Finns tydligen en del rykten som gör gällande att Kinas GP riskerar att ställas in. Från www.motompmatters.com
The Chinese government's reaction to this growing dissent has been to crack down even harder on anything that smacks even vaguely of dissent. And in its zeal to control information both inside and outside the country, the regime is now tightening its restrictions on any major sporting event which could attract public attention, and as result, public protest.
Now, even the normally carefully neutral world of MotoGP has been caught in the Chinese governments web. Rumors abound that the Shanghai Grand Prix, to be held on May 4th, will be heavily affected by Chinese censorship, with some rumors even claiming that the Chinese Round of MotoGP could even be canceled. The Chinese authorities cannot have been put at ease by Loris Capirossi and Valentino Rossi - both of whom have spoken out in the past on contentious political issues - telling the press that they felt they should put on some kind of public show of support for the people of Tibet at the Chinese race. Capirex even threatened to roll up to the starting line displaying a Tibetan flag, an act which would be deeply provocative to the Chinese authorities.
The commotion has caused the rumors to become ever more feverish: One rumor had the Chinese government asking KTM to run in different colors, as the company's trademark orange could be associated with the traditional garb of Tibetan Monks, the orange robe. The authorities would have wanted KTM not just to repaint its bikes, but the hospitality units, corporate clothing for all 27 members of KTM's teams, and any form of promotional material using the color orange. "I haven't heard anything official," KTM's International Motorsports Director Winfried Kerschhaggl told Motorsport Aktuell, "but it's inconceivable that we would be presented with such a radical demand just a few days before the race."
But the wildest rumor concerns the canceling of the Chinese MotoGP round. On Wednesday afternoon, the MotoGP grapevine started humming with talk that the Chinese had called the race altogether. This later turned out to be a misunderstanding based on the Chinese authorities canceling some support races, with some journalists leaping to conclusions that weren't yet there.
Yet the cancellation of the Shanghai round of MotoGP would not be beyond the realms of possibility. The Chinese race has always been a problematic affair, with interest from both local spectators and Chinese interest being minimal at best, and huge bureaucratic obstacles to overcome getting the vast quantities of highly specialized equipment required by MotoGP into and out of the country. And with China already having been dropped from the MotoGP calendar for next year, the authorities are unlikely to be inclined to be overly helpful towards the series. If a number of riders and/or teams threaten to put on some very public protests, the Chinese government may just decide that the entire event won't be worth the hassle, and call it off before it starts. This story isn't over yet.
The Chinese government's reaction to this growing dissent has been to crack down even harder on anything that smacks even vaguely of dissent. And in its zeal to control information both inside and outside the country, the regime is now tightening its restrictions on any major sporting event which could attract public attention, and as result, public protest.
Now, even the normally carefully neutral world of MotoGP has been caught in the Chinese governments web. Rumors abound that the Shanghai Grand Prix, to be held on May 4th, will be heavily affected by Chinese censorship, with some rumors even claiming that the Chinese Round of MotoGP could even be canceled. The Chinese authorities cannot have been put at ease by Loris Capirossi and Valentino Rossi - both of whom have spoken out in the past on contentious political issues - telling the press that they felt they should put on some kind of public show of support for the people of Tibet at the Chinese race. Capirex even threatened to roll up to the starting line displaying a Tibetan flag, an act which would be deeply provocative to the Chinese authorities.
The commotion has caused the rumors to become ever more feverish: One rumor had the Chinese government asking KTM to run in different colors, as the company's trademark orange could be associated with the traditional garb of Tibetan Monks, the orange robe. The authorities would have wanted KTM not just to repaint its bikes, but the hospitality units, corporate clothing for all 27 members of KTM's teams, and any form of promotional material using the color orange. "I haven't heard anything official," KTM's International Motorsports Director Winfried Kerschhaggl told Motorsport Aktuell, "but it's inconceivable that we would be presented with such a radical demand just a few days before the race."
But the wildest rumor concerns the canceling of the Chinese MotoGP round. On Wednesday afternoon, the MotoGP grapevine started humming with talk that the Chinese had called the race altogether. This later turned out to be a misunderstanding based on the Chinese authorities canceling some support races, with some journalists leaping to conclusions that weren't yet there.
Yet the cancellation of the Shanghai round of MotoGP would not be beyond the realms of possibility. The Chinese race has always been a problematic affair, with interest from both local spectators and Chinese interest being minimal at best, and huge bureaucratic obstacles to overcome getting the vast quantities of highly specialized equipment required by MotoGP into and out of the country. And with China already having been dropped from the MotoGP calendar for next year, the authorities are unlikely to be inclined to be overly helpful towards the series. If a number of riders and/or teams threaten to put on some very public protests, the Chinese government may just decide that the entire event won't be worth the hassle, and call it off before it starts. This story isn't over yet.
