When I was in the Navy I learned that a drop of oil can pollute the entire water supply of a ship.
It’s one of the first things they tell you. And there is no way to remedy it. The water is no longer drinkable.
For news mixed with bullshit there is the same risk even if you can always try to separate one from the other.
Going by order, the story that Petronas would have left Yamaha and MotoGP due to the quarrels between a woman and Razali, is bullshit.
Maybe this also happened, but the reason why Petronas gave up Yamaha is another.
Until things went well and Petronas fought for the world championship with Morbidelli and showed results worthy of the brand, similar to those of F1, everything went smoothly. After all, the declarations at the end of 2020 were bellicose.
But the second season was very far from expectations.
Even Walkabout Oil would have been dissatisfied with the fact that a lot of negative visibility was created around a project that went so badly that it had an anti overexposure. It is the truth. Rossi and Morbidelli, the all time champion and the world runner-up: a disaster.
Razali paid for this and it is evident that while all this was happening he may also have had some trouble with some connecting element of the sponsor company. No wonder, but that was a consequence, not a cause. Clearly Razali can’t go around saying that he argued with Petronas because his team’s performance was indecent and he handled things badly.
It is not true that Petronas has left MotoGP, and it is also not true that he is rushing en masse with his management to Portimao to finish a mega
agreement. Petronas is already the official supplier of Moto2 and Moto3 and therefore on the verge of a renewal.
It’s also not true that Petronas is putting pressure on Honda to give his money away. Never happened that a sponsor puts pressure to sponsor someone because it would mean playing up against itself. And then there is still Repsol. Market competition is okay but there is a gentlemen agreement between oilmen.
The truth is that Repsol, a company with almost local interests (Iberian peninsula and a bit of South America) and three times smaller than Petronas, is out in MotoGP and in the Trial, where it sponsors, once again, Spanish companies.
According to some rumors, he also tried to renegotiate the contract with HRC, but that is not exactly the problem.
Repsol’s business plans reflect the European situation. Many car manufacturers will soon no longer produce thermal engines, in some countries they will not even be on sale soon, and therefore Repsol, which sells fuels in Europe with 6000 service stations and 5 refineries all in Spain, has different prices. Electricity, biofuels, etc. Repsol is about to do exactly like Total Elf. This starts as early as 2050. It seems far away but there are fewer seasons to go than we think about the technical deadline. Industrial reconversions and budgets come a long time in advance, and so do the company strategies.
It is not true that Asian oilmen and Arabs land en masse for some mysterious reason. Asians and Arabs land en masse because it is from them that oil is sold and in fact, someone will have noticed, the championships are moving eastwards even physically.
In a world of scarcely credible sponsors based on scarcely credible projects and increasingly linked to suspicious maneuvers, we end up marveling at those who do things according to market logic.
Why should a local company like Repsol continue to promote its image as an oil tanker in a Europe that has declared war on oil?
At the right times the big farewell will finally happen.
Why shouldn’t Arabs and Asians arrive in MotoGP and F1 given that we are racing more and more eastwards, including Saudi Arabia, and fossil fuels are still being sold in the east?
One should be surprised at the contrary.
And if anyone wants some numerical details and some more data, well just consult Decalspotters
As for the partnership between Honda and Petronas, if Repsol were to come out, it could also happen.
There is no story other than inventing one to click, because there is no struggle when there are different interests.
The real struggle is not about who to sponsor, but about what and for which market.
Honda HRC is very important, but only with a fit Marquez.
Dorna’s sponsorship is very important, but only if it concerns the championship as a whole.
A little less so is some other second tier teams, such as VR46.
There is no pressure, no struggle. There has never been a fight to give money to those in need like Dorna and the MotoGP teams.
Among oilmen, they will all come to an agreement sharing the cake, like almost friends.
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