There was before and after Jesus Christ, before and after the Beatles, and there will be a day before and after Valentino Rossi. The campionissimo, thanks to his extraordinary sense of communication and his charisma, has interested an enormous number of people in motorcycle racing, who will lose interest as soon as he hangs up his leathers. First, let's see what the consequences will be for him, then secondly for motorcycle racing in general.
AGV and Dainese
The helmet manufacturer was created in 1946 by Gino Amisano in Valenza (hence its three initials). Gino died in 2009, but Dainese had bought the company two years before. Lino Dainese founded his company in 1972, 80% of the shares of which were purchased at the end of 2014 by Investcorp for $130 million, which established the total value at $162 million. investcorp is the investment fund of Mohammed Bin Mahfoodh Alardhi based in Bahrain.
When cigarette manufacturers arrived in Grand Prix, the price of even the smallest advertising space became astronomical. Lino Dainese could not align himself with the tobacco giants, and to be able to keep Rossi, offered him shares in the company as remuneration. Rossi accepted and even became honorary President of AGV on this occasion.
Monster Energy
The American energy drink manufacturer quickly discovered the incredible benefits it could have thanks to Rossi. Surrounded by Red Bull with Honda, KTM, the Austrian Grand Prix, the Red Bull Ring, the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas, the Gran Premio Red Bull de España, he remains at Monster after leaving Le Mans and the Grand Prix de France, essentially the image of Valentino Rossi. To situate the investment of the industrialist in the star, let's take the example of the Monza Rally Show, sponsored since 2016 by Monster Energy, and whose only interest is the participation of the star. You take away Vale, and what remains in terms of media from this autumn weekend at Monza?
yamaha
A manufacturer competes to sell motorcycles. Winning is good, but it's not enough. We still need to make it known. Yamaha decided to attach its three tuning forks forever to the image of Rossi, after he left Honda by slamming the door, and although Yamaha could not hold him back when he wanted to become immortal at Ducati. Both parties clearly understood their interest, and as soon as Yamaha sent him a contract proposal by email for 2017 and 2018, Vale signed it and immediately sent it back to Japan. It was a double bonus for Rossi, because he thus pulled the rug out from under the feet of Lorenzo who no longer had the possibility of negotiating the amount of his remuneration (because Yamaha no longer had an imperative need for him). Jorge then had to submit – with a small salary at Yamaha – or resign – by leaving for Ducati.
Yamaha tends to entrust the training of its young riders to Valentino, because it is not the work of a manufacturer, which is not structured for that, but rather that of a school like the VR46 Riders Academy. The Ranch's KTMs were therefore replaced by Yams, although the Austrian manufacturer remains a supplier to the Sky VR46 team in Moto3, Yamaha not offering machines in this category.
The Japanese manufacturer uses Rossi's services to train young Asian riders, in order to respond to the big effort made by Honda on this eastern continent with the Asia Talent Cup, the Honda Team Asia in Moto2 and Moto3 GP, and the Asia Talent Team in CEV.
VR46 clothing and accessories
From its headquarters in Tavullia, “VR46 Racing apparel” reigns over the world of MotoGP merchandising. Even though the Marquez brothers left at the end of 2015, Valentino's company still distributes his personal items, but also those of Dani Pedrosa, Scott Redding, Cal Crutchlow, Pol Espargarò, Jack Miller, Kevin Schwantz, Nicco Antonelli, Romano Fenati, Álex Rins, Alvaro Bautista, Jonas Folger, Fabio Quartararo, Maverick Viñales, Andrea Migno, Franco Morbidelli, Lorenzo Baldassarri, Nicolò Bulega, Luca Marini, Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini.
Not forgetting Juventus Football club, Sky TV, Sky VR46 racing team, VR46 junior team, Yamaha, Yamaha Factory Racing, Monster Energy, KTM, Dainese, AGV, Oakley, Ogio, TW Steel, Marc VDS, Clinica Mobile and Angel Nieto 12 +1.
Le commercial website is translated into around thirty languages, which proves its importance. The number of items offered is increasingly important, and in the era of e-commerce the company can only grow, especially since Vale will have a little more time to devote to it.
Tomorrow the rest, with the Valentino teams, and the future of the GP world without Rossi on the track.
