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Registered
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Ottawa
Posts: 552
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Where in the current format can a privateer excel? You've got manufacturers or well-heeled "privateers" like Erion in every class including superstock. Furthermore access to the factory spec stuff cannot be obtained by $$$ alone; Michael Jordan in a superbikeplanet.com article a few seasons ago commented on the disparity in equipment in the AMA program and highlighted how impossible it was for a team to become competitive no matter how much cash they had on hand. So the AMA Superbike series title is really a foregone conclusion and it's easy to pick the front runners (Honda) and winners (Suzuki) not only this season but for the next few; can you look at the series today and see anyone that will unseat Suzuki in the next 2-3 seasons? What is a spectator to look forward to? Are the manufacturers really getting the return on investment needed with easy walks to the title? If the AMA forced manufacturers and well heeled privateer teams (Jordan, Erion) to run in Superbike only, opening the door for true privateers in superstock 600/1000classes then I would agree with you but the current layout offers nowhere for a true privateer to flourish. You'd be surprised at how many club level racers can mix it with the pros but due to finances cannot run a full pro program. Hit a few trackdays where pros are practicing and you will see guys and gals putting in times not far off 600 superstock times, for example. Throw the equipment and money at a select few and you never know what we could see in superbike or superstock. I think levelling the equipment playing field would be beneficial to the AMA Superbike program; it certainly has benefitted the Canadian Superbike program (CSB). In the early part of this decade CSB moved away from exotic platform racing. The RC51 program that Honda introduced dwarfed the financial input of most teams by 2-3X and as a result the series was won by Honda/Crevier/RC51 that season and the grid was thin. With the move in Canadian Superbike away from an all or nothing financial investment the series has flourished. In 2002, under the old format, there were 25 riders in Superbike. In 2007 there were 38with two key privateer, albeit still very financially viable programs, able to run and beat the factory programs since the move away from all or nothing financing. Notably Pascal Picotte ran his own team for a few seasons, with little financial or factory backing, and was able to secure 2 Superbike and Supersport titles over the factory teams. This all out financial aspect of competition has put many series away in the past, car and bike, so limiting the modifications allows for more competition and more competitors on the grid. F1 has been trying to move to a more spec type series in the interest of getting more competitors and sponsors on the grid. WSC has also done the same and is flourishing (3 new manufacturers enter the fray next season) while Moto GP is struggling (they have lost how many in the last few seasons - WCM, Robert). Looking at the Moto GP grid last night I think back a few seasons and remember how many more bikes there were. Last nights grid looked pathetic; if not for Honda and Yamaha fielding support teams how many would there really be on the grid. And did you see the disparity between the factory bike and the satellite teams, on the straight and in the corners? Moto GP's all or nothing expense program sees it struggling to get sponsors and teams and it has not decimated WSC, as expected, with the move to 4 strokes. Cost has to be the driving force behind this. It's certainly been stated by KTM that this is why they are going to WSC over Moto GP. Back to AMA Superbike, another benefit of a more spec series would be a reduction in backmarkers. Run a more spec series and lower the qualifying % gap and I would really question whether the backmarkers would be as much of an issue if they had talent and equipment on par with everyone else. Case in point look at the 848 that placed 4th in the 200, when on the banking the factory and "privateer" 600's just blew by Pegram on the straights; hardly competitive for the true privateer, and Pegram is rumoured to have had some aid from Ducati. I say restrict Superbike to factories only and give supertock to the true privateers only. Otherwise put the bikes on par, put a cap on the spending and lets actually have some dicing for the lead; imagine a privateer or two dicing with Mladin. Suzuki's AMA Superbike program rivals the Suzuki WSC programs costs. That shouldn't happen.
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2001 RC51 and 2004 R1200GS (RIPs) 2006 HP2 2008 HP2 Sport (mulling it over) aka: SQD8R Last edited by RC51DRAG; 03-10-2008 at 05:14 AM.. |
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03-10-2008, 05:12 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Knoxville TN
Posts: 673
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Not to shoot this thing off target too far but....
I'd sure like to see Mladin and Spies in the soup at Miller with Bayliss, Biaggi and co. Now THAT would be a show. (remember Mladin was quicker than Corser when they tested in Australia-Corser on the Corona Suzuki/Pirelli) Finally they'd have some competition.
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The pioneers had a hard life but, sometimes someone would break out a fiddle....And make it worse. |
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03-10-2008, 07:20 AM
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Uh....who me?
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: North Georgia
Posts: 8,813
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Bob Hancock '20 KTM1290 SuperAdventure S, 2006 KTM 660RFR Dakar, 1966 Honda 305 Scrambler, 2019 Camaro 2SS 1LE, 2020 Chevy Trail Boss "There are times when good words are to be left unsaid out of esteem for silence." St. Benedict |
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03-10-2008, 07:51 AM
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