GP Earnings 2007

Strong rumours are now circulating that the long term aim of IMG, the new rights owners of the GP series, is that GP riders will cease to ride in domestic speedway leagues and will become full time GP riders.

Fans of domestic racing who fear that they were no longer see the GP stars unless they go to IMG sanctioned meetings can rest easy because unless IMG vastly increase the prize money for all GP meetings not just the “high value meetings” or in fact directly employ the riders any rider committing full time to the GP series on the present pay rates would be committing financial suicide or have very very good sponsorship.

Based on the pay rates published on the FIM web site, www.fim.ch, in 2007 the riders earnings from the GP were as follows.

Andreas Jonsson $143,350 Nicki Pedersen $88,150 Leigh Adams $76,500

Tomasz Gollob $61,050 Jason Crump $60,850 Greg Hancock $59,750

Hans Anderson $53,550 Chris Harris $51,400 Scott Nicholls $51,100

Rune Holta $50,750 Wieslaw Jagus $48,150 Bjarne Pedersen $44,650

Matej Zagar $39,000 Antonio Lindback $32,300 Jaroslaw Hampel $32,000

With an exchange rate of £1 to $1.89 to $1.95, an average being $1.91, a quick calculation shows that once the rider has paid all the travelling expanses for himself and his support team, engine tuning etc unless he is a rollover lottery winner or has sponsors who enjoy throwing money at him a GP rider needs the earnings from the domestic leagues to subsidise the money he loses on his involvement in the GP.

So until the day that IMG pay GP riders a decent wage rate they will continue to ride in domestic leagues unless of course the BSPA, PZM, SVEMO etc call IMG buff and tell riders to chose between the GP’s and the leagues and we will see who wants the glory of taking part in the world championship and who wants to pay the mortgage and the weekly supermarket bill.

MCM