Will there be any Aussie Superbike prizemoney in 2009?

January 6, 2009

Less than two months out from the opening round of the revamped 2009 Australian Superbike Championship (ASC) at Phillip Island, uncertainty now surrounds the payment of prizemoney following a rapid about turn from the promoter, the Frontline Media Group (FMG).

On December 15, FMG issued a communiqué trumpeting a massive prizemoney package in 2009, including $8025 for Superbike competitors at every round, and $9500 for the top three in the championship. Prizemoney was not paid in the 2008 ASC.

However, just nine days later, on Christmas Eve, FMG posted a statement on its website (here) announcing that, due to the current economic climate, it was now unable to confirm the level of prizemoney as advised in the December 15 media release.

The statement continued: "Until all commitments to the ASBK are confirmed and in the interest of promoting a successful 2009 series, including television coverage and extensive event promotion, the level of prize monies per round and overall cannot be confirmed until early in the New Year."

The event director at FMG, Jose van den Dungen, has cited uncertainty within the motorcycle industry for the U-turn.

"We were confident commitments that the commitments made by the industry sponsors were certain, however some within those nine days have been influenced by the economic crisis and directions form their head offices on marketing spend," van den Dungen told the BikeSales Network.

When asked whether the December 24 statement was designed to make as little impact as possible during the Christmas rush, van den Dungen said: "As the information released was absolutely current at the time of release, the objective was to be as honest and communicative as possible with the competitors.

"We had only nine days before advised of the new prizemoney initiatives and we decided that to be fair to all parties an update was appropriate."

Van den Dungen confirmed FMG was currently in the process of finalising the budget for 2009, after which there will be an update on prizemoney, as well as the proposed television package for the seven-round championship.

On December 24, Motorcycling Australia announced that a contract had been signed for FMG to promote the ASC in 2009 and beyond, formalising an in-principle agreement which first became public on September 1.

The opening round of the 2009 ASC will be held at Phillip Island from February 27 until March 1 on the support card bill for the Superbike World Championship round.

For information on the ASC, click here.