2008 Pirelli Contingency $$$

[Doughboy]

http://www.us.pirelli.com/en_US/browser/attachments/pdf/08_MRA_payout.pdf

[bluedevil]

GRRRR Recession !!!!

[akuretz]

Looks like it's been updated, now pays to 5th but pays same total amount, so reduced 1st, 2nd and 3rd. :(

[DingleBerns]

:shock:

[dave.gallant]

As all Pirelli riders know the new Diablo Supercorsa's are insanely good tires, but we have to pay the price to get them. This is nothing new though, and is just like it is with the really good Dunlop NTecs.

That said, the previous years model called the Supercorsa Pros are still going to be available and at a much more reasonable price. If it isn't a Suzuki $ weekend, I would just run the Pros. :)

If anyone has any Pirelli setup questions, feel free to shoot me an email and I will do my best to get it to someone who can help you out.

Or, you can stop in here: http://www.PirelliPrivateer.com


( And no, Pirelli doesn't give me a damn thing. I just like the tires. )

[akuretz]

As a 5 year Pirelli rider, I too love the tires, I'm just disappointed to see the direction they've gone with Contingency.

[DingleBerns]

does anyone know why pirelli and dunlop have gone in that direction while michelin has done the opposite? (contingency wise)....

[cu260r6]

The amount of contingency paid by most companies seems to be inversely related to how many people use their products nationwide. Dunlop is doing well enough with the many clubs they don't have to incentivize the purchase of their tires much.

[glenngsxr]

That is kind of absurd. I can't believe they would not want to incentivize their tires with the racers. It's hard enough to afford racing as it is, much less without some kind of ROMP(return on money pit). Glenn #62

[cu260r6]

They're not selling tires to lose money. When the national level of a tire company sets contingency I'm sure they're doing so based on some marketing formula they've worked out, but who knows what that is.

[dave.gallant]

That is kind of absurd. I can't believe they would not want to incentivize their tires with the racers. It's hard enough to afford racing as it is, much less without some kind of ROMP(return on money pit). Glenn #62

Some at the Corporate level believe that a select few racers are the ones reaping the majority of the contingency rewards because, *gasp*, they are the fastest and are winning the most races.

So, a company ups the contingency, and at the end of the year they are $10k into the hole with a specific racer because he/she did so well cleaning house at the club level. The corporate types don't like that scenario because while they are happy their tires are winning, they often believe it didn't add to the bottom line of selling tires directly. To top things off, to get that guy to run [your] tires and win all that contingency $, corporate (or the vendors) had to give that racer free(ish) tires.

Contingency is a way to offer a discount on a product. A tire is going to actually cost some amount of $, and the guys that are in the food chain need to be able to add a small margin on top to cover their expenses no matter what. In theory, either a manufacturer can lower their prices and offer little contingency, or they can raise their prices and offer a lot of contingency. What ends up happening however is that the vendors offer away their margin to make individual tire sales while the contingency pool is lop-sided towards a select few racers.

Now, the reality is that 80% of the club racers are racing on credit cards and really can't afford to race in the first place. We know we can't afford it, but we simply can not get it out of our blood. Something tells me the high priced tires with limited contingency will still survive because of our competitive nature with each other as racers...

And, just a side note, we all know how crazy expensive tires are, but don't think for one minute the guys/gals busting their asses in the 110 degree Colorado sun make very much $ off of it. From the limited exposure I have gotten over the years, I am amazed at how much work it takes to simply break even doing a tire gig. Pirelli for instance drives 10 hours each time to get to our events. At $3.00 a gallon for fuel at 10MPG in a box truck, those guys can barely pay the fuel bill if they sold out every weekend! So, the next chance you get, buy Mark Schellinger, Joe Page (Pirelli), and soon Ben Fox a beer because they deserve it.

[glenngsxr]

I second that completely Dave. I have seen the margins and they are pathetic. Not anything I would care to undertake. However, I know that Mark and Tammy will be around until they keel over and kick the bucket cause racing is life for them. Besides, you would be crazy not to take Mark up on free race advice and say hello to Bubba the big a$$ race dog! Glenn #62

[nobasin]

what's most interesting to me is just the disparity between manufacturers...michelin's payout is no less than double pirelli's across the board, sometimes triple. something seems out of balance when 5th place michelin contingency pays the same as 1st place for pirelli. it should be noted however that michelin's corporate revenue stands at about 3 times that of pirelli: $15 billion to $4.9 billion. seems like club contingency would be a drop in the bucket though for these companies and that pirelli could afford to be more competitive with their program.

[Clarkie]

I think if you looked at the total amount Pirelli, Michelin, Dunlop and Bridgestone paid out on a National level last year the numbers would surprise you with how much each manufacturer pays out, it's a LOT of money!

I know of a local Pirelli rider who earned enough contingency in 07 to bulk buy all of his 08 tires, so this year he wont spend a cent on tires, but will still earn contingency (although not as much as last year). He has a great program and rides classes that pay good tire money to fund his other classes.

Contingency is marketing money to tire manufacturers, budgets change, markets change, if you take your contingency for granted you have your head in the sand.

[nobasin]

Contingency is marketing money to tire manufacturers, budgets change, markets change, if you take your contingency for granted you have your head in the sand.

don't get me wrong, even if i don't collect any contingency, i appreciate whatever any manufacturer does for it's riders. i was only making the observation of the difference between manufacturers which is pretty stark. for me personally, amount of contingency is not a factor deciding what tire to run. the pirellis feel "right" to me and are predictable and confidence inspiring. that's truly all that matters to me. and yeah, those new diablos were pretty amazing the one time i got to ride them the last race at pueblo.

[Clarkie]

I was just talking in general to everyone that collects contingency (tires, brake, OEM etc), not to you in particular :)

[nobasin]

I was just talking in general to everyone that collects contingency (tires, brake, OEM etc), not to you in particular :)

roger that. i didn't think i was being singled out, but figured i'd just clarify my point.

[T Baggins]

It would seem to me that paying less per position, but much deeper - would make the most sense if you wanted to increase market share.

Two different tire manufacturers pay in all the classes I run in - but one pays deeper. I can pretty much always finish top 5 (which one pays), but can't guarantee a top 3 (which the other pays).

One pays more for a win (in my classes anyway) - but I did the math, and it made the most sense for me to run the other because I oftentimes finish 4th or 5th.

We should all do everything we can to ensure our contingency manufacturers and track-side vendors thrive so they can continue to support the MRA. And obviously, take advantage of any contingency that is available to you in your specific classes.