I was just reading the silliness that "And away we go" thread degenerated into and something occurred to me. Around 2003, I was cornerworking at Laguna and one of my fellow workers told me over lunch that he had some "inside info" that a second series of motorcycle road racing was on the drawing board, one that would emulate NASCAR and would primarily be about racing ovals. I thought it was the most ridiculous idea and that if indeed such a thing were to be implemented, it would likely not last a season, as people would start dying left and right. Fast-forward to now and what do we have? We have an organization with NASCAR ties and one that happens to own Daytona acquiring AMA Pro Racing. First order of business -- class restructuring that assures that the Daytona round will continue on as a "premier" event of the season. But what else could they do with this? We have lots of tracks that many think are inadequate or barely adequate for the big bikes and would require lots money to be better off in terms of safety. But that money would almost exclusively benefit bikes. It wouldn't have as big an impact on car road racing at those places, so it makes for a rather limited ROI. At that same time, we already have a someone proven formula of racing on road courses squeezed into NASCAR facilities (Daytona and California Speedway are already on the calendar). Suppose the grand vision is to bring bikes to the masses, similar to supercross' inception, by scaling down on the big bikes and concentrating on racing middleweights on ovals. It might even become a NASCAR pre-show (shudder). What if what we're seeing now is an eventual manifestation of the earlier ideas I heard that rumor about? If so, it would really really bad. There would be no incentive whatsoever to maintain any compatibility with international racing. It would explain the rush to uproot all the current sponsorship and rule structure.
I'm unsure of the exact timeline now, but ISTR the first time I payed much attention to any of those rumors was either right before, or just after the announcement that Chevy was leaving, after that they seemed to lay down until that Patti Depetri(?) chic took over and started showing folks the door and by the time Honda walked from the comp. committee I think the die had been firmly cast. It's sorta' funny that a lot of people blame Dingman for all this, but I'm fairly certain he couldn't have orchestrated the sale without the majority of the board's approval and they were either just completely fed-up with all the graft, or "someone" was pushing them to sell racing like they should have years before, (or both) and I can think of only one guy who was positioned to have that kind of access, as well as some big-time $$ backing. Now, whether it was outside-in deal, that is, was there an outside (covert?) manipulation of the board, or if the financial burden Proracing was placing on the parent just untenable, probably will never be revealed, but if I had to choose right now I'd think a little of both, but with a lot of emphasis on a back door and that "someone", or "some entity" "somehow" convinced the majority they were ill-prepared, either financially or personnel wise, to continue.. The track safety thing is more than likely a red herring/strawman, not so much because there are very real safety concerns, but because there will be little reason to ever move away from the bowls once they're in play.. Please never repeat that again, ever!! I think there's very little chance it was anything other.. What I see is a Mega-huge racing promotor that evidently invested time and a few bucks to acquire most all of M/C racing and knowing how those guys don't take a dump without a plan I doubt they're too worried about international compatibility, or, for that matter, much (including past fans, or OEM's) that may get in their way to bring M/C racing more mainstream according to *their business model* and we're pretty much just on the sidelines. What I do find hard to understand is all the name calling BS about DMG, after all, they're only doing what they do and had the old Proracing business model been a little more effective, or half-way solvent we wouldn't even be talking about them today. So, regardless of your feelings about the new direction, if blame needs to be made it's hard not to lay it squarely on past Proracing regimes, don't you think? Be that as it may, to me the hook on all this is not so much the classes, current fans, tires, venues or even the OEM's, it's if DMG can deliver the outside sponsorship and given our current economic climate that very much remains to be seen...
Wow - you blame the old crew for the crap the new crew is pulling? way to have your cake and eat it too. Well - enjoy your crapfest. by your analysis who who cares if everything I enjoy about MC racing is gone and the series sucks, as long as the rich guys make some more money..... Bruce
As a club racer, I could take it or leave it, honestly. If DMG destroys Pro Racing by either running into the ground, or by turning it into some bizarre show that has little to do with what I like about it now, there will still be numerous organizations around the country -- some national, some regional -- putting on club events. You can participate in those events, you can watch them, but either way, I guarantee you it'll be fun and you'll see some serious talent. I'm not worried. If Pro Racing loses its relevancy for motorcycle road racing, you just watch, WERA, CCS, or the like will step in in a heartbeat.
Channel: real world (requires getting out of the house, I know, I know) Times: http://www.ccsracing.us/calendar/calendar.html http://wera.com/schedule/?x=816
First of all Bruce, I said *IF* blame needs to be made, but that aside, how do you think we got where we are today? Rich guys making more money? Bruce, that very same line if turned around a little is most likely what got us where we are today, the only difference it was the OEM's using racing to make money.. My crapfest? I didn't and don't have a damn thing to do with this deal, I only tried to point out that this could happen when I saw the way things were headed, but just like your boi did then, you choose to shoot the messenger instead of facing the reality of the situation. What you and I like may very well be gone by this time next year, but blaming DMG for it when they are only doing what they do is like blaming our armed forces for the war and not holding the lying, thieving bastards accountable that got us in to it to begin with! I suppose you can fall for that particular brand of revisionist bullshit if you need to, but I'll pass. The old Proracing business model failed and we can argue the who, what and how if you'd like, but it doesn't change the fact that it did and why you, or anyone for that matter, would expect some new outfit to continue in that failure is beyond me...
I already have a real life - with plenty of things to fill it. I can spare a few hours to watch races on the TV, I don't have spare boatloads of free weekends and money to travel around the country to see a race. If/When there are some nearby, I will go (caught the BSB round a Mallory last year while traveling in the UK on business) but at best that is only a couple of races a year. So as a replacement for what I currently have - not so much. Bruce
I had tried posting a response, but it didn't seem to go out. Here we go again... It's 2008. Even without the high demand for such content from casual fans, you can watch practically every round of AFM from onboard, numerous CCS and WERA videos, and so on. How about if top riders organized a very cheap, but not free site, where they could post their onboard video in an organized fashion. Do a cursory video search for CCS, WERA, AHRMA, AFM, etc. "Professional commentators?" -- **** 'em all. Like I said, Pro Racing can go to hell if they think they can deliver something people can't make happen themselves with modern technology.
