Having a rich and famous celebrity as a team sponsor is a good thing, but double-edged. As long as the person finances, everything is fine, but they can decide overnight to turn off the tap, even in the middle of the season. This is what has just happened to the AGR team, which had Maria Herrera riding in Moto3 (withdrawal from Aragon due to her broken collarbone in Misano) and the American Joe Roberts, twenty-sixth and penultimate last Sunday.
Among the celebrities, we knew in 2011 the “Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing” team which entered Maverick Vinales and Sergio Gadea in 125, then the “Jack&Jones by Antonio Banderas Moto2” team with Kenny Noyes and Joan Olive. Paris Hilton and Antonio Banderas disappeared from the Grands Prix as quickly as they arrived there.
The sponsor of the AGR team was Karlos Arguiñano Urkiola, born September 6, 1948 in Beasain (Spanish Basque Country), Spanish Basque cook, gastronomy teacher, writer, television presenter, actor and entrepreneur. He appeared in motorcycle racing helping the official Derbi team in 125 cc with Pol Espargaró, Joan Olivé and Efrén Vázquez as riders in 3.
He has just grown tired of his involvement in racing, unless his close family (wife and children) explained to him that they could find a more useful destination for the hundreds of thousands of euros swallowed up in the adventure. As long as the GPs took place in Europe, it was possible to continue, but the cost of the three consecutive Grands Prix which are looming is prohibitive with an inadequate budget.
The catastrophic results of Yonny Hernandez, then of Joe Roberts and Maria Herrera, finally discouraged the leader, probably nostalgic for the great era when in 2014 and 2015 the AGR Team won two Moto2 Grands Prix with Jonas Folger and obtained six podiums.
The “Familia AGR” 2017:
Karlos Arguiñano analyzes the 2016 season:
Photos © agrteam.com
