First debuting a new website before the Qatar GP, it’s clear that Dorna has its social media team out in full-force for the 2015 MotoGP Championship season — the Spanish company finally taking a shine to the online world.

So with all the news coming out of the season-opener at Losail, it is unsurprising that my social feeds are full of posts regarding Rossi’s win, Ducati’s revival, and Dani Pedrosa’s shocking revelation — on top of all the usual fanfare that comes with MotoGP finally restarting.

One story caught my eye in particular though, less for its content, and more for its source. The caption to the story was your typical craftily picked social media headline, designed to illicit clicks and responses from readers. It read: “What would we do without our lovely ?#?MotoGP? girls?!”

It was by the Official MotoGP Facebook page, and it was not referring to the organization’s female racers. Le sigh.

Now, it’s not uncommon to see such posts on Facebook, and even some of the biggest racing publications perpetuate the umbrella girl trope phenomenon. It’s not even that uncommon for a racing organization to flaunt its brolly-wielding ladies, after all, they are thinly dressed walking billboards, right? Maximize ROI Mr. MBA!

What caught my attention more were the responses found on the post, which answered MotoGP’s question with utter frankness:

“We would perhaps be viewed as equal and set an example to those who consider women lesser beings.” – Debbie Dennien

“Embrace equality more?” – Dawn Kelso

“Yep…I’d survive pretty good without them to be honest.” – Colleen Williams

And my personal favorite:

“What would we do… Move into the 21st century I guess.” – Edwina Harrison

It’s not just the women (the ones we automatically label as “feminists” — and not in a good way) who are taking a stand, with many fans, of both genders, stating the on-track action is really their reason for fandom, not the scantily clad women.

Of course there is a small smattering of gentlemen — I use the term loosely here — who seem to be the sort of men who clearly clutch their “brollies” in fear every night, and who also felt the need to respond to the majority’s comments with blatantly sexist and homophobic responses.

“without the #MotoGP girls you can have some #MotoGP gay-boys” – Chris A. Ramirez

“Most are pretty ugly anyway” – Derek Polston

“Probably masturbate a little bit less.” – Matty Hale (whose profile lists him as being educated by “studying bikinis at the beach”)

And again, my personal favorite:

“Smash there back doors in” – Stuart Houghton

For a sport that is longing to have mainstream acceptance and appeal to a larger audience, and yet seemingly confounded as to why men show up to the race track something like 10:1 compared to women, MotoGP has to only look at its own behavior to understand the problem it is perpetuating.

This issue is of course endemic to the motorcycle industry as a whole as well, not just racing. Where the lowest common denominator seems to prevail, in what can only be described as a frantic race to the bottom.

Don’t worry though Edwina, we will eventually bring MotoGP and motorcycling into the 21st century — right after we drag them through the 19th and 20th centuries first.

In the meantime Dorna, continue “not getting it” in your fan interactions. We’re sure the clickbait revenue is worth it for a classy organization like yours.

It’s not like you are trying to appeal to a sophisticated market of race fans, and build a marketplace where premium lifestyle brands can thrive and market their wares, right?

Or as Mahrukh Mumtaz Hussain succinctly put it, “Stop it MotoGP [sic] you can do better.”

Source: MotoGP (Facebook)