[Bellicose42]

http://cyclenews.com/articles/editorials/2009/03/26/editorial-chicanery

To catalog the multitude of transgressions perpetrated by the new AMA Pro Racing on the road-race paddock would be futile. The list is long and varied and constantly growing. But if there's one thing they've done that's inexcusable, other than laying waste to their own credibility, it's that they've taken the fun out of racing.

Very few people get rich racing motorcycles. The hours are brutal, the physical demands are demanding, the return on investment is minimal. People race motorcycles, people work on racing motorcycles, people support motorcycle racing, because it's their passion, because they love it, because it's fun. But if Daytona didn't convince you, the evidence was stark at Fontana - this just isn't fun anymore.

The atmosphere in the AMA road-race paddock is funereal. The central topic of conversation isn't racing, but what's wrong with racing and how much worse it's going to get. Because, make no mistake, it continues to get worse.
...
...

...They're trying to sell a damaged commodity in a dismal economy with far too many restrictions. For instance, tracks are only allowed to give out trophies to the race winner. Second and third place get medals - the winner does also. Tommy Hayden's medal fell off its ribbon on Sunday. One winner leaned over to another and said, "I used to get these in WERA."
...

 

[dereksbelanger]

demands are demanding

love that part...

 

[z-man]

Yeah at Daytona during the team owners meeting they made a point of saying there would be some DMG crafting of the rules during the year and some items they would interpret. I wasn't crazy about this.

I'm not as negative and sure people in the pits discussed rule changes and some people complained, but I wouldn't say it was how he described. (I did not go to the last round in Cal, no moto-gt, I can only speak for Daytona and I leave for Road Atlanta Thursday).

I will say this on Thursday at Daytona I don't think there was a single person who wasn't talking about how good of a superbike race it was and nothing has come close for the last few years.

People fear change and people complain when it doesn't suit their interests. There were a lot of things I think DMG could have done better, especially how much was done last minute, but I'm going to give them another couple rounds before I write them off.

Just IMHO.

Z

 

[SVstryker]

That part of the Fontana weekend not spent recounting the AMA's innumerable sins from Daytona - did you know that race control didn't authorize the red flag that caused the debacle during the 200, but that it was a rogue element in the chicane? - was spent lamenting the current situation and the future.

what happened here? someone please explain.....

 

[Bellicose42]

what happened here? someone please explain.....

For the most part the acts of the Marshals and the flag conditions of a corner are up to the discretion of the Marshals on that corner, with the exception of a full course yellow and a Red Flag situation (course shutdown). What will happen for those is that the Marshal doing communication on the corner will advise race control that they request a shutdown but the final decision comes down to race control. The majority of tracks and Marshaling groups have rules that you don't say "Red Flag" on the radio in case anyone misunderstands and throws a red flag (some places you can't even say "Red" on the radio).

So what probably what happened at Daytona is that the corner threw the red flag before getting authorization, and that confused the pace car since they wouldn't have heard anything of a shut down, and then carnage ensued.

 

[brady]

the tool that wrote the article conveniently forgets what a fiasco Daytona was last year under the AMA....

 

[RichDesmond]

the tool that wrote the article conveniently forgets what a fiasco Daytona was last year under the AMA....

Oy vei, Henny Ray Abrams is a "tool"?

No one's forgetting that the AMA screwed up a whole bunch of stuff, and had been for decades. Lots of us had for many years said that the AMA ought to retreat to being just a sanctioning body and let people who knew what they were doing run the show. So there was joy when the AMA announced that they were going to do exactly that.
When it turned out that DMG was the buyer, some people were thrilled, some were a little concerned. But no one thought that anything like what has ensued would take place. There's no doubt that they have done a tremendous amount to damage to the series. Whether or not it's recoverable, I guess time will tell.

 

[FormulaSV]

i think its a needless to say that DMG knows how to promote and run a race. My guess would be they are changing things a little bit at time because i think we all know the type stink that gets raised when you make a complete overhaul in one season. My only hope is that we don't end up with some sort of ridiculous points system like they have in NASCAR that makes it darn near impossible for new teams to enter and be competitive. The one thing i would love to see is more television time for the sport and hopefully they will couple a few races with a NASCAR weekend at tracks that have both venues and role the TV coverage together. Couldn't hurt to expose the NASCAR crowd to some elbow to elbow action. The more fans the more "successful" the series right?

 

[brady]

Oy vei, Henny Ray Abrams is a "tool"?

He wrote the article like a tool, whether he's respected, knowledgeable, or not. The article is inflammatory and hopelessly one-sided (ridiculing cheap podium ribbons, but not acknowledging the purses have increased?).
He may be expected to rant, I hear it's his style, but how does this help the situation? He should grow up and at least pretend to understand both sides of the story.
DMG, the people that actually put up the money to rescue AMA Pro Racing, are also [in his own words] "trying to sell a damaged commodity in a dismal economy".

Less whining, more constructive criticism, and teamwork towards common goals is how fair and intelligent adults solve problems.

 

[RichDesmond]

He wrote the article like a tool, whether he's respected, knowledgeable, or not. The article is inflammatory and hopelessly one-sided (ridiculing cheap podium ribbons, but not acknowledging the purses have increased?).

DMG puts out lots of press releases extolling all their "improvements", someone pointing out the negatives is just putting things back in balance.

He may be expected to rant, I hear it's his style, but how does this help the situation? He should grow up and at least pretend to understand both sides of the story.

Pointing out the problems is essential to helping the situation.

DMG, the people that actually put up the money to rescue AMA Pro Racing, are also [in his own words] "trying to sell a damaged commodity in a dismal economy".

Less whining, more constructive criticism, and teamwork towards common goals is how fair and intelligent adults solve problems.

Arguably the biggest problem is that DMG hasn't shown itself very open to either constructive criticism or teamwork.

 

[purplehaze540]

The one thing i would love to see is more television time for the sport and hopefully they will couple a few races with a NASCAR weekend at tracks that have both venues and role the TV coverage together. Couldn't hurt to expose the NASCAR crowd to some elbow to elbow action. The more fans the more "successful" the series right?

I say keep our beloved sport away from marketing people like DMG and strive to make it about racing, not tee-shirt sales. F1 or FIM as the model (although they have their own inherent problems.)

I'd rather it be a sub-culture than get diluted down to Nascar-style rules in order to gain mass appeal and maximize someones profit margin.

 

[Jawn]

I'd rather it be a sub-culture than get diluted down to Nascar-style rules in order to gain mass appeal and maximize someones profit margin.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[helitack32f1]

I believe that Henny's editorial shows that AMA pro racing is headed directly toward NASCARization of the sport which is great for getting a lot of easy-to-ammuse drunks to watch the show and increase viewership but does nothing for actual motorcycle racing nuts. Is it just me or did the whole thing go awry when the AMA strayed from the basic Superbike, 600 supersport formula and added Superstock and Formula x-treme, thereby allowing factory teams to race in seperate classes? This was the beginning of the problems because rarely did all the factory teams all race in the same classes against each other. 600 SS used to be one of the biggest draws of factory teams, top riders and fans and now it is a DMG endorsed whopping class of 7 no-name riders. In the name of progress?!

Wouldn't it all make a lot more sense to mimick World Superbike and World supersport rules? This is a much more successful strategy, is easier to follow and would allow riders to show their stuff against the world in wildcard rides in the US or abroad without having to build a new bike to new specs and would give real world training to those US riders intending on moving onto the world stage.

Instead we now have a bunch of classes with rules that don't make a lot of sense and nifty new things like running starts and mandatory safety car periods?! And to top it all off, we have to wait a full week to see the races just to cater to those individuals too stupid to look up when the live races come on!!

As far as how close the American Superbike race was in Daytona, Mladin still won and it probably would have been somewhat less nail-biting had Mladin seen, let alone riden his bike more than a day before the race. Unless he loses a limb or two he will most likely still win all the races. For the past few years he has been pushed to up his game by Spies and now he doesn't have that so he may naturally fall back to the second wrung guys that were always battling for second in the past, making it all seem more interesting. Unless, of course, Mladin is banned for commiting the heinous act of not attending the mandatory autograph session.

 

[pearsonm]

I've heard time and again that AMA needs to simply adopt World Superbike rules, but I don't know what they are and I can find them at SBK's site. Can someone point me to them? Equipment specifications are what I'm looking for.

 

[pedro101783]

Hollow SportBike Wins for Buell?
Friday, March 27, 2009
When Buell 1125R rider Danny Eslick had to pit with his bike literally falling apart leading the Daytona 200, it looked like another Buell racing effort might fall apart too. With a second round of the new AMA Pro Road Racing series in the books, however, the Buell’s fortunes have turned as Eslick secured the double in the Fontana SportBike races.

Danny Eslick had no troubles with his Buell 1125R at Fontana with the rising star delivering the American marque its first-ever Daytona SportBike victory.
Eslick is heading the Daytona SportBike class aboard the Buell, but is it a fair fight?
Now for the fallout… Road-racing fans were already critical of the large-displacement Buell’s inclusion into the hodge-podge mixture that is the SportBike class. Now they are ticked off. Anticipated as the extension of the 600cc Inline Four-dominated Formula Xtreme, Daytona SportBike encompasses a wider range of machinery, including larger displacement Twins like the Buell. But the liquid-cooled 1125R has a clear displacement advantage, even over fellow Twins, like the literbike Aprilia RSV1000R - not to mention the Ducati Twin, with the 848 legal but the 1098 not.

A skeptic could certainly interpret the deck being stacked in favor of the Buell…

Adding to the controversy is current SportBike point leader, Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking, being suspended by AMA Pro Road Racing for press conference profanities at Fontana. If Hacker misses the upcoming round at Road Atlanta April 3-5, Eslick is sure to snag the points lead.

Granted, Eslick is a fine talent and it’s a shame his obvious skill behind the controls of the Buell is overshadowed by the controversy over the bike itself, but aren’t Buell’s accomplishment in the SportBike series already ringing hollow?

Is the Daytona Motorsports Group determined to get good ol’ American-made motorcycles on the top of the podium? Or is DMG’s SportBike series a fresh change of the same old same old. It’s hard to argue with the Daytona SportBike parity on the results sheet, with last round netting six different manufacturers in the top seven.

We want to know what our readers think. Is the fix in, or is this just good racing?



I found this article on motorcycle-usa.com. This just shows you what everybody in the industry is thinking. How are you going to permit an 1125cc Buell to race in the class but Aprillia is only allowed 1000cc and Ducati only 848 why don’t they let Ducati bring the 1098r. You know why DMG must likely has some kind of deal with Buell to give them the advantage on the class cause if the rules would be fair other twins would be aloud to bring their big bikes. Wow DMG must think that the fans of the series are too stupid to realize this is going on.

 

[brady]

here's an informed counterpoint from an AMA Pro team member that includes some history of the mess DMG inherited

 

[pearsonm]

Good racing where everyone in the field has a chance to win would solve a majority of the problems. I think the biggest problem here is the one that always comes up in motorsports - the insurmountable disparity created by those with the deepest pockets.

Why can’t there be true production motorcycle racing? By that I mean each team does what any track day whore does - get a production bike, strip off the street stuff, respring and revalve the existing suspension, twist on some safety wire, slap on some race skins and tires and have at it.

I just watched Fontana. The handwriting’s on the wall - Yoshimura Suzuki’s just going to outspend everybody else again. As long as that keeps happening I’ll be switching back to GP in a couple of weeks, which is a shame because I’d really like to be a home-grown race fan.

 

[pedro101783]

here's an informed counterpoint from an AMA Pro team member that includes some history of the mess DMG inherited

It still sucks the Buell situation speaks for itself.

 

[brady]

I agree with trying to level the playing field, but the bias towards Buell does seem too obvious. I can also certainly understand Jamie Hacking's frustration with the lopsided rules, but it's WAY better than not racing. And the Buells will probably fall apart in half the races anyway.

 

[purplehaze540]

Good racing where everyone in the field has a chance to win would solve a majority of the problems. I think the biggest problem here is the one that always comes up in motorsports - the insurmountable disparity created by those with the deepest pockets.

I don't have the numbers handy but i've read where all the factory teams spend about the same $$ every year. Yosh's advantage on the track wasn't b/c they spent more. I'd be interested in seeing numbers that say it is.

Why can’t there be true production motorcycle racing? By that I mean each team does what any track day whore does - get a production bike, strip off the street stuff, respring and revalve the existing suspension, twist on some safety wire, slap on some race skins and tires and have at it.

that was Superstock and Supersport last year. It is gone now. Thank you DMG.