Ducati Monster Forum

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2008/Aug/080815ji1.htm

Good work Ray Blank and Mel Harris.  Way to make the beast with two backs up the best thing that could've happened to motorcycle racing in America in quite some time.  John Ulrich said it best - those guys are nothing but a couple of liars who backed out after every concession was made to them.

Not that John reads this board, but he made extraordinary efforts to get the factories on board and he should be thanked for being the only person of any power in American racing who did a damn thing to try and get this situation resolved in a amicable, agreeable manner.

I haven't been following, but If i'm understanding: DMG reversed course after the factories were all OMG!!! over daytona superbike, created a new class called factory superbike to meet the factories needs, and now the factories backed out?

Lame.

Yep.  Basically, JU got DMG to concede to every demand that the OEMs had.  He got them to go with WSBK rules, no tire supplier, no fuel supplier, EVERYTHING the OEMs said they wanted.  The OEMs then said they wanted more and he got them that too.  Then when they had everything they asked for, they still backed down and wouldn't do it.  And, he basically insinuated (he wouldn't name names) that the two people responsible for this breakdown were Ray Blank of American Honda and Mel Harris of American Suzuki.

in recent weeks these are the only 2 names that have been in the press.  yamaha and kawasaki have been, apparently, completely absent.

the lack of support for Factory Superbike is... weird.  crazy, on paper at least.

wish they would just change nothing in '09 and start figuring out '10, together, now.

Yamaha will be racing American Superbike (also known as SuperStock).  They were fine with that from the beginning.  I think they would've been fine running and superbike but since no one else stepped up, why should they?

Yamaha, Ducati, Aprilia and BMW will race in American Superbike as will M4 Emgo.  I'm pretty sure Jordan and Corona will still be on board too.  Not all is lost is AMA racing.  I fully expect everything to turn out just fine and within 2 years Suzuki and Honda will be back.  I don't think Kawasaki will be missed one way or the other.

It would be kinda of nice to see Suzuki out of it...watching the same two guys at the front gets a little boring.

let's forget, for a moment, all the talk of spies going overseas next year, or mladin retiring after next season... what makes you think that if (factory) suzuki left ama competition somebody wouldn't want to throw a ton of money at either of those guys to race on their team?

It would have to be a team backed with serious cash IMO, since payouts are low if I remember correctly.

I don't think a non-factory sponsored team could front that much, if WSBK was talking about how much they were making and it would be difficult to match.

It is good to hear that maybe not all is lost next year. 

You don't recall correctly.  There is a 200k purse every weekend split evenly between the 4 races, i.e. 100k per class per weekend.

the payouts have always been ridiculously low... (professional) race teams surely don't do it for the purse.

the smart teams will find out of industry sponsors to pay the bills for their efforts. with the influx of energy drinks (redbull, rockstar, monster), we're already seeing some of that attention given to roadracing. jordan/nike is a perfect example of exactly what the sport needs (in the US).

not exactly accurate...

here are the schedule/purse sheets for each of the rounds this year:  http://www.amaproracing.com/prorace/preenter.asp?sid=#superbike

(click on event schedule)

daytona has the highest purse, be sure to check the rest of them, too...

No reason...watching Mladin and Spies race each other gets boring for the most part...

I'm pretty sure we're talking about NEXT year, where each weekend has a 200k purse. ;)

sorry... i got confused when you said "is" instead of "will be if what's been proposed is implemented."  ;D

The man has France $$$, it'll be 200k just like he says. ;)

Since the factories missed their deadline to commit and sign on for Factory Superbike, they are not allowed in the series, right? With these same factories being responsible for submitting bikes for homologation for the other classes, what are the teams you mentioned above (Jordan, M4, Corona) going to race? BMWs and Chinese knock-off brands? If the factories don't have classes they want to run in, why would they pony up the cash and effort to support the rest? I wouldn't and I don't blame them for holding out after being jerked around (although it does sound a bit childish from the articles I've read).

Is the 1098R going to be legal for the American Superbike class? If not, why would Ducati show up?
I'd love to see the series as it is improve, but not by applying the rules and class structure DMG wants.

You don't think Kawasaki will be missed? What about Jamie Hacking's rise to multiple podium finishes with the ZX10? That's like saying Roger Hayden's supersport championship and Tommy Hayden's two championships were boring and meant nothing. I'm not a huge, offended Kawasaki fan, but I appreciate their efforts and would rather see more, not fewer makes on the grid.

I think we'll see the factories next season, just not with DMG/AMA. I wouldn't be surprised to see the factories band together with the track owners and sponsors to create a new, separate series. Til all this gets straightened out, I'm so glad we have WSB to watch!

no, there just won't be a factory superbike class...

By the way Daryl, I'm not trying to strike up an argument. I really enjoy AMA roadracing and it bothers me to see it in such turmoil. I've also read and agree with alot of John Ulrich's articles and posts regarding the problems of cost, parity and competition. However, I hate the idea of trying to turn AMA roadracing into a two-wheeled clone of NASCAR.

They can still participate and the series can homologate the bikes whether the factories submit them or not.  Yamaha has already said they are happy with a more stock-based class.


Yes.


Nope.  Frankly, I'm not real into watching 37 y.o. riders get the call when there is tons of young talent waiting to move up.  Remember the last young rider who got the call to race AMA SBK?  His name was Nicky Hayden and he's done a few things since (and Ben Spies is on his way).


So, you think the factories, who weren't willing to put 4 bikes on the grid are now gonna fill 4 entire grids?!?!?  Good luck with that.  What privateer is gonna come and play in that sandbox when there's no payout (especially not compared to DMG).  Also, they simply don't have the money, the experience or the time to pull something like that off (plus, good luck getting tracks to go with you).  The factories will pour their money into the Euro and Japanese series (as has already been stated) and they will be back once they realize that they're losing market edge in their #1 market.  Sure, there might be a couple "not as great" years, but within 5 years, it'll be a better series.

There is a lot of turmoil, but this needs to happen.  The OEMs can't just keep getting their way or we'll have a series like we already do.  None of the major championships are run in such a fashion.  And, don't think it's impossible to bring in good quality outside-the-industry sponsors.  WSBK, WSSTK, WSS, BSB, ASB and others have shown that it is possible.

Also, with the new ownership, expect to see much better TV coverage - which will go a long way towards bringing in more money and therefore more talent.

did they change that? the 1098S was the only model on their initial list.

Hmm, I'm pretty sure I read that Michael Locke said that it was to be homologated.  I'll have to check on that now tho...

http://www.cyclenews.com/ShowStory.asp?HeadlineID=12821

well well well.

I like how the promoters and the tracks haven't heard the first thing about it. 

I think this is a case where the MIC thinks they can control everything and I'd be willing to bet they're about to realize that they've bitten off far more than they can chew.  They have no promotional power, no TV deals, no cross-promotion to speak of.  In other words, they're going to have a REALLY tough time selling this series to non-racers and I fully expect this to be a huge money-losing endeavor for them.

Not to mention the fact that they have about 6 riders worth of grid.  If Mladin is pissed about backmarkers this year, whoooo is he gonna be pissed when  he Johnny Rock Page is running around in 7th place.

Most of the bigger support teams have already expressed their intent (as well as Yamaha) to race in the DMG series, so it'll be one class (superbike) with 6 factory riders and a bunch of dudes rolling up to the track in their pickup trucks - should be one hell of a show.

duh.  JRP's reality show deal is going to pick up the tab.