New Superbike Series USSB

[smileyman]

Well I dunn it. Went and sent Roadracing World an editorial letter...Wanna hear it? Goes a lil sumthin like this...

As it appears there may be 2 possible American Motorcycle Roadracing Series in 2009 I am curious which side the track promoters will come down on. Will they court an event for each series or will they throw all their interest at one sanctioning body? I am sure each track promoter will handle it differently however there seems to be one thing everyone keeps referring to when they speculate on the future of the sport, the Indy Racing League and Kart Open Wheel Racing split.



What I believe needs to be pointed out is that The IRL and Kart Car split did indeed draw a line with manufacturers on one side (KART) and the heavily rules restricted owner biased (IRL) on the other. However one key difference has been overlooked…The IRL had primarily oval track promoters as a base where the KART sanctioning body looked almost completely towards road racing and street course promoters for support. Motorcycle road racing has only road course promoters and a bare few Infield oval tracks to play with. History shows that the IRL with a larger, better financed base of track promoters and a lineup of primarily American drivers had the most commercial success. In the end the two sanctioning bodies were worse off and the sport suffered.



Where both the open wheel series had top drivers and quality teams backed by national sponsors, the difference in the strength and number of the track promoters made the difference in which series gained the upper hand. Further, motorcycle roadracing in the US does not have the number of well financed teams and national sponsors that made full fields in two series possible in the open wheel community. They have only the manufacturers and one or two well sponsored teams, the rest are privateers with manufacturer contingency to support them.



Another consideration is which series will successfully negotiate some television airtime. Long the stepchild of the Speed Channel motorcycle road racing is just beginning to attract network attention with the MotoGP series. Which of the networks will gamble on which series and what sponsorship opportunities will come of that coverage?



I feel racers will be forced to run where the contingency and manufacturer support lies and even if the odds of a podium are better in the DMG organized races. Moreover most of the racers will want to court the manufacturers and factory teams in hopes of challenging and beating them at their own game or joining a factory backed effort in the future. Either way, what little hopes we have of attracting brand name sponsorship will be lessened by the division and our hopes of being a nationally recognized and appreciated sport will also suffer. On the opposing hand, those two objectives no matter how much we value them would not be a fair trade for losing our sports integrity like stock car racing did when it gave NASCAR a monopolizing control of its sport.



In the end I feel a racing sanctioning body should be like my ideal of government. Quietly invisible but in control, maintaining fairness and the safety of the competitors while letting the talent and the racing speak for themselves. As for me I will be tuning in to World Superbike and MotoGP and spending all my entertainment funds on track days rather than traveling to the professional events. Maybe someday the forces that be will reunite, adopt some consistent rules, and focus on getting our sport some decent exposure.