outlaw dave Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 This past weekend young Patrick Smage from the USA, did what many thought impossible. - he went to Europe and beat the top Youth riders at the Italian World Championship. In order to do this, he not only had to have the natural talent, but also the support of his family and friends, plus the Sherco Distributor. - The costs involved for a "Privateer" are immense with the rewards small in comparison - this is true no matter where the rider is located, but obviously with most Trials action happening in Europe, American or Canadian youngsters, are at a huge dis-advantage, not only because of the costs, but also because of school schedules etc. Much has been written on this subject, and many really good comments posted in the various forums - yes even by Mich Lin - But one thing that nobody seems to have mentioned, is the apparent lack of funding available to Manufacturers and Distributors by the Governing body ie: the FIM. - What I'm getting at is the way they do it in F1 - in order to get more Teams involved the incentive is that scoring any points in the constructors Championship is worth millions paid out by the FIA. - Now obviously you can't compare the revenue of F1 and World Trials, but it would seem to me that somebody is making money out of the sport, and they are not putting any back in. - Now I'm sure that there will be people jumping all over this with reasons why not - negative this & that, but why can't a system be set up whereby Teams or Distributors get funding by the FIM? After all they get their money from the riders, and there have been many posts on this web-site about governing bodies wasting money on expensive meetings at far away luxury resorts etc. With this or some similar funding, the young stars of the future may at least be able to get the help they need. - I'm sure there are other kids like Pat Smage, who would jump at the chance to compete at the top level, but are hampered by the fact their parents can't afford to spend the money on travel expenses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neils on wheels Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 Now obviously you can't compare the revenue of F1 and World Trials, but it would seem to me that somebody is making money out of the sport, and they are not putting any back in. Dave, I'm not sure if anyone really is making any money. Maybe the Top 5 riders earn a decent living for 5-10 years, I'm not even sure if that is true. But at a company level who makes money? the Honda effort looks like it costs a hell of a lot more than it earns and all the other teams seem to have reduced the size of their factory squads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outlaw dave Posted July 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 I'm not talking about the riders or factories - I'm talking about the FIM - The promoters pay big bucks to host these events. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atomant Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 There is money being made in trials but unfortunately, its not enough! Its probably enough to make a decent living for a few and for the rest, keeping the head above water would be about right. When you talk about 'big bucks' for the FIM again I think you are mistaken. Sports make big money when the are commercially exploited of which trials isn't one of them. I am one person who thinks it could be but at the moment, its not. When theres more money (if ever) then maybe it would be possible, but until then, its the lucky ones who get a go at it, the rest will have to just dream! Thats life IMHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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