VR46, the Prince's press conference: 90 million arrive by hot air balloon!

Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Saud

My positions on the Vr46 issue are well known. I have expressed them in a video and several articles or posts. And you can read the main articles here.

Fixers, princes, oilmen and "suspicious" companies: is someone exploiting VR46 and Valentino without their knowledge? New releases do not convince!

 

Team VR46: Ducati rumors worried about possible cheating. Wednesday a rescue press conference?

 

VR46: without Arabs or oilers, what's next? More importantly, when? And who pays?

 

 

I have many doubts and have documented them all.
Despite the fact that I have, unlike others, explained all my reasons, and perhaps because of that, I have been ignored, then belittled, attacked and insulted. How I could be the obstacle toward a partnership in which every day people believe less and less but do not want to admit it.

I write because of the love I have for motorsports and the fear that some small operator will be harmed by what I believe is a hoax.
I don't know if there are scammers. There is certainly a lot of amateurism and naiveté. The most dangerous ingredients when it comes to money.

Only a naive person does not detect anomalies bordering on the absurd in this whole story and, even more so, in the Prince's latest press conference with a small number of journalists and two staffers.

1) Come mai è stata invitata solo la stampa Italiana?
2) Come mai sono stati invitati solo 7 giornalisti, due solo dei quali, extra settore?
3) Come mai moltissimi siti di motori ad alta visibilità non sono stati inclusi?
4) Come mai non erano presenti, né emissari di Dorna, né di VR46 che pure dovrebbero essere partner dell’iniziativa?
5) Come mai non è stata invitata Ducati nonostante in occasione della presentazione della nuova avventura, la foto è stata fatta con Ezpeleta, Salucci e Dall’Igna?
6) Come mai non è stata organizzata una piattaforma professionale e il governante di uno stato si è connesso ad una app pubblica, con tutti i pericoli del caso?
7) Come mai non è stato indicato alcun advisor per l’operazione, né tantomeno una banca garante, oltre agli studi legali delle due parti, cosa obbligatoria? 
8) come mai SKY, che aveva due giornalisti presenti, da settimane non nomina nemmeno più Tanal?
9) Come mai SKY che fa 8 post al giorno su Rossi, da giorni non nomina più alcun principe dopo che per settimane non ha parlato d’altro e ha aspettato 3 giorni per fare un post sulla conferenza?

The idea we got was that the press conference served to show that there is a prince. Because this thing had been questioned and because, according to some, it would be enough to show a person in a robe to legitimize everything. Because after all, in the wake of the other statements, they thought that just as it was to be considered impossible for all these initiatives to be doubted, it would be equally impossible to be able to doubt a prince after seeing him, albeit in the grainy mode of a poorly organized conference call.

Instead, according to the writer, and unfortunately according to really few others (only Massimo Calandri of Repubblica expressed marked misgivings), it did not go very well.

The people who "ran" the conference do not have the credibility needed for an operation of the level they want people to believe they have.

"Before the prince enters," began Architect Bernardini (who is not an architect), getting the first of a few conjunctives wrong in his opening. An architect who speaks French poorly, English almost not at all, and gets Latin quotations wrong (the Errata "Corrìgge" requested on the phone still rumbles in my head) and Italian subjunctives wrong. One who confuses Overseas with Oversize already speaks volumes.

Per non parlare della Head of Press and Communication Tanal Entertainment, Arianna Pasquale, che non sa il francese e soprattutto ha un livello di inglese da bambino, non conoscendo la differenza fra questions e answers, coniugando frasi mischiando lingue diverse come Salvatore ne Il nome della Rosa.
E’ il primo Head of Press and Communication che non parla le due lingue delle entità che rappresenta e che non ha alcuna esperienza di conunicazione e relazioni pubbliche internazionali, dato che non esiste nessuna traccia della sua attività in merito. Del resto nei comunicati non c’è un suo contatto personale, quindi almeno non dovrà rispondere ai giornalisti come invece dovrebbe fare chi ricopre il suo ruolo. Meglio così, perché in conferenza stampa la performance è ben al di sotto degli standard di una piccola Pro Loco.

On the prince, doubts grow. He doesn't look much like the one in Wikipedia and, more importantly, despite having studied in the UK, so the encyclopedia says, he speaks English poorly. The French, on the other hand, is that of the North Africans who used to come and buy boats and engines from my grandfather, a fishing boat broker in Molfetta, who used to introduce me to these characters who, when they go abroad, dress up as Arabs to have more credibility, but are instead Maghrebi.
Some connection with the Korean Moroccan Holding Group also run by Bernardini would come naturally, but let's leave it at that, as there are far greater doubts.

The background of the press conference, of which we have managed to get both audio and video and are proving it to you with details, may be that of the summer residence, but we an austerity of this level we have not seen even in a massage parlor (don't ask us where this analogy comes from).
Does anyone tell us that this gentleman, with a mini PC on his lap (he has no conference hall screen), who is supposed to be a graduate of a prestigious European university with a past as a minister is the real prince? All right. At this point we are sorry that he is letting his representative answer the questions. And that he either doesn't know the numbers of his initiatives or shoots them off the top of his head (the figures reported are at the level of Microsoft, Google and Facebook). Not to mention Tanal who obviously does everything while being nowhere, proof of nothing.

The head of a private fund that is about to spend a billion openly declares that they made a mistake in setting up the operation that should be communicated first in Saudi Arabia than abroad. They would like to build cities, parks, racetracks, cars and motorcycles, but they do not know that communiqués should be issued internally first. Yet in the Saudi press NOTHING EXISTS ABOUT TANAL'S ACTIVITIES. Tanal is never mentioned except when talking about a neighborhood of houses in Rhyad. Amateurism.
Tanal does not exist except in communiqués bounced around on the two-wheeler sites and elsewhere, which published everything they received, without ever verifying it, and making it superficially credible thanks to a link popularity in which they were complicit.

Who knows why, on the other hand, at the same time, another private Saudi fund, PIF, acquired Pagani Automobili without warning anyone at all, yet communicating, when it was done, shareholders (complete with % details), banks involved, board of advisors, law firms and corporate offices.
So on the one hand we have UBS Investment Bank as Pagani's exclusive financial advisor, Withers Studio Legale as legal advisor to the selling shareholders, Rothschild & Co and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer as financial advisors and legal advisors to the fund.
On the other hand, we have Bernardini, Arianna Pasquale, who has no experience in communications with international agencies, Uccio Salucci, Alberto Tebaldi, and Giampiero Sacchi, team manager of the bankrupt Ioda Racing who accompanied them all to Carmelo Ezpeleta.
Neither is a guarantor bank or lawyers. Almost the same.

There is talk of 18 million for 5 years and it is not clear who, how, when and by what means will pay.
I bought cars with more paperwork and people involved.
To the timid questions, the trio raises again and displaces with a hypothetical sponsorship, also for Dorna. It is one of the clichés that has been going on since April.

The plans laid out in the clumsiest press conference of all time, with journalists afraid to do their jobs lest they discover something they don't like and lecturers left galloping in the pastures of fantasy, are the same as the surreal releases already issued in the past.
The ones that had alerted us, to be clear. And now more details further alarm us.

Prendete carta e penna per fare il conto.
I parchi diventano un investimento da 300 milioni.
Le città sono più di una, con quella che vede impegnato il solo Principe, Fantastic City, a costare, da sola, 75 miliardi.

200 million is for car and motorcycle factories. Cars and motorcycles that, perhaps the prince does not know, would become the first case of automotive production in Arab countries.
And the prince does not wonder why there is no precedent for this. But the prince's family, moderate motorcyclists who used to race but now go slow, "has been importing Moto Guzzis, Ferraris, Autobianchi and Lancias to Saudi Arabia for years." A gluttonous detail to be written in the newspapers, which is therefore necessarily likely and yet not true, because Autobianchi and Lancia in Saudi Arabia have never been imported, and Ferraris come from the Emirates where the importer is Al Tayer. Go ahead and explain this one to us as well.

For that matter, given the little resistance of cross-examination, even on the Aramco issue, which is dismissed with "we said we weren't talking about it," the revival has been freewheeling.

The interest in motorsports of previous releases and statements becomes, during the press conference, the purchase of the Modena circuit in addition to the construction of a test track in Saudi Arabia.

The love of motorsport, becomes the purchase of an F1 team, but without specifying what that might be.

Per non parlare della costruzione (finalmente) di un circuito in Arabia Saudita per poter poi organizzare (finalmente) un GP nel paese, dimenticando che un circuito, in Arabia Saudita c’è già, a Jeddah, e lo ha costruito Tilke, che è architetto davvero. E c’è anche già un Grand Prix, previsto dal 3 al 5 dicembre di quest’anno. Altro che gli eventi Tanal che non si fanno mai.
L’account della Formula1 ha pubblicato già una simulazione di gara con le 27 curve della pista, il 18 marzo. Lo hanno visto in 600mila ma non il trio di press conferenzieri.
Questi signori, insomma, credono di essere pionieri di una cosa che esiste già da un po’. E nessuno dei giornalisti di motori presenti (alcuni direttori di testata) , fra SKY, Gazzetta dello Sport, GPOne, Motosprint, fa una piega a riguardo. Mio padre, però, che ha 76anni e non naviga su Internet, lo sa. Lo ha letto su Il Mesaggero.

 

E via così anche per tutto il resto.
Rilanciato il Fantastic Trophy, che per essere un progetto che parte a settembre è leggermente in ritardo, non essendo stata ancora costruita la moto con cui si deve correre, mentre le mongolfiere che avrebbero dovuto seguire la manifestazione, prendono vita e si trasformano, secondo Bernardini, in un evento internazionale:

"The organization of an international hot air balloon championship called the Ambassador Cup that in the various press releases was never announced because in the last two months we have read all about it," says the architect.

We read them, but someone wrote them down.
Not to mention that the Balloon Ambassador Cup, to be held, we imagine, in Umbria, already exists under another name.
It is called the Sagrantino Cup, has been held in Todi since 34 Lanni, and is organized by British aeronaut Ralph Shaw.
The photos shown at the press conference are taken right from the Umbro event website. I wonder what Shaw thinks of it.

 

Sagrantino Cup
Sagrantino Cup

 

This fixation on Umbria and on borrowing, making them one's own, from projects that already exist is a leitmotif we have reported on before.
On a venue, an idea, an event, you put the Tanal brand, Photoshop is fine, and launch into the future. The list is long. Newspapers write confidently, and the media tamtam is created that determines a credibility with which to present oneself.

But sooner or later it has to be paid.
The money is expected on Wednesday, so we will see if it is all as they say, despite the ministerial traffic light system that has been postponing for months the agreement that is declared as signed but without any handouts (another mystery).
But even if the money were real, someone has to explain why all these false credentials, bogus locations, projects that do not exist, made-up numbers and a Prince who is not informed about anything he is about to invest in, assisted by a structure that, in practice, does not exist and does not resemble anything that is put up in these cases.

And in any case, it is not true that if the money comes in everything is fine.
In the first place there must be transparency and traceability.
If not, we could partner with anyone, including states that continually violate human rights at every level.
But maybe this someone is already willing to do that.
And they like the idea so much that nothing else matters and everything seems normal.



VR46: without Arabs or oilers, what's next? More importantly, when? And who pays?

Residence

Negli ultimi giorni è successo un po’ di tutto.
Persino i siti da parrucchieri (non si offendano i coiffeur) pieni di gente (finché dura) e di relativi click nonostante la presenza di nessun contenuto ragionato che non sia legato al mouse, si sono accorti che nell’affare Tanal-VR46 qualcosa non va e che sta crollando il castello di sabbia e saliva con cui tutto è stato impastato e somministrato.

Of everything that was announced and then kicked forward for four months, like in the Holly and Benji cartoons where the game never ended, nothing has really happened yet. And trust that nothing will happen. The commitment for someone at the moment is to disappear for someone else is to get to work to try to stem a dud remedied after five months of deliberately blind and irresponsible behavior. The facts have always been on the table, and not seeing them has required some effort. If the skills employed had been managerial (they obviously don't exist) instead of something else, the problem would not even have arisen, instead ... perhaps the management is not there.

The many press conferences that never happened

There should have been an immediate conference in which both the fate of Valentino and some details about all the Italo-Saudi projects that had been so poorly planned (yet they had bought into them as a group) as to numb only those who were already dumb as they were.
The conference did not take place.

There was supposed to be a conference at which the Prince with the very long name and his "architect" adviser from Terni were to open the doors of the Saudi residence, but neither the day nor the place has been revealed. It would be to go to Ryadh and ring the Prince and ask if His Highness is there or at least Mr. Bernardini, his advisor, who instead seems to have gone into hiding, presumably in Umbria where he has always placed all his initiatives.

Ci sarebbe dovuta essere una conferenza di Misano in cui Rossi avrebbe dovuto comunicare il suo futuro, presumibilmente e possibilmente legato ad una sua ultima annata su moto italo-saudite, insieme al fratellastro Luca Marini e ai petrolsoldi.
Rossi si è invece ritirato in Austria, attraverso un commiato triste in una conferenza senza tavolino e senza quelli con cui ha sempre condiviso i suoi momenti sportivi.
Lì è stata fatta una prova. E’ stata invitata solo la stampa più malleabile e addomesticata. Nessuna domanda, infatti, sulla sponsorizzazione del secolo che avrebbe dovuto comprendere un team di MotoGP ma anche (la grandeur della truffa) anche l’acquisto della VR46 e dell’Accademy.Quella sarà l’audience della prossima conferenza stampa, vedrete. Poca gente che annuisce e lubrifica.

A questo punto, considerando che gli Arabi sembrano proprio non esserci, gli architetti ternani nemmeno e i petrolieri non ci sono mai stati, chi sponsorizzerà VR46 e per fare cosa e a che livello?

Ma soprattutto, visto che la conferenza in cui si aprono le porte del Principe non ha una data né un luogo (perché è inventata) e quella di Misano (legata al futuro di VR) è stata fatta in Austria, che conferenza dobbiamo aspettare? E per quando? Come dicono a Roma: de che dovemo parlà?

Niente Fantastic Trophy fra Gubbio e Rihad, niente moto elettriche ibride a quattro ruote, niente Accademy italo saudita, niente città del futuro, niente parchi a tema a parte quello costituito da un murales e un pollo di plastica gigante già fatto a Tavullia, niente hypercar Mazzanti da 1.111hp (che sappiatelo, non esiste), niente aziende italo-marocchino-coreane e nemmeno la Confartigianato di Terni che pare stia prendendo le distanze da certi soggetti, inclusi i plurifalliti che erano stati titolati e accreditati all’interno dei progetti inesistenti.

In the coming days, something will be attempted. On Wednesday there may be a semi-closed-door conference (only with the trusted) where the new justifications for not being completely ashamed will be packaged and distributed.
Somewhere there are those who are trying not to go to jail while in the press rooms there are those who are trying not to be tarred on the job for taking 4 1/2 months of deliberate blunders, although some are already turning the tables by saying that it had gotten there, that it couldn't be true, etc.
On the other hand, there are those who have to put up the money and who have already been trying to make up for something for a few weeks, we imagine, otherwise it means that we are looking at a Totò e Peppino-style management.

Noi li avevamo avvisati. E non è un modo di dire. Avevamo proprio telefonato a tutti i diretti interessati, uo ad uno,i proponendo dati, indagini materiali, e informazioni.  Insomma aiuto. Ci avevano detto che andava tutto bene.
Abbiamo quasi voglia che qualcuno ci smentisca così possiamo esaminare tutto il materiale audio e video per renderci conto ancora meglio di cosa è successo e come.



MotoGP, Stiria: gara delle meraviglie! Binder batte Bagnaia e Martin! Quartararo sconfitto!

Binder

L’Austria regala una gara bellissima e piena di sorprese dal punto di vista tecnico e umano. Vince, anzi, stravince Binder che rifila 9 secondi al secondo e ne restituisce 3 per essere passato sul verde all’ultimo giro.
La vittoria è comunque sua e, con la moto di casa, su pista di casa, batte un Bagnaia che non riesce a vincere nemmeno questa volta. Per il resto le cose si rimettono quasi a posto, nel senso che il podio lo chiude Martin davanti a Mir, altro che aveva cambiato moto e Marini, quinto all’arrivo e secondo di quelli che non avendo nulla da perdere non si sono fatti spaventare dall’acqua. Il rischio ripaga, oltre a Binder, anche lui e Lecuona, che finiscono davanti a Quartararo e Rossi (che sceglie anche lui di giocarsi il tutto per tutto). Alex Marquez e Aleix Espargaro, anche loro scelgono di non rientrare, chiudono i 10.
Alla fine, in Stiria vincono sempre gli outsider e succedono sempre cose che sembrano scritte per un film. Ma per oggi va così. Non interessa quasi a nessuno il perché e il “per come” di un esito che fa contenti quasi tutti.
Di buono, quindi, KTM e i coraggiosi. Di cattivo, invece, se di cattivo si può parlare, un Bagnaia che non riesce a vincere nemmeno quando dovrebbe, e un Marquez che finisce in zona grigia. Lo spagnolo è tornato forte ma sbaglia cose che in passato, forse, non avrebbe sbagliato.
Il resto, compreso Quartararo, è solo sconfitta anche quando sembra che sia stata messa una pezza dal punto di vista della gara e della classifica generale.
Credeteci: la classifica generale, almeno oggi, è un discorso da fare a parte.

Mini cronaca
Al via comanda Bagnaia davanti a Martin mentre Quartararo commette errori che lo puniscono subito e lo spingono dietro.
Terzo è Zarco davanti a Marquez, Miller e Quartararo, appunto.
Con 25 giri da fare Marquez passa Zarco ed è terzo mentre alle spalle del francese arriva l’altro transalpino Quartararo che ci mette tre giri a passare in terza posizione per poi subire il contrattacco di Marquez e Martin e restituire volta per volta i colpi ricevuti. Il duello centrale della gara, è fra loro. Sarà qui che perderanno il tempo che renderà vano il cambio moto.

A meno 10 dal termine va out Zarco mentre e quinto ma sono le immagini della carena saltata via a Bastianini a monopolizzare l’attenzione per la pericolosità e l’assurdità dell’evento.
A meno 9 Marquez passa Quartararo che per resistere va largo. Meno 7 e Marquez passa Bagnaia che però replica di motore. Altro leit motiv.

Con la pioggia forte Rins e Miller cambiano moto mentre davanti è guerra aperta fra Marquez, Quartararo, Martin e Bagnaia.

A meno tre i leader cambiano moto aanche loro, seguiti poi da tanti altri… ma rientrano con Binder e Aleix Espargaro in testa seguiti da Rossi. Gli unici ad aver ignorato il bagnato.
Mentre Marquez butta via la gara scivolando nonostante la gomma nuova, a rimanere davanti è Binder sulla moto di casa.
Clamorosamente con un giro da fare, il sudafricano in testa è seguito seppur da lontano da Aleix Espargaro e Lecuona. Il vantaggio del sudafricano è spaventoso.
Nell’ultimo mezzo giro succede di tutto: Vince Binder con le gomme “sbagliate” davanti a Bagnaia, Martin, Mir, Marini, Lecuona, Quartararo, Rossi, Alex marquez, e Aleix Espargaro.
Il sudafricano restituisce 3 secondi per essere passato sul verde ma nulla cambia. Vince con 6 di vantaggio. Ed è festa.

 

Pages

Binder
E’ quello che ha più attributi… o meno cervello, fate voi.
Quello che conta è che vince una gara che si ricorderà a lungo.
Voto 10

Bagnaia
Non si può dare un voto più basso del 9 a uno che arriva secondo.
Eppure Bagnaia oggi ha un rimpianto ed è quello di non riuscire a calciare un rigore a porta quasi vuota. Ok, recupera in classifica ma non ci crede nessuno che non sia arrabbiato per aver perso l’occasione di vincere la prima gara in MotoGP .
Voto 9

Martin
Porta a casa un altro risultato eccezionale. Anche lui cambia la moto un po’ tardi ma nel suo caso va bene così. Pole e podio, e vittoria l’altra volta…
Voto 9

Mir
Tanto cervello e sempre risultati eccellenti. Manca però l’acuto.
Voto 8,5

Marini
Fra quelli che non hanno nulla da perdere, dopo Binder, che però è un pilota di livello superiore, Marini è quello che fa meglio.
In pratica non ha scelta ma tenere la moto in piedi è un’altra cosa. La sua gara dell’anno.
Voto 8

Lecuona
Sicuramente avrebbe sperato in qualcosa in più, anche per rinfacciarlo a KTM ma alla fine va bene anche così. Almeno lui c’è.
Voto 7

Quartararo
Lo sconfitto di oggi è lui. Sbaglia per tutta la gara, in avvio e nella parte centrale. Il finale è in linea con il resto della corsa.
Voto 5

Rossi
Viene trattato come un vincitore. Un po’ troppo? Forse, però è un risultato di quelli che fanno morale. Certo, riferirsi a Rossi come ci si riferisce a Lecuona e a Marini, fa un po’ strano, vista la sua esperienza e il suo palmares, ma questa è la sua condizione. Se la gioca bene comunque. Di sicuro meglio di Quartararo.
Voto 6,5

Alex Marquez
Chi lo ha visto? Fa una gara da retrovie e si trova in top ten.
Deve esserne contento. Il fratello maturo sembra lui.
Voto 6,5

Aleix Espargaro
C’è un momento in cui lotta con i primi, un momento in cui è sul podio e un finale che lo vede con i “soliti” risultati.
Da un lato va applaudito un pilota che non molla mai, dall’altro c’è curiosità di capire cosa potrebbe fare un top rider sulla moto veneta.
Voto 6,5

Team VR46: Ducati rumors worried about possible cheating. Wednesday a rescue press conference?

Ciabatti and Domenicali

The rumors emerging are that of a Ducati worried about the VR46 affair.
A Ducati now convinced of the deception by dl Tanal who is not there, Aramco who called off from day one, and the princes who do not appear. Not to mention the architects who are not architects and have gone, also, into hiding with the whole package. At least that's the way it appears.

Ducati è garantita da Dorna, si intende, che pagherà quei 5 milioni pattuiti e necessari, quindi la faccenda non è tragica, ma resta il fatto che 5 milioni non bastano. Ne servono altrettanti per fare tutte le cose che VR46 e Ducati avevano concordato, nel modo in cui avevano deciso di farlo. Va anche detto che sempre i soliti rumors parlano di una Ducati già allarmata da tempo, anche da prima degli articoli di chi scrive.

5 million for an official team, is not enough and therefore it remains to be understood, even assuming that we are willing and able to give up something, whether sponsors will be "recovered" by Dorna or a reshuffle will be made from what currently feeds the coffers of the VR46 teams. We are of course talking about SKY, WithU etc.

Queste sono le cose che dovrebbero essere chiarite in occasione della tanto attesa conferenza stampa che “sarebbe” stata annunciata per mercoledì prossimo e vi sarebbero stati invitati solo “giornalisti selezionati” fra cui ovviamente non c’è Misterhelmet che ha rotto tanto le scatole e quindi non è “selezionabile” né tanto meno gestibile.
Chi sarà seduto al tavolo della conferenza stampa, non è dato saperlo, basterà vedere i partecipanti per capire quale sarà la direzione finanziaria del team VR46.
L’idea è quella che non vedremo principi, emiri e petrolieri ma qualche sponsor di recupero, anche se Valentino Rossi, intervistato ieri, ha nuovamente dichiarato di essere uno che tende a fidarsi e che quindi, è tranquillo.
Come già sostenuto, è ovvio che il Team VR46 si farà,  solo che magari ci sarà da stringere un po’ la cinghia.



Fixers, princes, oilmen and "suspicious" companies: is someone exploiting VR46 and Valentino without their knowledge? New releases do not convince!

Last press

DISCLAIMER
Usually those who spoil parties are never nice and seem to do so out of envy, spite, or who knows what. Assuming that this is the case, that is, that we are indeed spoiling a party, it is good to clarify the meaning of this piece. The only purpose is to protect all those who might, as collateral victims, stumble upon a matter that is likely to be unclear. Obviously we believe in the good faith of all parties involved, but at the same time we would like to point out some doubts about the matter. Many things do not add up and we raise a flag. If we got something wrong, we are ready to rectify it. For the last time, we would be happy if this whole affair was a big misunderstanding.
All the documentation, recorded phone calls, emails and communications we have collected, is available to the Judiciary.

PROLOGUE
Since May 6 on this site we have been busy seeking information and clearing some doubts about the communicated partnership between Tanal Entertainment Sport and Media, and VR46 with the sponsorship of Aramco, for the 2022 MotoGP adventure on Ducati.
With the VR46 partnership statements still fresh, some doubts were already coming to light, unfortunately only on our part, related to the fact that, first of all, there were no signatures or quotation marks in the press release, and then the first denials from the oil company had already arrived.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW TANAL VR46 ARAMCO ITALIAN RELEASE

FIRST DENIALS
More than three months, almost four, have passed since late April, and there have been two more denials. The first came in late June and the second, in Assen. The latter is really the heaviest, as it came from the mouth of the CEO of the oil company, Aramco Oversea, Al Murri.
Let us briefly give a summary history.

1) Denial by Aramco's press account, Adam Jibali, contact person for the Brunswick Group agency, which handles Aramco 's relations not in the UK but around the world.
"There is no strategic agreement between Aramco and VR46. There has never been any business relationship between Tanal Entertainment and Aramco." That alone would have been enough to worry about.

2) Some sites would later receive requests from Aramco Uk regarding the removal of the news of the Aramco deal from the news sites complete with a request for correction and with an official statement about Aramco 's absolute unrelatedness to VR46 and MotoGP. Few concerns here either, except from a handful of professionals, only foreigners.

3) To close, the CEO of Aramco Oversea, host of the Pramac team, would again and personally deny being involved in the deal. When the prince's words were allegedly pointed out to him, he would reply, "Do you know how many princes we have in Saudi Arabia?" A statement-an explanation that is hard to ignore.

It must be said, however, that Aramco could and could have made a little more effort to deny and say, on the record and once and for all, the same things it has been saying to various journalists face to face or mail to mail, in short, as it did to us. 

 

These three boulders, with the addition of the latest denial that we also received directly from Brunswick Group on July 27, clarify Aramco 's point of view and downplay the repeated reassurances that allegedly came from the Saudi Prince. Arguably, despite the undoubted good faith, there is some distance between willingness to sponsor directly (through Aramco) or indirectly, by having Aramco go through Tanal Entertainment, and actually being able to do so lightly, ending up in the hull with certain brands. Provided everything is true, including the prince appearing in photographs alongside reassuring statements, but never in a video or in person.And allow us, everyone is free to have doubts and manifest them. Not least because Tanal Global Holding is one thing, and Tanal Entertainment Sport and media, another--and we will see that at least one of the two does not seem to exist.

 

SAUDI PRINCE'S ITALIAN ADVISER AND STRANGE PRESS OFFICE

We were recently contacted by the Prince's Councilor, Architect Marco Bernardini, who wanted us to make some clarifications, which, however, are nothing more than statements similar to those already issued through communiqués.

We point out that at the Order of Architects we could not find but one namesake in Liguria. "Our" Architect Marco Bernardini, we are not aware of.

Returning to the phone call, the architect was keen to illustrate how from the site Tanal and the network of releases, we could have inferred the goodness and absolute reliability of the initiative. Too bad the architect was not referring to Tanal Global Holding but to Tanal Entertainment, and there is no trace of the latter on the web.

We were later written to by Ms. Arianna Pasquale (we found no trace of her anywhere), Head Press Officer of Tanal Entertainment and Media, who, however, raised further doubts and perplexities in us. Let us see them.

EMAIL ADDRESS AND PRESS OFFICE
We found it quite peculiar that a multinational communications company with a dedicated site does not have a personalized email address, although in fact Tanal Entertainment does not have a site at all. The email came to us from tanalentertainment.press@gmail.com
This is unheard of in a similar field.
They make cities of the future and don't have a dedicated corporate email.
The same message, signed by Arianna Pasquale, contained no phone number, either personal or from the office.
The job of a press office is to get tracked down to provide information and clarification. This is not the case here.
The office has no address, email, landline, mobile, fax, etc. A website is not listed either. We went looking for it. And we did not find it.
Tanal Entertainment and Media is running several million-dollar partnerships with several international partners and has no website. We did, however, find that of Tanal Global Holding, which is also troubling.

 

Mail Press Office
Mail Press Office

DOUBTS ON THE WEBSITE OF MULTINATIONAL TANAL GLOBAL HOLDING

First, the mismatch between Tanal Entertainment and Tanal Global Holding. The website of Tanal Global Holdings with the S
https://www.tanalglobalholdings.com/ is quite unique.
It is first of all made with a program for pre-packaged sites, specifically Jimdo. One can make a site there for a few euros by copying from various pre-packaged templates.
A multinational company that does billion-dollar projects did not contract a web agency to make its site. Quite unique.
And still it shows. The site is sloppily made.

Multilingualism is also not present. This is also quite strange for a multinational company that operates in 37 countries around the world.

THE NEWS IS NOT THERE
With all the high prestige and visibility initiatives, the news section is strangely under construction. Announcements are sent out, so the news would be there, but strangely it is not on the site. This is the first case of this kind for a high-level holding company. And also of a somewhat lower level.

President and Vice Presidents of Tanal Global Holdings are two Saudi princes whose names, however, are slightly different from those of the royal family found on Wikipedia, to be clear, even though they correspond to the owners of Tanal Entertainment Sport and Media.
It may happen that some transcripts are not quite identical.
We can overlook that as well.

There is a global network with a map and cities where the locations would be. However, there is not even an address to reach them. Not even an address of even one location. Yet we are talking about about 40 locations in 37 countries around the world, no continent excluded.

As advisor there is a name and a phone number.
No response to the call. As email address an email @tanalglobalholdings in the name Omar, and a gmail address.
Again, quite unique. Omar has an email with no last name in a multinational company.

Tanal News Section
Tanal News Section

 

A CLIENT PORTFOLIO WITHOUT CLIENTS
In the portfolio there is a list of activities in which Tanal is involved.
There are so many, but not a single client is listed in the client portfolio. Not a single specific initiative is listed among the many listed in the various releases. Quite unique.

Fra i partners presenti, ne abbiamo chiamati alcuni.
Di quelli che parlano inglese nessuno conosce Tanal ma un paio ci hanno già detto che è stata fatta loro questa domanda. Hanno chiesto a noi come mai. Forse è qualcuno che ha le nostre stesse curiosità.

GLOBAL SECTION OF THE SITES
Many offices in various countries have the same email address despite the fact that the contact persons are people with different names.
In various countries even far apart Omar always responds who has a gmail email address in common with other contact persons.
Strange this too however maybe these things happen.

The site's privacy policy is google's standard one, and it's not even customized for the referring site.
A bit of laziness, but it is still illegal. In Tanal they may not know this.

THE CURIOUS ANNOUNCEMENTS RECEIVED
Tanal, whether Global Holding or Entertainmente, does not appear to have carried out any activities prior to May.
All initiatives seem to start from that month, following the announcements of the agreement with VR46 in late April.
Only the latest activities may have been selected, but even on the web one can find almost nothing from before that period.

The first release we are going to talk about is the last one in chronological order regarding the upcoming (but it has already passed without having happened) participation of TANAL ENTERTAINMENT SPORTS & MEDIA WITH YAYA EVENTS AT THE ANDALUSIA RALLY 2021 TEST LIVE prologue of an unclear FANTASTIC TROPHY COMPETITION, which is supposed to be an intercontinental gaming competition mixed with hyper-realistic reality.

The connection is not clear but that's okay. The Andalusia Rally is a car event, though. On the photos, however, there is a gentleman who is supposed to be doing the Dakar on a motorcycle. The driver in question is also CEO of an Edutainment company that often appears in Tanal's press releases and partners. Jader Giraldi, is photographed next to a motorcycle but is participating in a car rally. Or so it is explained. Quite curious. Or we didn't understand it ourselves.
We tried to reach Mr. Giraldi but it was not posibiile to talk to him.

The list of various partners for the rest is quite clear: in addition to Tanal Entertainment Sport and Media we have Yaya Events, a company of the motorcyclist motorist, Maic Technologies, a specialist in biodetection systems.
All of these partners would be part of the Tiburtec technology hub , overseen by Architect Bernardini, the Prince's advisor, inside the Via Peroni headquarters in the Tiburtino Technopole, between Rome and Tivoli.

The location of the large, modern building also appears in the release, with all the logos of the many partner companies in plain view.
The building, however, is a render, a graphic proof.
In reality the building exists, but on Google the color, the gardens, and the facade, which does not feature the company logos shown in the conunication, are slightly different.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE Tanal Entertainment-Andalusia Fantastic Trophy PRESS RELEASE.

 

TIBURTEC TANAL
TIBURTEC IN THE TANAL STATEMENT

 

TIBURTEC GOOGLE
TIBURTEC ON GOOGLE

 

TIBURTEC REAL
TIBURTEC AS IT REALLY IS

We went to the site and indeed there is no logo on the facade. We spoke with some employees and the building's concierge and it was confirmed that none of the companies listed had ever resided within the complex or received mail. Or at least they, perhaps apart from Korean, do not know them. Not all companies need to be surveyed in a complex but then how come an untrue image was provided of a building that does not have those logos? What is the point of showing a counterfeit location?
The concierge and employees of the building assured us that the logos were never on the building, which instead are prominently displayed in the photo of Tiburtec included in Tanal's statement. For the record, Tiburtec is a real existing company but it administers condominiums.

Among the many companies mentioned, quite interesting is KMHG - Korean Moroccan Holding Group, an association of Moroccan expatriates in Korea, at least that's what we found, which is described as an expert in analytics.
It is a Holding Company which, however, barring our mistakes, we understand has only one employee. He must be a very good one who can do a lot of things. But being, that company, chaired by Marco Bernardini, we get the doubt that the architect is modest and does not want to appear too many times so as not to take too much credit.

Thus, somewhat surprisingly, the release also finds a place in the press release for the presentation of a project for a 4-wheel-drive hybrid motorcycle that should start from a video game and go on to a movie based on a book, and then be produced.

 

Tanal hybrid Moto
Tanal hybrid Moto

The video game we could not find. The book exists but we found no trace of the filming that should have been going on for a year in the city of Gubbio in addition to Rome, New York Jeddah, Riyadh and Moscow. For New York Moscow and other foreign cities we have given up but at the municipality of Rome and the municipality of Gubbio we have not found anyone aware that they have been shooting a film in their city for a year.
However, we are happy that the exclusive prototype motorcycle that will also be used on the set of the film called "Edward Loth - Najima The Fantastic City" produced by Tanal Entertainmet Sport & Media together with an Italian co-production and other international partners, based on the book by best-selling author Philip Osbourne, will kick off the mass production of the motorcycle in question designed by C Creative, a company owned by Claudio Castiglioni, in a factory located in Terni and managed by Giampiero Sacchi, the same person who at Mugello accompanied along with the VR46 men, architect Bernardini to Dorna by Carmelo Ezpeleta hoping that this project will have different results from those from the bankruptcy of Sacchi's Terni racing company, Ioda Racing, which unfortunately sees its assets subject to judicial auction and several people left without work and with payments to be received.
The bike however, though only a drawing, is beautiful and we hope it will actually be produced.
Only thing: in another statement, also from Tanal, it is announced that the bike will instead be produced in Saudi Arabia.
There is some uncertainty. Someone tell that to Giampiero Sacchi, who may be preparing the plant in Terni.
For now, however, there is no great danger, since all the plans are future and nothing has been realized yet.

 

THE MAZZANTI SUPERCAR THAT DOESN'T EXIST YET

Somewhat simpler is the statement about the Mazzanti Evantra hyper car, which fortunately exists even if in earlier models and is produced in the number of 5 examples per year. In truth, since 2015 there have been no nameplate models. Only a few prototypes, at least that is how it seems to us.
Mazzanti is reported to have less than 10 employees with an annual personnel cost of about 81,000 euros. And so we assume that at Mazzanti, unless we are looking at exploitation, there should be just a couple of employees.

Returning to the car in the communiqué, of this model that does not yet exist, 57 are to be produced, by a factory that does not currently have a single license plate, in an upgraded 1111hp armored and fire-resistant version with inviolable anti-theft device. The cars will, of course, be produced in the future in a 275-thousand-square-meter plant also directed by Architect Bernardini, which will see the light of day in Saudi Arabia in the future and will employ hundreds of Arab engineers starting in the 2030s. A made in Italy made in Saudi Arabia. And it would be the first automobile factory in history located in one of those countries.

Evantra-MBS-ONE-1111-HP
Evantra-MBS-ONE-1111-HP (render)

It is obviously all very interesting but also quite thrown forward in years, especially if we are talking about a hypercar.
In the meantime, however, the car will appear, not to mention, in the aforementioned film "Edward Loth - Najima The Fantastic City" and in various video games in the form of a flying tank in special effect mode since, as stated above, it does not exist. It all happens in that movie.

The good fortune, this time, is that on the Mazzanti Automobili website there is a reference to the communiqué even though the words are the same as in Luxurious Magazine which itself reports the Tanal communiqué, as if Mazzanti is reporting the communiqué of others on its own initiative. "It looks like a Lotus," they say, but it is only a drawing. The car will be different. Mazzanti has not released information on this issue. We will have to wait a few years for the plant and then the cars to be produced. Patience is needed.
In the meantime, however, Tanal sends out his proclamations and the press takes them up confidently, and with partnerships declared and taken up by the press, it is a little easier to find other partnerships.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE Tanal Evantra MBS 1111 hp PRESS RELEASE.

 

FANTASTIC TROPHY COMPETITION
In one of the releases regarding the association with VR46, in fact, perhaps one of the least read since it does not speak directly about Motogp, there is another rather curious initiative that deserves attention: the FANTASTIC TROPHY COMPETITION, defined as a new two-wheel sports competition designed by
Tanal Entertainment Sports & Media to create a new competition format with unique features. Unlike the best-known competitions, the release reads, Fantastic Trophy Competition uses two different types of courses: in the desert in Saudi Arabia and on dirt roads in Italy. As in all Tanal initiatives it starts in Umbria and ends in Saudi Arabia doing the Paris Dakar in a sort of Riad.

The format of the competition, the release continues, is similar to a video game: immersed in reality, using the interaction between two wheels, satellites, drones, hot air balloons; real-time interaction with the stable in the field and the audience at home. The use of advanced virtual reality, communication and navigation technologies, interactive platforms for digital and telemetry stream management will be provided by Korean Moroccan Holding Group, in collaboration with leading Korean players in the industry.
Let us not forget, however, that the Korean Moroccan Holding Group, turns out to be an association of Moroccan emigrants in Korea and has, if we are not mistaken, only one employee, its president, architect Bernardini, who of course if he believes can correct and disprove our claims. Not to mention that the telematic flows in other releases were entrusted to Maic.
Keep these two companies in mind.

However, in this case from a time perspective we are lucky because the final format will be presented by September 2021 and then, the release says, could announce a test race from November to December on two routes, one Italian and one Saudi.
One in KSA - in the desert from Fantastic City, which still as a city we remember, does not exist to KAEC on the Red Sea - and one on off-road tracks in Italy, starting in Tavullia, Gubbio and Terni, where MAIC Technologies is designing and building the first prototype four-wheel-drive off-road motorcycle with hybrid, thermal and electric propulsion, while plant production is planned in Saudi Arabia.
Here there is a problem with an earlier release since the motorcycle seemed to be destined, as production in Terni.
And Maic Technologies, according to another communiqué, we understood to be engaged in biometric sensing activities and not motorcycle production.
From one release to another, MAIC and KMHG switched roles.

Fantastic Trophy Competition, the statement continues, will be a real hub for the selection of young Saudi riders, whose talent can emerge with the valuable support of VR46.
I wonder if in Saudi Arabia they know about this all-Italian opportunity to become like Valentino, Morbidelli and Bezzecchi as they race followed by drones, satellites and hot air balloons and audiences from home, on a four-wheel-drive hybrid motorcycle that will be built in the next few years in Saudi Arabia itself, or in Terni.

Following in the communiqué is praise for the Saudi Prince and Moroccan-Korean companies, chaired by Architect Bernardini, a recognized representative of Korean technology and Italian creativity. Of the latter, the communiqués are not lacking because of the efforts in urban planning, construction, technology and academia, there is no project actually implemented yet. And we hope that the Saudi prince will not be upset about this.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FANTASTIC TROPHY RELEASE

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FANTASTIC TROPHY / VR46 RELEASE

On the remaining communiqués regarding the specific agreements between Tanal Global and VR46, those with KSA New Cities AND ARAMCO as the target, little to add except that they all present the same stereotypes: projects yet to be realized, statements yet to be verified, one-sided communiqués, and partner companies appearing, always the same, in all the projects communicated by Tanal. And the one sponsor, ARAMCO, who no longer knows how to deny it.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE RELEASE TANAL VR46 MOTOR SECTOR

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE COMMUNICATION TANAL VR46 ARAMCO English

CLICK HERE TO VIEW COUNICATO TANAL VR46 ARAMCO ITALIAN

For the rest, he was right, Architect Bernardini when he told me on his phone call that by well analyzing the network of news, releases and initiatives, the numbers would indeed add up.

The common thread is him: Marco Bernardini, administrator of Terni-based Systech, a company that makes electrical panels (so the web reports, since the company has no website), with a passion for Saudi Arabia, formerly resigned construction manager of Terni's Cardeto Park, and a proponent as a bystander of electric motorcycle projects that wanted to participate in the MotoE championship in 2017 (they didn't make it) and in later years of electric racing cars that never came to life, multifunctional energy towers that never went up, and Saudi smart cities that have yet to be built, with projects that have been thrown into the future for a few years but then, when the future arrives, are never seen.
Another thing that leaves us doubtful is the fact that there is no record at the Architectural Association of Architect Marco Bernardini. There is a namesake of his but he has a practice in Liguria. We hope he is at least a surveyor. We can of course be wrong and are ready for any correction.

 

WHO IS LIKELY TO BE HARMED?

In all this web of events, communiqués and companies, the one who risks losing out is VR46 , which seems to be more used than sponsored.
We called VR46 in the person of Uccio Salucci who, very courteously, confirmed the partnership with Tanal and to have already active sponsorships in CIV and CEV, with related financial support and fairing sponsors but, following our further requests, he directed us to Alberto Tebaldi who, however, busy, promised to call us back. We have been waiting for several days.

In addition to VR46, in an obviously marginal position, there is also. Ducati, which will have to provide two official bikes as well as technicians and engineers. Obviously the company is not in danger but there could still be some image damage or some element to reconsider.
As for Dorna , which is in danger of not being able to count on the flow of money that such a lavish sponsorship should bring, it will obviously make its contribution to the team, but it is clear that it would be faced with an uphill project that would have to seek another sponsorship, at this point, last minute.

In short, we are sure that the VR46 MotoGP team will happen and it will also be a success. Princes, fixers, oilmen-we believe it's all true. The only thing that does not add up for us is referring to the credentials so far exhibited by its sponsor. Which we will be glad to disprove.

 

IMPORTANT UPDATE 

This article has been ready for a few days, about a week. We asked for clarification and gave it time to respond but received very aggressive approaches as well as unhinged reactions.
On Saturday, July 31, it came out on the important website GPONE an article regarding the launch of a press conference to be held in Riad although, uncharacteristically for such a release, the date is missing. We are sure GPONE will have done its due diligence. To us, however, it still doesn't add up.
There is a video in the release that is again a render and depicts the building made in the shape of an F1 car. What does this have to do with Tanal?
Also missing is ARAMCO in addition to SIg. Bernardini and the sponsors have become POTENTIAL.
What is that supposed to mean? Someone help us out here.

 

Press Conference Release Tanal1
Press Conference Release Tanal1

 

Press Conference Release Tanal2
Press Conference Release Tanal2


Valentino Rossi and Aramco: doubts grow. Press and finance wake up, but not by us!

VR46 aramco

Those who want to sit through a giant "I told you so" can go read this piece from May 6 in which, with the VR46 partnership statements still fresh, some doubt was already coming to light concerning the fact that, first of all, there were no signatures or quotation marks in the press release, and then the first denials from the oil company had already arrived.
More than two months have passed since late April, and there have been two more denials. The first came in late June and the second, in Assen. The latter is really the heaviest, as it came from the mouth of the oil company's CEO.
Let's briefly do the summary history.

1) Smentita dell’account stampa di Aramco, Adam Jibali, referente dell’agenzia Brunswick Group, che cura le relazioni di Aramco:
“Non c’è nessun accordo strategico tra Aramco e VR46. Non c’è mai stata alcuna relazione commerciale tra Tanal Entertainment e Aramco”. Sarebbe bastato già questo per preoccuparsi.

2) In seguito alcuni siti avrebbero ricevuto richiesta da Aramco Uk in merito alla rimozione della notizia dell’accordo VR46-Aramco dai siti di news con tanto di richiesta di rettifica e con la dichiarazione ufficiale sull’assoluta estraneità di Aramco con la VR46 e con la MotoGP. Poche anche qui le preoccupazioni, se non da parte di una manciata di professionisti, solo stranieri.

3) Per chiudere, il CEO di Aramco, ospite del team Pramac, avrebbe nuovamente e personalmente smentito di essere coinvolto nell’accordo. Quando gli sarebbero state fatte notare le parole del Principe, avrebbe risposto: “Sapete quanti principi abbiamo in Arabia Saudita?” Un’affermazione-spiegazione difficile da ignorare.

These three boulders clarify Aramco 's point of view and downplay the repeated assurances that would have come from the Saudi Prince. Arguably, despite the undoubted good faith, there is some distance between willingness to sponsor directly (through Aramco ) or indirectly, by having Aramco go through Tanal Entertainment, and actually being able to do so lightly, ending up in the hull with certain brands.

Multinational corporations, even those controlled by the royal families of countries in which we do not go too far, as internationally listed, must meet management criteria that do not have too much room for interpretation.
There are boards of directors, budgets, code of ethics, and all the corporate utility criteria that must be met by a company under international scrutiny.

Nessuno ha dubbi che VR46 troverà uno sponsor munifico per la sua avventura. Semplicemente rischia di non essere questo, a meno che non vengano fatti importanti cambiamenti nei vertici delle società nominate.

Ma la cosa più grave non è quella di uno sponsor che sarà, molto probabilmente, sostituito da un altro, vista l’elevata appetibilità del team VR46, quanto il dilettantismo di tutti coloro che dovrebbero giudicare professionalmente la situazione per poi raccontarla, almeno così dovrebbe essere, con distacco.

No quotes or signatures were seen in the opening statements. Nor was there any detailed understanding of the connection between the entities involved, Tanal Entertainment and Aramco, where the former appears to be more of a mediator of interests and activities and the latter a multinational corporation playing a high-level game and subject to precise rules. We then saw statements that were yes nominal, but never joint, on the same sheet as specific sponsorship commitments, to wit. Not to mention the heavy denials of the oilman, who seems to be anything but controlled by the Princes.

Tanal and Aramco are yes "owned" by the Saudi royal family but, the concept of financial control and the Saudi royal family are very broad in meaning.
A multinational oil company is not a button store, and there are boards of directors, boards, shareholders to consider. The CEO is not a footman but a person appointed to protect, at the cost of his own survival, the privileges of the company whose administration he has been entrusted with. A royal family, in Saudi Arabia, is something complicated, from the point of view of the number of members and the balance between them. A rivalry, even a small one, can carry unimaginable weight.

All these unseen things, as well as the visible ones, should be taken into account by an information professional.

With the exception of a few foreign sites and only a couple of ours, however, it was like walking barefoot in the Sahara desert of amateurism, among the majestic dunes of condescension.
All the sites and newspapers behaved worse than a press office, as even a communications manager works on a minimum of quotation marks from his bosses to keep his job.

La gara invece è stata solo quella di entrare nei dettagli economici mai scritti (20 milioni da dove spuntano?), nel fascino dell’operazione, e nelle pieghe bagnate del sogno populista di un Valentino pilota per un altro anno (e anche qui non si capisce il masochismo).
Ci si è soffermati sulle specifiche tecniche di moto che non si sa da chi verranno pagate e sui dettagli di piloti di un team che, per ora, c’è solo nelle intenzioni.
Diventa clamoroso, a questo punto, anche l’accordo con Ducati, se lo sponsor non ci sarà, e la certezza di tutti i protagonisti che, in barba alla mancanza di una qualsiasi sicurezza firmata, sono così tranquilli su tutto.
Questo perché significherebbe che un organizzatore come Dorna e un’azienda come Ducati, basano le loro scelte aziendali e commerciali su presupposti e desiderata che possono anche tranquillamente non esistere. Se anche lo sponsor ci sarà ma sarà diverso, sarà comunque gravissimo. Perché non è su quello che è stato un accordo pluriennale multimilionario. Quindi, in pratica, vorrebbe dire che “si è andati un po’ a culo”.

E alla fine, bisogna anche ringraziarla, Aramco, la quale, in seguito a tutti i render variopinti di moto, tute, caschi, etc, si è limitata a smentire e a chiedere rimozione di articoli, ma ancora non si è irritata per l’uso, a questo punto arbitrario di nome, marchio e coinvolgimento di un’azienda pur sempre quotata in borsa.
A qualcun altro sarebbe costato caro, dal punto di vista legale e mediatico. La zimbellitudine da paddock avrebbe raggiunto livelli stellari.

In short, when even it is all true, someone will eventually have to explain why there is so much resistance from a company that is supposed to do what the master wants but, in fact, is trying (and succeeding) not to, and so much acquiescence from those who are supposed to reason about these things.

In the end, in summary:
1) The deal was badly announced and taken for granted despite lacking basic assumptions.
2) Tanal and Aramco companies will also answer to the same ownership but seem to be in conflict instead.
3) The press can be told whatever it wants that it will always choose the solution that allows it to stage more stories and garner more clicks, regardless of the clues it gets or the common sense that would be needed in the analysis. Even at the cost of prostrating itself so that it becomes a new Youporn category.

Ma questo, perché?
Per gli stessi ingredienti che servono perché una truffa abbia successo (anche se qui non è di truffa che si parla):
Sparare in alto, pensare in grande e tirare dentro nomi troppo grossi perché ne venga messa in dubbio la veridicità.
E in questo caso siamo tutti davanti ad un sogno. Un principe vero, un principe dello sport, tanti soldi provenienti da chi nell’immaginario collettivo può disporne come vuole, e un brand, quello di Ducati, che è sicuramente il più appetibile per un romanticismo di successo.

Then there is another detail: all investment policies of Saudi companies linked to the target government (almost all of them are), are under scrutiny because of the historical and repeated violation of human rights on which the Arab country has been quite casual. Sports washing, i.e., the activity involving massive high-impact sponsorships to ingratiate themselves into the target social fabrics and public opinion (housing, amusement parks, sports facilities) has long been under scrutiny by all European countries and beyond, as well as by much of the international press (apart from our own).

Sia chiaro: il team si farà, nessuno dubita, anche a costo di trovare un altro contributor o di far pagare tutto a Dorna. Ma la figuraccia rischia comunque di essere di quelle alcooliche.
Il reato è quello di informazione in stato di ebbrezza e ubriachezza molesta da click.

 



Yamaha Petronas, rumors: Razali infuriated by Morbidelli's "management"!

Morbidelli

La notizia è recente anche se non è certo una novità. Franco Morbidelli, salvo decisioni dell’ultim’ora, non tornerà prima di Misano, il che vuol dire altre quattro gare out.
La notizia è frutto di un comunicato di Yamaha Petronas, che ha dichiarato di voler Morbidelli solo ed esclusivamente in condizioni di perfect fit, per non rischiare pilota e moto.
La verità è che in Petronas non stanno vivendo bene il 2021.
Rossi è decisamente sotto le aspettative e, almeno apparentemente, sta tenendo la squadra in scacco in merito al suo ritiro. Morbidelli è il vice campione del mondo ma sta arrancando tanto quanto il suo mentore, con l’aggravante di essersi anche lamentato per la moto (mai successo da parte di Morbidelli) e l’ulteriore tegola dell’infortunio.
Quello che è recente sono le voci. Rumors non troppo benevoli dicono che in VR46 ci stiano un po’ marciando. L’infortunio è assolutamente reale e si è visto nel cambio moto in cui Franco è letteralmente incespicato tirando giù tutto ma il successivo infortunio in allenamento è sembrato una vera leggerezza al limite del sospetto. Quale preparatore si è dimenticato di tutelare un atleta a cui aveva già ceduto il ginocchio? Tanto più che già in Qatar, nella bolla, Franco era stato visto correre sul tapis roulant, l’ultima cosa che chi è infortunato al ginocchio dovrebbe fare, soprattutto perché ci sono tante modalità di allenamento cardio che non mettono a rischio la gamba, da poter praticare.
Insomma in VR46 avrebbero deciso per l’operazione, sia perché tanto la stagione non è di quelle che si possono salvare,sia par lanciare un messaggio.

Incastrando i tasselli, la tensione fra Rossi, Petronas e VR46 avrebbe portato all’operazione e l’operazione avrebbe causato un irrigidimento di Razali. Il tutto con l’aggiunta del neonato team VR46 per il quale lo sponsor (se esiste) vorrebbe un Valentino che invece non vuole correre e per il quale si deve cercare qualcosa di meglio di Marini e Bezzecchi. In Petronas temono che Valentino Rossi voglia portarsi via Morbidelli e che comunque la stessa cosa potrebbe farla Yamaha factory trasferendolo in blu ufficiale. Da qui il problema opportunità degli asiatici: mettere sulla moto qualcuno che possa veramente dire chi è il problema nel pacchetto. Con Gerloff impegnato in Superbike, il destinatario naturale sarebbe Crutchlow, che però fa il tester di moto da sviluppare e non il pilota di Yamaha vecchie di due anni (sue parole testuali). Ma Razali si toglierà ben presto il suo di sassolino dalla scarpa, annunciando ben prima del ritorno di Morbidelli, la sua lineup per il 2022.
Chi salirà sulla Yamaha Petronas, non è importante. L’importante è capire come si è arrivati a tutto questo, ossia a indisporre in questo modo un manager come Razali, che vive, dopo il sogno 2020, un incubo sportivo e gestionale da cui non riesce a venir fuori.

Assen: doppietta Yamaha Quartararo-Vinales, poi Mir. Male le Ducati, Marquez in rimonta!

Fabio Quartararo Assen

La gara di Assen è di quelle che lasciano l’amaro in bocca a tutti tranne che a uno, nel caso specifico, a Quartararo, che va in pausa vacanza con il mondiale in tasca. Ci rimane male Vinales, convinto di tornare finalmente a Vincere. Lo spagnolo dovrebbe però guardare il bicchiere mezzo pieno perché dopo le ultime prestazioni, questa è d’oro. Chi va male è Casa Ducati, perché il sempre sottovalutato Zarco è ancora il migliore mentre Bagnaia, con tanto di pista tatuata, non becca nemmeno il podio nonostante una gara aggressiva.
La verità è che le forze in campo sono sempre quelle. Aprilia che cresce, Suzuki che va bene ma non stupisce (con Rins a terra questa volta senza colpe), e una KTM che va sempre mediamente bene.
E le Honda? Bene Nakagami e bene anche Marquez, che rimonta da ventesimo a settimo e si toglie anche qualche soddisfazione. Male invece Pol Espargaro, che è destinato a soffrire e a prenderle sempre.

Today's positive asterisk goes to Gerloff, who without ever having seen bike, track, tires, beats Marini, to whom the negative asterisk goes. Is it really thinkable to give him the official bike and deny it to Bastianini who finishes ahead of him regularly?
Ok the money but a limit there must be. Worse than him, only his half-brother, now a shadow of himself. That on Rossi is therapeutic overkill. Do you really want to witness his weekly crispy-breading in the gravel?

Returning to today's race, it is clear that the game is closed. There are many riders busy finding a saddle and fighting personal battles, but only one is thinking about winning the war.

 

Mini chronicle of the race

Vinales parte male dopo essersi toccato con Qauartararo dopo che il francese gli tagla la strada. Maverick si trova quinto mentre Bagnaia passa in testa e Nakagami è terzo.
Al secondi giro fanno out Zarco e Rins e i due devono ricostruire la gara da zero o quasi anche se il francese ha modo di portare a casa subito un giro veloce.

Meanwhile, as emblematic as it is exciting is the duel between Rossi and Gerlof for second to last place. Rossi 's experience with 10 wins and official bike against Gerloff who has never raced at Assen and quads a 2-year-old bike he doesn't know with tires he doesn't know!

A meno 20 Quartararo passa e inizia a impostare il suo ritmo. Vinales, invece, in ritardo, ha bisogno di passare Nakagami e Bagnaia per non perdere l’occasione di vincere.
Nel frattempo Rossi va out e perde le chiavi della città.

A meno 13 mentre Bagnaia subisce una penalità per track limit, Vinales passa Nakagami e poi lo stesso Bagnaia a cui va comunque meglio che a Jack Miller, che va out al rampino.
A meno 12 le cinque posizioni perse certificano le difficoltà di Nakagami mentre Marc Marquez è addosso a Bagnaia. Sarà duello fino alla fine.

With an eventful race despite a runaway Quartararo also favored by the brawl behind him, Zarco is the best Ducati on the track while Marquez also does his part, trying to pass Bagnaia. He will not succeed.

A meno 12 Vinales guadagna qualcosa ma la verità è che è Quartararo a controllre e a decidere il ritmo gara.
La lotta per il terzo gradino del podio è invece fra Mir, Zarco e Oliveira. La spunterà lo spagnolo mentre alle loro spalle non più cambia niente.

Così al traguardo: Quartararo, Vinales, Mir, Zarco, Oliveira, Bagnaia, Marquez, Aleix Espargaro, Nakagami, Pol Espargaro.
Quartararo allunga sul mondiale, Vinales risorge, Mir patteggia.
Zarco ancora miglior Ducati e Oliveira consistente.
Delude Bagnaia mentre Marquez da ventesimo finisce settimo. Benino l’Aprilia. Rossi pensa allo sceicco e va a testare le sabbie, peccato.

 

Pages

Quartararo
Today's winner is also the one who takes home the world championship. It's almost certain barring upsets and hara kiri.
Rated 10

Vinales
E’ triste a arrabbiato eppure dopo le prestazioni precedenti, questo secondo posto è di quelli da accarezzare. Però almeno significa che ci tiene.
Voto 9,5

Mir
If he is convinced that he will bring home the world championship like this, good for him.
But he needs to do something better than getting behind Quartararo every time.
Rated 8.5

Zarco
On a track not favorable to Ducati, the Frenchman spins hard, loses time, makes it up and ends up playing for the podium. Do people really not want him in red? Why?
Rated 8.5

Oliveira
Ormai è una presenza fissa, lì davanti.
Non sempre si può giocare quello che gli piacerebbe, però lui almeno c’è.
Voto 8

Bagnaia
It is not a Ducati track but someone does better than him. The pre-race statements are aggressive ones, so it is obvious to expect something more. Despite having the track etched into his skin, the Piedmontese rider does not affect, makes mistakes, loses time, and does not play anything important.
Rating 5.5

Marquez
He makes a comeback race after starting 20th. Paradoxically, when he should be exhausted, he shows his best self.
Rated 7

Aleix Espargaro
Always good, the Spaniard. He understood that the key is not to waste.
Viewed positively, in short, he always capitalizes.
Rated 7.5

Nakagami
Great throughout the race, he drops hard at the end.
The performance, however, is positive.
Rated 6.5

Pol Espargaro
He should be the first guide, the one who is doing well, the one called to pull Honda up. It's not going according to expectations. Nemmano is having a race to remember this time.
Rating 5

Vinales, retroscena! Ad un passo da Ducati, Yamaha Japan lo ha voluto nonostante Jarvis. E adesso…

Vinales Piece

Non che ci sia un particolare interesse a difendere un pilota piuttosto che un altro (è roba da lasciare ad altri) però è innegabile che la situazione di Maverick Vinales sia quantomeno singolare e richieda approfondimento.

Questo suo desiderio di affrancarsi da Valentino Rossi, rivendicato in passato è un tema a cui mettere un asterisco perché potrebbe essere, nel bene e nel male, la base di una storia interessante e forse anche di qualche spiegazione, ammesso che ne serva una.
Non giustificazione, ma spiegazione forse sì perché va detto che in merito a Vinales e tutto quello che gli gira intorno, qualche elemento di valutazione in più servirebbe proprio.

First of all, the Spaniard was highly anticipated.
More than Morbidelli, who had made an exploit, more than Quartararo, who had done so the year before. And more than Valentino Rossi, whom only a severe form of pathological hypocrisy can make consider still of the game.

And so the Spaniard is paying a steep toll, especially on those who think that making him discount Valentino Rossi 's or Morbidelli's lack of competitiveness may have some cathartic value.
The problem is that this immaturity arises not from the fans (to whom from this point of view everything can be granted), but from those media that in the last months (and until November of this year) will be engaged in therapeutically piling on the one who feeds them, trying to alleviate as much as possible their sporting suffering by difference, that is, by showing how the common ill can be a kind of half a joy.

In sintesi: Ma Vinales non era quello “tappato” da Rossi e che senza Rossi avrebbe dovuto risorgere? Non era quello che “vi faccio vedere io cosa combino se mi lasciate dire, fare, sviluppare”?

Actually, the good Maverick was sharing the toll with Marquez , but the multi-time champion saw fit to return to winning ways with a victory that is certainly worth more than the number 12's first outing in Qatar . And so now the n12 is on his own.

Poi, sia chiaro: chi nega che Maverick alterni gare da campione ad episodi di vagabondaggio in stato confusionale, vuol dire che è matto. Ma forse bisognerebbe anche cercare di analizzare quello che succede e perché. Analizzare non è giustificare, che è più una cosa da fans, da uffici stampa o da personaggi che tengono famiglia.
E per questo è più difficile e pericoloso.

Ripetiamolo chiaramente. Vinales in carriera di cose strane ne ha fatte e continua a farne. Ha segato Ramon Forcada (non ha senso), e recentemente Garcia per Galbusera (altro cambiamento dettato dalla disperazione e non ce ne voglia il buon Silvano). Si narra poi di una serie di scleri mestruali e numeri da soubrette anziana, alternati ad episodi di santità sportiva. Esattamente come in pista, dove è oro e fango senza alcuna prevedibilità. Se qualcuno ci raccontasse che un Maverick Vinales si alterna ad un gemello caratterialmente opposto, non sarebbe difficile crederlo.

However, this is not the case, and so it must first be understood what is going on in and around his head.

La casa dei diapason come mala gestione tecnica è messa male come Honda se non addirittura peggio, se si considerano la varietà e la profondità temporale degli errori commessi.
L’aver lasciato andare via Lorenzo, il rapporto con e fra i piloti nello sviluppo dopo la vittoria dell’ultimo titolo, la mai chiarita assgnazione dei ruoli tecnici fra i suoi piloti (lo stesso Lorenzo vs Rossi e poi Quartararo vs Vinales), gli sviluppi multidirezionali, i muri concessi, la storia delle valvole e della squalifica, la giostra dei capitecnici, una mancanza di polso generale nella gestione delle piccole cose come gli equilibri sportivi e quelli disciplinari.

The truth is that everything has always happened in Yamaha and too many paths have always been pursued at once.

Il duo Jarvis-Meregalli non ha mai avuto né l’autorevolezza tecnica di Dall’Igna, né la morbidezza diplomatica e rassicurante di Brivio, né tantomeno quella carismatico dittatoriale di Puig, senza scomodare Suppo o gli altri big.
E il nostro retroscena, chiamatela pure storia, inizia da qui.

There are rumors that have only recently been allowed to flow that speak of a Yamaha story, the one from 2020 onward, that did not go as planned. In the box, in fact Jarvis and Meregalli, had made a different picture.

Il team ufficiale 2021 sarebbe dovuto essere composto da Quartararo e Rossi, questo in virtù dell’addio di Vinales, ormai ad un passo da Ducati. Avete letto bene.

For the signing with Bologna, only the details were missing, but the Spaniard taken by a thousand doubts and second thoughts, would have flown from Qatar (where he resides), directly to Japan and would have signed, right in the company, a contract that would have reassured and satisfied him on everything, starting with the torpedoing of Rossi in the direction of Petronas. A contract, however, that he would have had to sign, just in case, in another place and with other interlocutors.
Clearly, they count more in Iwata than in Holland, but the override (which in a company you never do), must not have pleased Jarvis very much, who, as sporting director, would find himself with a rider he did not want, who renewed by overriding him and thus delegitimizing him, and who, lo and behold, is doing very badly.

From here on choose the scenario you want, the present does not change anyway.

1) Con un Quartararo che funziona, Vinales è abbandonato al suo essere altalenante, ed è punito da Jervis, così impara a mettersi contro chi comanda sul campo. Si va dietro a chi vince.

2) Vinales sarebbe stato un disastro comunque e quindi le cose non hanno alcuna correlazione. Jarvis non c’entra e Vinales si è sportivamente tappato da solo, come ha sempre fatto negli ultimi anni.

Di sicuro c’è uno scenario n3, che si interseca comunque con i due precedenti.
Ovvero quello che vede una Yamaha che se fosse un pilota dovrebbe essere lasciata lei a piedi per prima, per aver permesso la proiezione dello stesso film per l’ennesima volta.
Il film è quello della direzione incerta e di quello sviluppo sbilanciato che lascia sempre, sistematicamente un pilota orfano.
Come successo con Vinales quando era con Rossi, fra Rossi e Lorenzo prima, e fra Vinales e Quartararo adesso.
Con l’aggravante, di essere comunque colpevolizzato quando non va.
Non una seconda guida, quindi, ma due prime guide di cui una funziona e l’altra viene vista come un peso. E viene biasimata.
Una cosa che non succede in nessun altra squadra e che quando succede è sempre e solo l’inizio di una mega implosione.

Quindi adesso Vinales, che evidentemente è un incostante, un mai contento, un indeciso, ma anche un super talento, si trova ad avere solo lati negativi. E chiede a Yamaha di poter avere quello che ha firmato nel contratto, con il dettaglio che sul campo come interlocutore c’è proprio la persona che ha scavalcato.

Alla fine, al di là dei retroscena e dello scenario scelto, la situazione non cambia. Vinales rimane quello che è, Yamaha è davanti all’ennesimo paradosso gestionale, perché anche se Quartararo rischia di vincere il mondiale, se tre piloti su quattro sono disastrosi, qualche domanda bisogna farsela, e c’è uno spreco di talento e di risorse. E in più nessuno, ma proprio nessuno, è contento.
Avrà ragione, Vinales? Parlano i punti, ma almeno c’è qualche elemento in più per valutare le cose.

Who celebrates, it is Ducati, which risked finding a ghost in the box. Or maybe, who knows, with the sliding door of chance, maybe in a different context it would have drawn a champion.

Valentino Rossi and Petronas: no happy days, but thehappy ending is also at risk!

Happy ending

We all saw that the happy days between VR46 and Petronas, were not there. It started out that they were all friends, and in the end, even the relationship with Morbidelli, who is rightly tied more to his "boss" than to a team that, after a second place in the world championship, certainly did not gratify him (the fault of his boss, anyway), is at risk.
But the story is so tense that in addition to the happy days having come and gone, thehappy ending is also at risk, especially also because of the recent sentences of Petronas boss Razlan Razali .

1) "It was interesting and constructive to deal with Valentino but it was an exception because we usually hire young talent."
2) " Rossi 's contract expires in November when the season ends."
3) "We have not said either that we are renewing or releasing him."

These three phrases mean, said in the oriental way.

1) Rossi was imposed or at least chosen on the basis of criteria that were not purely sporting.
This explanation is also supported by other recent statements that spoke, on the part of Petronas, of "commercial satisfaction anyway."
A message that should be read, if one knows the Orientals with "nothing worked but we didn't lose out" (let's say it is a message more in the direction of shareholders).

2) There are contractual obligations that bind the pilot to close the season.
Let it not occur to him to close early.

3) Petronas has not yet said it will release him because it is usually Petronas that does not renew, not the other way around.
When Petronas decides to communicate that it is not renewing with Rossi, it will be known by Petronas.
Kind of like when the contract was made. Petronas decided how and when to sanction it officially.

These things here, those who know Orientals (even more complex to interact with Muslim Orientals), know that they are fundamental.
First of all, it did not end well, but you have already read this on this site in April and in May.

Second, contrary to what the friendly press ( Rossi's, you mean) would have you believe, it is not the latter who decides.
In fact, no one could force a rider to race who does not want to do so, but if this rider is in a hurry or wants to impose certain clauses, it may not end up as he says.

In short, you have to close in friendship, or else, after the happy days thehappy ending is also likely to fade.
And we more or less all know how important in some things the happy ending, is.

 

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