This popped up on my myface page and viewtube feed; Video of the MXGP press conference; View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bQxGZpw9Ac And the press release;
I was sure hoping they were gonna show some sneak peaks of bikes at this press conference. It is good to hear they will field both 250 and 450 teams next year though!
I can't view the video anymore ... Says it is private ... ... But, I did see it once and towards the end, one guys says someone to the effect of "We only have so much to work with now" and we'll piece together what we have and build something better in the future" ... This was in the context of the bikes that come out this yr ...
The 450 effort has gotta be Dungey's or Cairoli's bike in blue and yellow (blue and white??) with Gunsight graphics....
Maybe for now ... ESP after hearing the remarks some of the honchos talking at their news conference ... -- But for the future after that? Companies sometimes have internal competition to some degree ... IBM I know once pitted their OS\2 OS against another internal part of the company that was pushing the windows OS against them ... Seemed weird to me at the time but I'm no business person really but this does make sense to me now to some degree.. -- In some fashion down the road, SP could allow this internal competition with his bike company and the other one he keeps 51% controlling interest ... He likes competition, he likes dirt bike racing ... He can let the designers of these 2 different bikes have at it in internal competition of who can build the best bike over the years ... Reward employees as per outcome of biking results ... I'm sure he knows the deal ...
Competition improves the breed, having two teams fighting against each other, taking different approaches to solve a problem, will undoubtedly bring some good developments from both teams, allowing the whole group to benefit. Assuming they don't just make blue/yellow pumpkins hopefully they give each brand it's own identity and strengths. They mentioned in the press conference that the amount of KTM teams in the GP was a bit excessive so splitting to have a Husky team would be good for the championship and KTM. Like control tyres in various world championships, there's less motivation to improve when you control the pace. I saw a video from Dunlop saying they get more development information from open tyre championships than the do while having the control tyre in Moto2/3.
No matter how competitive and independent they want you to believe, at the end of the day, Husqvarna and KTM are controlled by a single owner. If both were to be contending for the no.1 position, the winner will come down to a mere corporate decision of what is best for the owner, just like team orders in F1. A case of first year Huskies win, next year KTM and repeat... The victories will feel hollow...
While playing this game you have to keep your eye on the ball.....which includes beating Kawasaki, Honda, Yamaha...and having some of the very few top riders on your bikes. If you play the 'pick a winning team' game you risk getting beat by the other guys. Better off to field the strongest guys you can and just make sure they dont take each other out.
The next yr or 3 will just be feeling things out I'd guess ... So what happens in OCT might be short lived .. To me, and me alone, it seems a little of a stretch to develop that 450 xlite engine and sell it UNLESS work was sitting there unfinished when the new owners got the keys to the shop... Even if it is possible to design and test a 450 xlite engine and sell it, that means that new parts will need to be manufactured and put in the system and that is a commitment that the new owners do not have to deal with currently ... Maybe build and race it and kill it in a yr? I'm just not liking the odds of the xlite surviving due to ktm just wanting to move forward ... Too bad as I still feel that these are great bikes and just need riders and a little better company support ... Just another model we talk about thu the yrs and a few of us will keep and ride. Sort of the same but opposite idea with the Bergs ... They are going somewhere but too short of a time to do anything yr 1. -- I hope to get one of these new Husqvarna 450 MX bikes down the road somewhere and put a local rider on it watch that Husky fly ! ...
