NASCAR bans AMA Superbikes from AMA Superbike Series 2009 - According to Daytona Motorsports Group's Roger Edmondson, the deadline he imposed on the factories to commit to the Factory Superbike class passed today with no commitments from the factories. Hence the Factory Superbike class will not be a part of the 2009 AMA Superbike series, according to Edmondson. Edmondson said tonight that DMG/AMA Superbike will have two Daytona Superbike and two American Superbike races at each round of the series in 2009 and a $200,000.00 purse will be split among the four races. Edmondson is leaving for a cross-country motorcycle trip in the morning, one which will culminate at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma where Grand AM is holding a race also where he will meet with the new AMA Superbike promoter group. Rumors persist that the Japanese manufacturers will race a series sanctioned by the Motorcycle Industry Council.
NASCAR bans AMA Superbikes from AMA Superbike Series 2009 - Replaced by Harley-Buell-Rotaxbikes - Daytona Motorsports Group principal Roger Edmondson says there will be no Factory Superbike class in AMA Superbike racing in 2009, because the four Japanese manufacturers missed today’s deadline to commit to the class. Therefore, Edmondson says, next year’s race weekend will consist of a pair of doubleheaders – two races for the 600cc Daytona Superbike class and two races for the 1000cc American Superbike class. Edmondson says he emailed the four Japanese manufacturers two weeks ago, asking them to commit by today (Friday, August 15, 2008) to the Factory Superbike class, which was based on World Superbike rules. The idea of that class, announced in response to the Japanese manufacturers’ demand for a class that more closely resembled World Superbike rules, was to create a place where the factories could run their WSB bikes, on whatever tires they wanted, with no restrictions on testing. But Edmondson says he received no response to his inquiries, so the class will not be run next season. “I emailed the four Japanese distributors who I’ve been dealing with, it seems like forever,” Edmondson says. “This was always their class if they wanted it. But there was no interest.” Apparently, Daytona Motorsports Group has never heard of certified mail or Federal Express, as required for all legal documents in contract negotiations. So next year’s program will feature the two classes, with rules structures to ensure that the race bikes will be closer in specification to the street bikes they are based on. “If you look at (Aaron) Yates’ times today at VIR, he’s 1.5 seconds off the pole position. You can’t see that from the stands,” Edmondson says. “The racing in American Superbike is going to be incredible. The equipment is amazing, the riders are amazing, and that’s what we’re going to make sure that the audience knows that these are the bikes and equipment that they can buy. They’re not going to have $80,000 forks on them. This is the stuff that they can buy.” Apparently, USA has outsourced all manufacturing and engineering, with no US citizens willing to work to sell $80,000 forks made out of $100 bar stock.
DMG says race in the rain or die - DMG is a joke in my opinion. I hope the manufacturers start there own series. I for one what to see SUPERBIKES! I am pretty sure that Suzuki will pull out of racing next year and I applaud them for that to be honest. Despite that happening I don't think DMG will change any of their ideas and will continue to do whatever THEY think is best for the series. While I agree that some things needed to change in the current AMA, these is not the changes we needed. Superbikes should indeed be the fastest, "baddest" motorcycles on the track. These rule changes are making the USA the laughing stock of the world in terms of motorcycle racing. Its pathetic really. I can't believe someone who is so good at promotion can't figure out a different way to make the series more popular. I for one, will boycott NASBIKE and never attend another race or watch it on TV. I will also encourage all the members of my forum to do the same! So - what to do? How do we get the manufacturers to perhaps start their own series? I heard that Michael Jordan was planning on purchasing the series from the AMA, is there a chance he might be interested in starting a new series?
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