (bikes, parts, tools, and other equipment) need to be in a customs warehouse in India 15 days ahead of the race, to allow the customs service time to inspect the goods prior to entry into the country. That would make racing at Phillip Island difficult, given that it would mean that the bikes would have to be in India at around the same time that the WSBK men need them to contest Superpole on the Saturday before the race.

The second problem could be even bigger. Normally, when goods are imported into a country, that country's custom authorities levy some form of import duty, a tax on imports. However, in the case of goods which are only in the country temporarily before being exported again, as in the case of racing motorcycles to be used at a round of World Superbikes, the import duty is either waived entirely, or a temporary import duty is paid, to be returned (minus a handling fee, of course) once proof has been shown that the imported goods have left the country again. The problem here is that the sums involved are large: import duty on a street-legal superbike is 105% of its new value, though what value would be used to calculate the duty on a race-ready WSBK machine remains to be seen. Similar amounts are due on all spare parts, tools and other equipment, meaning the sum required for each team in temporary import duty could easily run into the high tens or low hundreds of thousands of euros. Though they would (eventually) see this money returned, it would mean that already cash-strapped World Superbike teams need to find very large bank guarantees for a period of several months. While WSBK budgets might just be able to stretch to covering those amounts, the much poorer World Supersport teams would have a real problem handling this.

The problem of temporary import duty is not unique to India, of course. Many countries around the world impose similar charges, but usually, political support for sporting events such as MotoGP, World Superbikes or Formula One helps smooth the passage of equipment in and out of the country. Customs procedures are shortened, temporary import duty requirements are either waived or reduced. In the case of Formula One, for example, a separate internal department of FOM, the company which runs F1, deals with such issues for the championship as a whole. Dorna does something similar for MotoGP, while Infront Motor Sports has tried to do the same for WSBK. But while F1 is a global sport with an income in the billions of dollars, World Superbikes must work with a much more modest budget, which creates problems when faced with the gargantuan bureaucracy of countries such as India. But dealing with India is not easy even for F1; the Indian Sports Ministry could have waived import duty requirements for F1 by designating the race an event of national importance. They did not, leaving the F1 organization to deal with a mountain of paperwork for the event. The situation was so complex that some teams, such as Ferrari, decided against flying in development parts for the Indian race, a decision which Fernando Alonso felt cost him significantly in the title chase.

Just months after taking over World Superbikes from Infront Motor Sports, Dorna faces its first major challenge. An emergency meeting has been called in Madrid for next week to discuss the situation. At the meeting will be Dorna, the Italian shipping company charged with transport, and representatives of the teams, according to the reports by GPOne.com.

The way this situation is handled will be a test of Dorna's intentions towards the World Superbike championship, but it is also a test of Dorna's future strategy for both WSBK and MotoGP. Dorna is very keen to break into the major Asian TV markets, seeing India and Indonesia as key to their future expansion. This is a goal shared with the manufacturers, who are seeing increasing shares of their revenue being generated by sales of motorcycles on both the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia as a whole. Staging a race in India is the first step in Dorna's Asian strategy, and having World Superbikes visit the country first would see WSBK paving the way for a MotoGP race in the country as well.

But while postponing the race would be a major setback for this season, it could well prove to be an advantage in the long term. The India WSBK race was probably the straw that broke the camel's back in the battle between Dorna and Infront, which saw Bridgepoint, which owns both series, hand control of WSBK and MotoGP to Dorna, taking it away from the Flamminis, who have run it for the past couple of decades. Early in 2012, Dorna had been in negotiations with the Buddh International Circuit to stage a MotoGP race in April, either before or after the race in Qatar. But Infront reportedly massively undercut Dorna's offer, offering a round of World Superbikes in March for a fraction of the price Dorna was asking for the MotoGP race.

The offer was a political move on the part of Infront, the sanctioning fee being requested from the Buddh International Circuit way too little to make it a commercially viable proposition for either WSBK or MotoGP to visit regularly. Snatching away the Indian round was a victory for Infront, leaving Dorna without a race in India, the circuit showing no interest in organizing a race for the price Dorna was asking, now that they had the ultra-cheap WSBK round on offer.

Now that Dorna controls both series, however, they may be able to use their leverage to increase the price of both MotoGP and WSBK races in India to more commercially sustainable levels. This would be good for both series in the long run, with World Superbikes covering its costs for going there, and MotoGP perhaps even turning a profit. By threatening to call off the Indian WSBK round, they could hope to persuade the Buddh International Circuit management to increase the sanctioning fees they are willing to pay.

Much depends on contracts, however. If Dorna cannot blame the customs difficulties on force majeure - which seems unlikely, as customs procedures are well-known and well-established - then they may be forced to either pay off the organizers, or try to work whatever miracles possible to make the race happen. While Dorna should have been prepared to face the problems of dealing with the notoriously sluggardly Indian bureaucracy, the real problem lies in the conflict between Dorna and Infront. While both sides were busy fighting for supremacy in the Bridgepoint board room, they were neglecting to ensure that the details of the race in India would be dealt with. In the bitterest of ironies, the battle precipitated by a conflict over the Indian World Superbike round could end up causing the Indian World Superbike round to be called off.

Monster Energy has agreed to a two-year partnership deal with Yamaha Factory Racing, which will see the Monster brand act as sponsor to Yamaha's MotoGP team. The announcement had been widely anticipated, and reported on here prior to Christmas, and extends Monster's participation in MotoGP, where they go head-to-head with the other energy drink giant, Red Bull.

Though the deal between Yamaha and Monster will provide a useful influx of cash for the Japanese factory team (Spanish website Motocuatro.com put the total sponsorship deal at 4 million euros) Monster will not become title sponsor. Instead, the Monster logos will receive the same kind of prominence as Japanese oil sponsor ENEOS, appearing on the fairings of both bikes, as well as on the leathers of both Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi.

The addition of Monster created a problem for Yamaha's management. Jorge Lorenzo had just extended his personal sponsorship deal with rival energy drink Rockstar for two years, a contract reportedly worth a million euros a year to the 2012 World Champion. Yamaha were forced to exercise a clause to buy out Lorenzo's Rockstar sponsorship from the Spaniard. Monster upped their offer to Yamaha to cover both the cost of sponsoring both riders, and to cover the cost of Lorenzo's lost Rockstar deal.

The Monster deal leaves two previous deals unaffected, however. The deal with the factory squad leaves the agreement Monster has with Yamaha's satellite team Tech 3 untouched. That team, consisting of Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith, will continue to sport Monster title sponsorship, and be known as the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 racing team. The Valentino Rossi's personal sponsorship deal with Monster is also unaffected, something which the Yamaha press release is at pains to make clear, possibly to counter earlier reports that Rossi had been asked to bring a sponsor to pay for his return to the Japanese factory. Though the deals are separate, this is in effect what has happened, with the 4 million Yamaha is receiving from Monster reportedly equivalent to the amount Yamaha are paying Rossi to ride for them.

Though Yamaha remains without a title sponsor, the amount generated by the ENEOS and Monster deals (around 8 million euros in total) is already more than the deal the factory had with Fiat when the Italian car maker was title sponsor to the team. A title sponsor would surely be welcome, but this deal makes Yamaha's future in MotoGP a little more secure.

Below is the official press release announcing the partnership with Monster:

Yamaha Factory Racing Looks to the Future with Monster Energy Partnership

Gerno di Lesmo (Milan, Italy), 8th January 2013

Yamaha Factory Racing is delighted to announce a Sponsorship and Partnership agreement with the Monster Energy Company (MEC) for 2013 and 2014. As a result of this agreement Monster Energy branding will be visible on the Yamaha YZR-M1s and racing leathers of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi as well as on all team clothing and all team equipment.

Reigning MotoGP World Champion Lorenzo has a personal engagement with Monster Energy and Yamaha included in the agreement. Valentino Rossi’s personal agreement with Monster Energy will be complementary to the agreement between Yamaha Factory Racing and MEC.

The agreement between the satellite Monster Energy Yamaha Tech3 team and Monster Energy will remain unchanged and is unaffected by the Yamaha – MEC agreement.

Lin Jarvis
Managing Director, Yamaha Motor Racing

“We are very happy to be able to announce the start of a new chapter in the Yamaha – Monster Energy partnership. Monster Energy is already a major partner to Yamaha’s top global sports activities in many domestic and international racing activities around the world in Motocross, Supercross, Endurance and Superbike disciplines. They have also been the title sponsor of the Monster Energy Tech 3 Yamaha team for the past 4 years. The expansion to include the Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP Team is a logical and prestigious expansion of the program.

This completion of the program permits Yamaha and Monster Energy to work even closer together to develop their sports marketing programs and to develop rider talent to continue to be successful into the future in all areas of motorcycle racing.

For the Yamaha Factory Racing Team this new partnership will bring even more ‘energy’ into our racing program and Monster Energy will be a great supporter to further promote our Team and our riders' performances around the world.”

The 2012 MotoGP season was one which was absolutely full of surprises. One of the very biggest was surely Ben Spies' shock decision to leave Yamaha at the end of 2012, something which nobody had seen coming. The move was unexpected in part because the Yamaha was clearly a highly competitive bike, as Jorge Lorenzo's world championship demonstrated. But most shocking of all was the way in which Spies announced his intention to move: via tweeting a link to an interview given in the early hours of a July morning to Superbikeplanet.com's Dean Adams.

Announcing your resignation by Social Media is highly unusual, to say the very least, and hinted at some very deep and dark motives behind the move. Under normal circumstances, the team the rider is leaving draws up a press release, and the departure takes place in an orderly fashion. This was the PR equivalent of a unilateral nuclear strike, especially when Spies told Adams that he had decided to leave Yamaha for "a litany of reasons." What those reasons were he could not disclose - other than mentioning to reporters at Indianapolis that a Yamaha official had spoken to him at Mugello and told him not to bother coming to Laguna Seca if he wasn't prepared to put in 100% - until his Yamaha contract expired on December 31st, 2012.

Now, January 2nd, 2013, Spies is no longer under contract to Yamaha, and therefore is at liberty to speak. He chose the venerable US publication Cycle World to speak to, and in a long and fascinating article explains why he left Yamaha, and the decision-making process that led him to sign with Ducati, to race with the Pramac Ducati Junior team alongside Andrea Iannone. Clearly, the way he was spoken to at Mugello, where he was totally incapacitated by food poisoning, played a major role in his decision to move. But it came on top of a host of mishaps which started at Qatar and lasted almost all season long. Spies is at pains to point out that he always had the same equipment as Jorge Lorenzo, but that it was frustrating that misfortune always seemed to strike him, rather than his teammate Lorenzo.

Perhaps even more interesting than his reasons for leaving Yamaha is his description of where the strongest points of the Yamaha lie, and how it was diametrically opposed to his natural riding style. The smoothness which the Yamaha demands, coupled with the fastidious nature of the Bridgestone tires, made it very difficult for Spies to get the bike to do what he wanted. Spies also walks the readers of the article through the process by which he ended up at Pramac Ducati, much of which is also related to his riding style.

The article by Spies makes for fascinating reading. We recommend that you head on over to the Cycle World website and read the article in its entirety. It is well worth the effort.