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It is only three and a half years old, but MotoAmerica is growing before our eyes, so much that even Marco Melandri is interested in it, after getting the axe from the factory Ducati Aruba team. The rider's manager is in contact with team Suzuki Yoshimura which, after Roger Lee Hayden's farewell announcement, is on the hunt for a high caliber rider to share the garage with the championship's number 1 bike, ridden by Toni Elias.
Wayne Rainey's baby, the MotoAmerica championship embodies all of the characteristics of its number one promoter: professional, fast, spectacular And winning.
Just a few years after its inception, since 2015 MotoAmerica now has all of American motorcycle racing in hand, inheriting the good that was left from the historic, but stagnant AMA, evolving as European and global standards demand.
A scrupulous selection of staff and resources, the cream of the crop in terms of American circuits, money well spent on advertising and TV, a promotion of every single resource with the usual American spirit; anyone who comes to the track must be able to watch the event without walls or barriers, experiencing the race weekend as a protagonist.
Rainey and the KRAVE Group thought of everything and continue to do so. Every single aspect of the series is pondered, dedicated and desired by partners who, first and foremost, are huge bike fans.
'NO FEAR' CIRCUITS - There are ten rounds on the 2018 calendar, on an unstoppable march from East to Wet, cutting through the heartland and touching the south. With the old Daytona circuit left out - where the 200 miles is still raced, although in a scaled down version - the selected tracks provide what every rider would want, striving to maintain safety standards in line with those in Europe.
Rainey & Partners are working hard to adapt infrastructures and mentality: the high speeds remain, as well as the technical difficulties, the chance to make the difference in the most delicate points, the training of the marshals and the escape routes are increasing, but some air fences need to be moved, the Achilles heel of tracks that are anything but mundane. There are two Superbike races in every round for a total of 20 in the season.
Events start at Road Atlanta, in Georgia, on a track that separates the boys from the men, then moving on to the COTA in Austin, keeping the aces in World Championship GP Motorcycle Racing company.
The Virginia Raceway is no joke either. There are various fifth-gear lean changes on downhill section where the riders can't see where they are going to end up.
Road America - another tough track - is ahead of Laguna Seca, which needs no introduction. The Corkscrew is the most famous of its many difficult corners where the MotoAmerica riders alternate with World Superbike riders on the same weekend.
A characteristic of Miller raceway is that it sits on the enormous salt lake in Utah and the background color is always white.
At Sonoma the riders needs to be careful. Some points are marked with removable cones and on a couple of braking sections, the bikes brush up against the air fence.
In Pennsylvania, a track was built just outside Pittsburgh which is already a candidate for a World Superbike round: technical, technological and safe, this track provides a good combination of fast and slow points.
The next-to-last round is held in New Jersey before the season finishes with a bang under the blue skies of Alabama on a track surrounded by green, a bit reminiscent of Greenbow, home to extraordinary fictional character Forrest Gump.
TECHNICAL REGULATIONS AND CLASSES - Rainey took care of business here as well. Starting with Superbike, Wayne insisted that the possibility of tuning the factory derivatives be similar - if not identical - to those allowed by the FIM regulations in World Superbike, with a few minor variations in electronics management. The arm wrestling match with the hard core AMA organizers has now shifted in favor of the Californian who wants to align the approval standards with the European rules.
The same is true of Supersport, the Superstock Liqui Moly Cup: just like in the World championship, the bikes are 1000, 600 and 300 cc and technical tuning has limitations and prices predefined by the organizer. In MotoAmerica, every motorcycle is shod with Dunlops: the English/Japanese company has been the undisputed dominator for decades.
ALL WAYNE'S MANUFACTURERS - There are two which are truly present in an official capacity, or rather, two and a half: Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda.
The American market is very important to management in Iwata and they sell every sort of vehicle there, so the races represent the best showcase. Team Monster/Yamalube is a true factory structure with the R1M machines ridden by Beaubier and Gerloff which, according to many, are in no way inferior to those of Van Der Mark and Lowes.
Not participating in World Superbikes, the historic Chino, California site is headquarters to Suzuki's team Yoshimura, a Japanese tuner who made a name for himself in the USA for his successes and high performance products. The GSX-R machines ridden by Elias and Roger Hayden benefit from the support of engineers sent from Hamamatsu directly to the States and the number 1 that adorns Toni's top fairing was earned fair and square.
Honda does not - for now - have the support from HRC that it boasted in the days of Merkel, Bostrom and Duhamel, but there is a direct connection between team Broadster Chicken and Tokyo: the goal is to have a top rider on the team and to become a 100% factory outfit.
Well supported but independent, BMW and Kawasaki play a secondary role for the moment, but steps are already being taken in Akashi to get the ZX10-RR, practically unbeatable everywhere, back to its winning ways on American soil. The Bavarian bike, on the other hand, is simply an exotic presence in the paddock for the moment.
New entries are expected: from Bologna, the new 1000cc Panigale V4 needs to be approved and a return to the American series would not only enhance the championship, but it would also send a clear message: the 'Reds' want to be protagonists in the United States too.
APRILIA IS NO LONGER THERE - Aprilia was never really involved in the American races and when Claudio Corti left the Texan team, the only RSV4 that was on the grid is now gone. Nevertheless, as they say in those parts, ’never say never’ and with the right sponsor, there is still hope for their return.
THE RIDERS, ON THE HUNT FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA - A personality for every face. A character for every personality. In sports, Americans (sometimes) set aside political correctness, for a specific reason: tight lips, measured words and statements muffled by a sponsor's muzzle are not well received by fans who pay to come to the track or by those at home in TV land. The taciturn Beaubier - two-time champion - is as much a beast on the track as he is outspoken about what he really thinks. Toni Elias, polite but hot-blooded, recently spoke out against some jokers who called him overrated, whereas, Josh Herrin, sometimes smiling and other times very serious, made no bones about his irritation and disappointment after the Sonoma race. Remember that this is the birthplace of the likes of Scott Russell, John Kocinski and John Hopkins who were anything but boring or disliked by the fans.
THE SHOW IS ON YOUTUBE - Indisputably number 1, the Americans know how to put on a show. Television coverage has grown and fans can follow every round live in the comfort of their own living rooms. The dedicated YouTube channel also lets those who are not in the States admire the riders in action on the track.
OPEN PADDOCK AND MARKET - It's fun to go to the track: the paddock is open, so the general public can watch as the mechanics work on the R1 Scholtz rides or JD Beach's R6. Big markets are set up with new and used items where you can find anything and everything from engines to gloves and helmets to fairings. The number of paying fans is growing and there are many entire families who go to the track, just like they would go to see a football, baseball or basketball game together. The difference is that at the track, mega barbecues are set up to grill practically everything. Americans still love to camp out in a tent from Friday through Sunday and there are countless campers all over the hills.
MONEY ON THE TABLE - Americans have never been shy when it comes to money. Remember the huge (and heavy) checks displayed from the podium by Supercross riders, showing off the amounts each of them had won? The same goes for MotoAmerica, where the Grand Prize is put up by various sponsors, the organization and the teams. Everything is made public without any hypocrisy or secrets.
The top riders have significant contracts: the various riders the likes of Beaubier and Elias earn as much if not more than MotoGP top riders and the satellite teams earn paychecks higher than those of Petrucci and Sykes. Bikes sell in the States and motorcycling merchandise is attractive, moving rivers of money that flow into a budget that is well in the black.
There is also always a keen eye for charity: many of the institutions associated with the championship have reserved a fund for the needy.
