American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 250 May 2020 | Page 24

THE BRADLEY REPORT
Dorna - Financial Support for
BRIEFS Independent MotoGP Teams
NEWS
Mahindra Automotive North America
(MANA) (manufacturer of the Roxor
line of UTVs) has re-tooled its Auburn
Hills, Michigan headquarters and
manufacturing facility to produce an
aspiration box with an innovative
ease-of-use design, face shields and
masks for local frontline healthcare
workers and first responders and
additional products to be identified
through coordination with the State
of Michigan. A Mahindra food truck
is to distribute free meals to Oakland
County healthcare workers and first
responders.
While waiting for supplies of
medical personal protection
equipment, dirt bike riding
nurses from Central California
told Rodger O'Keefe, Cycle
Gear's Vice President of retail
store operations, that they
could use motorcycle goggles in
the interim to help protect them
from the novel coronavirus. Ken
Murphy, President and CEO of
Comoto Holdings, parent
company of Cycle Gear, J&P
Cycles and RevZilla, then
donated $50,000 worth of
inventory to hospitals and
emergency management
offices. Not long after, Daniel
Gómez, with UCLA Health,
called the Cycle Gear store in
Lomita, California, to order
goggles in bulk – 2,000 of them.
Store Manager Anthony Thacker,
who had heard about the
donation plan, sent the request
up the chain. A team quickly
picked, packed and shipped
them, free of charge.
Responding to the coronavirus
outbreak and resulting race
cancellations, the Madrid based
MotoGP and WSBK rights holder,
Dorna, has moved to secure the future
of the MotoGP World Championship
series by announcing support for the
series' independent teams - those who
do not have full, in-house OE
manufacturer financial backing.
"With the agreement of the FIM and
the full commitment from
shareholders Bridgepoint Capital and
CPP Investments, Dorna Sports is
proud to be able to assure help for
MotoGP class independent teams
through this difficult moment in the
history of our sport, as well as teams
in the Moto2 and Moto3 classes.
"Through the International Road-
Racing Teams Association, MotoGP
independent teams will each receive
considerable advance payments
during the months of April, May and
June, irrespective of whether activity is
restarted or not. This is in order to
guarantee the economic wellbeing of
the independent teams and their staff,
as well as to secure their subsistence
for the future.
"In addition, IRTA has already made
payments to all Moto2 and Moto3
teams to support them during this
difficult period. Further measures for
the intermediate and lightweight class
teams will be considered in due
course.
"As previously stated, Dorna Sports is
working hard to try and ensure that
this crisis leaves all those in the
MotoGP World Championship with
only one consequence - that of a
modified calendar."
Reports in Spain and the United States
say that the financial support is in the
amount of € 250,000 per month for
the three months of April, May and
June. The MotoGP teams to benefit
from the payments include Petronas
Yamaha, Red Bull KTM Tech3, Reale
Avintia Ducati, Pramac Ducati, LCR
Honda and the Gresini Aprilia squad
(still an independent).
The Moto2 and Moto3 teams will
receive support in addition to the €
25,000 per rider they have already
been promised. So far, no
announcements have been made
about support for WSBK teams.
STOP PRESS
Italian and Catalan Grand Prix
Postponed
Due to the ongoing coronavirus
outbreak, the GP d’Italia Oakley
(Autodromo del Mugello, May
29-31) and GP Monster Energy
de Catalunya (Circuit de
Barcelona-Catalunya, June 5-7)
are the latest MotoGP rounds to
have been postponed.
Dorna says that "as the
situation remains in a state of
constant evolution, new dates
for these Grand Prix events, as
well as the recently postponed
French and Spanish GPs, cannot
be confirmed until it becomes
clearer when exactly it will be
possible to hold the events. A
revised calendar will be
published as soon as available."
As things stand at April 4th and
per the original MotoGP
calendar for 2020, the HJC
Helmets Motorrad Grand Prix
Deutschland on June 21st will
be the opening round at the
Sachsenring (Chemnitz), Saxony,
Germany.
Polaris - Chief Digital Officer
The MCIA in the UK is demanding
the immediate introduction of the
Euro 4 'End of Series' sales period
provisions, as provided for during the
January 2017 transition from Euro 3
to 4, to be introduced immediately
and extended by 12 months to allow
Euro 4 vehicles to be produced and
registered throughout 2021 with End
of Series derogations taking place in
2022.This would allow a further year
to sell Euro 4 vehicles already in
stock or yet to be produced. This is
not a request for a delay to the
introduction of Euro 5, but simply for
additional time to allow Euro 4
stocks to clear through the market.
The health emergency has brought
the PTW market to a near standstill,
and with the traditional spring and
summer demand peaks unlikely to be
realized, the result will be large
quantities of unsold product.
24
Polaris has created a new senior
management role, that of a
Chief Digital Officer, with the
role being filled by new hire
Victor M. (Vic) Koelsch, who
joins Polaris from Exide
Technologies, where he was
CEO, leading "a challenging
turnaround of the company."
Reporting directly to Polaris
CEO Scott Wine and CFO Mike
Speetzen, he "possesses 30
years of digital and technology
experience, with extensive
background in digital strategy,
technology development and
connected product and service
offerings, as well as general
management.
A seasoned executive, with
technology and customers'
digital expectations evolving
AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - MAY 2020
faster than ever, Koelsch will
"own the digital strategy for
the company. He will be
responsible for accelerating
Polaris' development and
integration of digital
technologies into its products,
services and experiences, as
well as leading the creation of
new business solutions and
digital offerings," said Wine.
"We have been building
industry-leading digital
capabilities for several years
and are excited for Vic to take
our digital efforts to the next
level and deliver more value to
customers and shareholders. He
has made a career of
developing and implementing
market-leading technology
solutions, and we are excited
for him to leverage that acumen
to augment our existing
initiatives and spearhead
Polaris' digital future."
Prior to his role at Exide,
Koelsch held multiple roles with
the Michelin Group.
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