[RichDesmond]

The latest news from these boneheads, no AMA racing at the WSB round at Miller.

It's breathtaking how much they've managed to de-value the series in just a year. If I was a team owner trying to find sponsorship I'd be very, very ******. No live TV, fewer big name riders, greatly reduced OEM participation, a confusing class structure, (what is the premier class ???) a class with 6 entries at the current round, and now no chance to share the stage with one of the biggest racing series in the world. How the hell are you supposed to go to a potential sponsor and make any kind of business case for an ROI on the money you want from them??

The AMA series is looking more minor league every day.

 

[pearsonm]

Did DMG pull out or did WSB tell them not to bother? If DMG pulled out, do they think they can hold WSBK hostage?

If DMG's going to destroy AMA then I hope it happens sooner rather than later so someone else can step in right away. What I'm afraid of is that there's just going to be a big, fragmented mess for the next 10(x) years.

I’m frustrated because I’ve always wanted to be a fan of American motorcycle road racing. One hour of GP on TV every other week’s OK but I’d much rather go see the pros at tracks I get to ride and am familiar with. I’ve just never considered AMA worth watching.

 

[RichDesmond]

Did DMG pull out or did WSB tell them not to bother? If DMG pulled out, do they think they can hold WSBK hostage?...

I guess the numbers didn't work for the parties involved.

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Mar/e/n090320b.htm

 

[fullmetal]

i just wonder if this means that FIM will bring their whole show, Supersport, and Superstock as well rather than just the superbikes...

 

[636Tony]

I guess the numbers didn't work for the parties involved.

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Mar/e/n090320b.htm

it's funny, but during the earlier years of grand am (roger edmondson's previous racing series, think alms), they shared a date at vir with ccs (roger edmondson's even older series). and here we are six years or so later and they can't work out a way to fit into wbsk's schedule/pay out's?!?

i have to say this whole dmg thing reminded me of when formula usa broke away from shared wera rounds and promised clear channel and wrenchead.com money. the money never happened and the series (which a long time ago was incredibly unique) became very diluted.

oh yeah, anyone see the pole time versus the field in the 1000cc class? the cream always rises to the top.

 

[pearsonm]

Thank you for that article. Now I get it - it's DMG vs. Miller, not AMA vs. WSBK.

I can't believe this is the most beneficial alternative to anyone involved. Miller will loose bargaining power with WSBK and DMG obviously looses more exposure and credibility. I'd love to have been present for those negotiations.

 

[pearsonm]

i have to say this whole dmg thing reminded me of when formula usa broke away from shared wera rounds and promised clear channel and wrenchead.com money. the money never happened and the series (which a long time ago was incredibly unique) became very diluted.

I'm frustrated with how fragmented the USA is as compared to Europe. There's so much potential here but everybody insists on doing things their own way.

 

[weasel]

the only thing the AMA is involved with is off road stuff, MX, SX, GNCC, etc.. they got out of roadracing when they caved to $$$...

 

[636Tony]

the only thing the AMA is involved with is off road stuff, MX, SX, GNCC, etc.. they got out of roadracing when they caved to $$$...

i think it more a matter of the only thing that they were making money from was the only thing ama pro racing wasn't running (supercross).

 

[z-man]

I'm not saying I agree with everything they are doing and trying to race with them at Daytona was a big cluster F*(K but I will say this.... Superbike in my opinion has been a snooze fest for the last several years. The Daytona Superbike race was the first interesting AMA Superbike race I can remember. What fun is it when Suzuki has such superior equipment that the results are so one sided. I'm not taking anything away from Matt and Ben, they are fantastic riders. But if you remember the Road Atlanta round from last year when Spies crashed, he was passing other factory superbikes 2 and 3 at a time on his way back to almost the front. Fantastic rider but there is something to be said for the machinery when he is pulling that much in the straights.

So trust me when I say, spectators don't know half of the BS going on. One example is my teamate crashed at the CCS event the weekend before at Daytona and the bike wasn't 100 percent. I had my SV with us so we asked if we could run a spare bike and were told, read the rule book, which says only Superbike and Daytona SB can run a back up bike. Then right next to us James Gang crashed their Buell in practice and just came back and jumped on thier B bike. They weren't in our class but I asked the officials if we could run a B bike, 3 different officials said yes but my bike wasn't tech'ed so during the race we were black flagged 2x as a result. On Monday I spoke to Bill Syfan who said you can have 2 back up bikes. I cut and pasted the rules and Al Lungren replied saying you can only run one bike and everyone else was wrong. It seems everything is last minute and not completely planned out. I'm hopefull this work in progress will continue to improve.

But I will say this again, Superbike was interesting for the first time with Buell and Ducati mixing it up in the top 5.

Edit: One last thing, this was my first AMA event, I've never watched one before live either. You would think with Bike Week going on at the same time, there would have been a nice turn out for the events. Superbike and Sportbike was a Thursday event and I think there were more spectators at the club races the week before, couple hundred at best and even the main event Friday night maybe had 1000 spectators. I think AMA is lucky to get any coverage based on the intrest at that track. Racing is great to watch but Speed has to make money and it doesn't seem like we are that big an audience compared to other sports. I'll keep you posted in two weeks if Road Atlanta is any better.

Z