Not really a shocker to those who have been paying attention. But will it suck as bad as AMA racing has sucked for the past few years? Will anyone besides a Suzuki rider be able to win? I sure hope so.

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2008/Sep/080910ussb.htm

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2008/...910ussbfaq.htm

 

wow!

so this means no more ama racing right? seams like USSB will remove a lot of the politics from American racing as it currently is.

 

i guess we'll have to see what DMG's next move is. probably gonna have two competing series if things go this way.

 

The real key now is the track owners..who will they side with the OEM's that actually subsidize them to some extent or DMG that wants to redifine the sport into glorified club racing because after all if they sound fast the crowd won't care!

The second shoe to fall is TV..do they want to turn their backs on OEM advertising to support the Emporor Edmondson new "show" (the risk here is that the real owner is the France family which owns Daytona and NASCAR)..their in a tough spot. I don't think speed TV could exist without OEM ad's or Nascar!

The die is cast stay tuned.

 

yeah this is gonna get REAL interesting now

 

If USSB gives OEMs, teams, sponsers, riders and fans what they want (obviously no small feet), I think a little advertisment would go a long way. My friends that ride try to catch supersport/bike and 800cc moto gp races when they're on but NONE of my friends that don't ride even know people race bikes on TV. If NASCAR can be the most popular sport in the USA I think motorcycle racing could really get a solid fan base among people totally new to the sport if they show people how sweat it is. Better crashes, faster, (more skill IMO), and hopefully some competition for the pole position. can't beat it!

 

I'm beting USSB will come out on top.
We need top-level Superbike racing in this country. I mean real Superbikes - crankshaft mods, con rods, ECU's, the whole bit. More like world Superbike. Hopefully traction control will go away, for the most part.

I'm not sure how the probelms of track safety in the US will be resolved. It won't be, if real Superbike racing goes away.

 

HEY, it said PLAYBOY is involved.....Bunnies on bikes?

 

I like the SBK format of 1000 cc Superbikes and 600 Supersport series. Focusing the top talent in only two races makes for good racing. I wish the USSB well.

 

If you go into the Racing threads you will find my opinions regarding all of this going back a couple of months(it's funny they don't stay up for long I guess most of the forum doesn't really care) and that may be the biggest problem or as DMG see's it the reason for the changes.

To quote an old movie "what we have here is a failure to communicate". The Emporor Edmondson certainly didn't communicate with the OEM's , rather he dictated how it was going to be. On the flip side the OEM's specifically Honda and Suzuki did not communicate back, they simply rejected it all out of hand.

This has led to a gigantic pissing contest that benefits no one. However all that aside lines have been drawn and it remains to be seen who will line up where.

It's interesting that Yamaha has indicated that will be participating in the DMG series, they say this with neither rider (deSalvo or Bostrum) under contract for next year. Which implies they could do it on the cheap and get great results/press for dominating the DMG series(probably the only way diSalvo could ever get on the podium)

Alternately the new series at best can field 8 or 9 bikes plus supersport riders with what purse I don't know (will it measure up to DMG's $100K per event).

Both sides have their plusses and minusses but the fact is they should be talking and compromising and that hasn't happened from day one and in my view that has more to do with DMG than the OEM's despite what the scribes at Roadracing World say.

I still believe that the track owners group IIRC (or something like that) will play a major role in what develops and I believe their leaning towards the OEM maketing dollars. If DMG can't secure the tracks they don't have a series unless they go to place like Laconia or Watkins Glen where no pro rider will go especially in the rain.

Well the wine is kicking in so I'll check back later.

 

Why do you think they took Mladin's bike apart?? all politics!

 

This is going to end up just like indy car did in the 90's it is going to kill it! Just not enough fans to go around so Nascar wins again!

 

The teardown of Mladins bike was a pretty obvious smack down of Suzuki generally and Mdladin specificaly because of his outspoken views about DMG's cavalier attitude about rider safety and his obvious disgust at the proposed changes.

DMG claims that the crank was visibly different when they pulled the left crankcase cover. Unless you believe that suddenly after these past 3 or 4 seasons Suzuki suddenly put in a cheater crank then this has been discoverable for years. I guess the AMA chose not to discover it and DMG decided to discover it after Matt sounded off.

This is the kind of politics/pressure that the Emporor Edmondson like to weild to keep those "whiny racers" in line. He wants them to race in the rain regardless of rider safety. He has claimed track improvements where none have been made(Mid-Ohio) and wants to see a return to Laconia (where top racers refuse to ride ask DuHamel).

His attitude towards race fans is that we're basically sheep and will watch whatever "show" he chooses because we don't really care. As long as the bikes look cool and sound fast we won't mind if their 2-4 seconds a lap slower in the front and 20 seconds a lap off the pace in the back. We'll still pay to see the show.

Let's prove him wrong by boycotting the DMG series and making it a point to attend a least one USSB race in 2009.

 

I think the manufacturers have been the most pig headed here. Especially Ray Blank of Honda. Take a look at this article on RoadRacing World. It seems every time DMG made some kind of concession, the mfgs would turn around and say they want something else.

I think the biggest roadblock for all of them is the type of bike that the different factions want to promote. Mfgs want to have the premier class be 1000cc+ bikes and DMG wants the main focus on a variety of different bikes that are restricted/modded into a competitive playing field a la Formula Extreme. I don't know if they can have both without dilution, which is pretty much what we've got now. And what we've got now pretty much sucks.

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/...?article=33607

 

Believe me when I say I'm no fan of Ray Blank he is an *** but then again so is Edmondson. While it's true that the OEM's have changed their demands over the course of the last few months, their overiding issue is and has been that they had a deal with AMA through 2009 and they wanted DMG to honor it..DMG chose not to!

Some of the background on this goes back to Japan. None of the OEM's can act unilaterally without approval from their Japanese "handlers". Ray Blank is the public face of American Honda he is the Senoir Vice President and his cube is right next to his Japanese Boss who he answers to. The same is true of the other OEM's.

The Japanese for their part are strong believers in building consensus amoung all parties and they don't like or understand someone like Edmondson dictating what they future of racing will be or being told that if they don't like it too bad.

I think it can be fairly said that without the Japanese OEM's motorcycling as we know it would not exist. They built this market in the 60's and have supported it and racing ever since so who is Edmondson to tell them their not needed.

It's DMG's attitude that has brought this brinkmanship to a head.

 

yeah ya know i was kinda wondering what is going on behind the curtains in Japan with regard to this mess.

 

I don't watch american motorcycle racing anymore. until recently, it was just the matt and ben show. plus I can't stand the comentators. freddy spencer is fine. but that jackass with him that know nothing about bikes should shut the hell up and stay that way. and greg white... oh my god. where is his "supervisor"? he needs to go back to the Special people home. seriously, their voices and retarded comments finally drove me off. now I only watch WSBK, and motoGP. at least those brit announcers don't patronize the viewer. greg white's like, "this is a motor cycle. it has 2 wheels..."

 

nice interview today with the president of Infineon Raceway. gives some perspective as to where the tracks might be going...

http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=34138

 

Just add a "shut the **** up and run what you brung/he with the biggest bank account wins" class to the existing show. This is what the manufactures all seem to be asking for.
Well give it to em'. Then maybe they won't kill our sport in the process.