Photo: Gary Watson/Wikimedia
The rumours are true, sort of: Wayne Rainey is going to help put together a new national roadracing series in the US.
Yesterday, the AMA announced the new MotoAmerica race series, which they’ll sanction together with the FIM. The series will be managed by the California-based KRAVE Group.
Three-time MotoGP champ Wayne Rainey is a member of that organization, along with former racer and Team Roberts manager Chuck Aksland, former race team owner Terry Karges and businessman/motorcycle manufacturer/philanthropist Richard Varner.
On the other hand, the much-villified Daytona Motorsports Group (DMG) is out of roadracing, with their rights to the series reverting back to the AMA. Since DMG started running the AMA’s superbike series back in 2009, things had been in steady decline, and there seems to be no laments about their passing amongst roadracing fans. However, DMG will still manage AMA’s flat track, motocross and hillclimb series.
The new MotoAmerica series will issue AMA and FIM North America No. 1 plates to series class champions. As well, the KRAVE Group will also oversee the other off-track stuff that needs to be managed as well: sponsorships, fan engagement, press relations, and so on. As far as we can tell, all the old AMA roadracing series are going to be folded, and MotoAmerica will be coming up with new classes and series.
The idea behind the move is not just to kickstart growth in the declining US national roadracing scene, but to make it easier for riders to advance to the international stage. The AMA’s press release says the series officials are already starting on drawing up the new regulations. For the next few weeks, expect a flurry of opinion pieces from US-based writers, giving their take on how they think the rulebook should make roadracing affordable, yet ensure the competitors’ ability to develop the talent for the world stage.
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Interesting about the FIM North America No. 1 plates. I wonder if this will have any impact on Canadian racing?