where are they all going?

With the uncertainty of the status of motorcycle roadracing here in the U.S for next season, what are racers going to do? Where are they going to be racing? It seems like no one knows. As we were preparing to go to Laquna Seca for AMA Superbike Finale a couple of weeks ago, we contacted the PR people for the Big4 to line up interview time and as I mentioned before three said interviews are fine but don't bring up politics and one, Suzuki, said no interviews at all. As a matter of fact the PR gal completely ignored us at the track. Oh well.

Yamaha, Kawasaki and Honda have always been helpful and fun to deal with and the PR people and riders have become good friends. When the subject of the current situation of roadracing came up, we were told that the guys are just tired of hearing about it and the truth is no one knows whats going on. In our interview with Honda's Neil Hodgson, we were talking about the off-season, he brought up next year and his quote " God only knows what is going to happen" my response was "and he's not telling"..we both got a chuckle out of that.
So he
re are a couple of things we do know and a couple of rumors and speculations. We do know that Ben Spies is going to World Superbike. He wanted MotoGP but maybe in reality, WSBK is a perfect stepping stone for him. He has a good deal with Yamaha and Valentino's contract runs out in a couple of years, who knows what Ben's next step could be, but I think Ben will be a major force in World Superbike. We do know that Troy Corser is going to BMW and Max Biaggi is going back to Aprilia. We know that Ben Spies is taking Troys seat at Yamaha, but who is taking Max's seat at Sterilgarda Ducati. AND...who is taking Troy Bayliss's ride at Xerox Ducati???

Now, onto rumors and speculations...back in July, we here at The MotoWorld www.themotoworld.com interviewed Erion Honda's Jake Zemke and he came right out and said that he is looking to Europe for a ride next year, and besides that, his wife loves Italy. Josh Hayes has a ride for the end of this year in World SuperSport and finished ninth this past weekend..good for you Josh. That is both Erion Honda riders looking eastward. What is Kevin Erion doing for next year?

Did you watch this last weekend's World Superbike race from Magny Cours, France? More importantly, did you listen? During the broadcast, one of the announcers made a couple of cryptic comments. First was a hint that Noriyuki Haga may be leaving Yamaha to Ducati, could be a good match, could be the one that finally gets the 'perenial bridesmaid' a World Championship that he so richly deserves. That would fill Troy Bayliss's seat, and, I think 'Nitro Nori' is probably only one of a couple that could fill Troy's seat. So, who steps in to fill Hagasan's ride? Well, another comment was made by the Speed TV commentator that there was a possibility that Ben Bostrom may be heading back to the continent. Let's see, he has had a good bit of success in World Superbike, and he is the AMA SuperSport Champion on a Yamaha..a very good fit in my view. But..and this is a very BIG but..Ben Bostrom and Ben Spies as teammates?? Uh...BBoz could be a good teacher helping BSpies get used to the World Tracks, but would he want to? BBoz is highly energized and back in a big way in his racing. He likes winning. Helping out someone else...not so much.

And then there is Jake Zemke. AMA Formula Extreme Champion. He wants to go back to Europe. Jake would be a perfect fit on just about any team. There may be a couple GP teams??? John Hopkins at Kawasaki might be needing a new teammate


The top racers here are still wondering where they are going to race this next season. A few have a pretty good future overseas but at the same time, the World Teams are on a budget like everyone else. You simply can't bring every AMA ex-patriot to Europe.

An interesting time in roadracing here in America. I feel it's almost like a game of chicken

A need for more fans..but how?

Good afternoon all,

We got home last night from an interesting weekend at Laguna Seca for the AMA Superbike Championship Finale. Even though some championships were already decided there was still some incredibly exciting racing.

But, there really weren't that many spectators. It's a great venue, there was great racing and really...this is one of the premier roadracing series in the world. So here is the question... how does the promoter, in this case Corona beer, get more fanny's in the seats? When Heather and I picked up our credentials the gentleman there told us that we didn't need a parking pass because this was small event and it wouldn't be a problem. Well, he was right. So, the question still stands..how do you get more spectators?

The DMG, Daytona Motorsports Group, thinks they have the way. Change the class structure, make it look more like NASCAR(?), give the riders nicknames, etc, etc...but my thought goes a lot further than that.

If more Americans rode on two wheels, whether it's a scooter, sportbike, cruiser...the interest in all things two wheels becomes more interesting. I mean, hey, there are scooters that have paint jobs that look like MotoGP bikes! If local and state governments would work to make cities more two wheel friendly, more people would ride motorbikes. That in itself would do so much for traffic issues, parking issues, the environment and save you and I a lot of money at the gas pump. Just look at Europe. When we were in Italy last year and Mexico the year before that, scooters and small displacement motorcycles were everywhere. In Mexico, the police ride 250's and your pizza is delivered on a Honda 125.

Motorcycle manufacturers need to work harder at pushing the government to make riding a scooter or motorcycle more friendly, and safe. What I mean by friendly is make lanes for bikes on major roads and freeways, create parking for bikes that is free, give tax breaks for going on two wheels. You can put four motorcycles in the space of one SUV.

Because much of Europe is on two wheels, they relate to two wheel sport. Would it work here? Only if the governments and manufacturers work on it. It is a project well worth working on for so many reasons.

Just a thought.

Work, work, work

Note to self: learn to speak Italian. Or French, or Spanish, or German. To really enjoy all that goes on in a Media Center at an International Motorcycle Race, knowing another language would be quite handy.


Today here at Laguna Seca has started out pretty darn cold and wet but at least no fog to close the track. We got here very early this morning to check in with Valentino Rossi’s communications manager to see if and when we were going to be able to interview the great one. William is a very nice man and quite enthusiastic about podcasting, but…he said maybe, probably not. Interviews with the multi time world champion are all scheduled at the beginning of the season. Ah well, better luck next year. William did however give a ray of hope. The GP season is taking its summer break after this race and maybe we could do it over the phone or via computer or send some questions Valentino will do kind of a free form one way chat then send me the file to put on the podcast. That’s kind of a cool thought.


As Heather and I do more of the big races we’re making some new friends and contacts that are very helpful. The top of that list is Stephanie from Honda. She and the rest of the team really do exemplify the old ad slogan, “ You meet the nicest people on a Honda”. On short notice she got us time with Erion Honda AMA Supersport Champion Jake Zemke. I have always admired Jake and his story is a great racers story. I think you’ll love the interview.


Before we met up with Jake we headed up to the famous ‘Corkscrew’ corner for some pictures. It’s a long hike up the hill, I‘ve got to exercise more!! Between the two of us we got some good shots. As I am writing, Heather is editing photos to put into the photo gallery on the website www.themotoworld.com, some of them are quite good for a little point and shoot camera. Actually, they’re good because Heather is a very good photographer.


It’s lunchtime now; Randy Mamola (a very famous former racer and now TV announcer) is taking people who have donated a lot of money to a certain charity, on two up rides around the track. And while he is doing that it’s time for me to line up more interviews.


Talk to you later


Paul

Ride safe, ride fast, I’ll see you on the road

The World Comes to Utah

Well,well...what a weekend!! It's been four years since the World SuperBike circus has come to the states and I could hardly wait to see it again. The last time we all saw WSBK was at Laguna Seca and it was great so I've been missing it. In my opinion it is currently the best of the two wheeled racing series. In the AMA it's generally the Ben and Matt Show and everybody else racing for third (this last weekend was a bit different with Jamie Hacking getting his Kawasaki in there for second..well Matt crashed on Saturday and just didn't have the setup going into Sunday...but Hackers Kawa was really fast!!) MotoGP is good this year with Rossi seeming to come grips (no pun intended) with his new 'Stones and the Yamaha developing some more speed and the bloom seems to be coming off Stoner's rose. The racing is good but it can't come up to the surprises WSBK can..like Carlos Checa doing the double this last weekend. And check this out..these were his first wins in ten years!!! It was great to see.

Anyway, this was a very spectacular weekend in all ways. Because of the growing sucess of the Motoworld podcast www.themotoworld.com we decided to apply for media credntials and with the help of John Gardner of Miller Motorsports Park www.millermotorsportspark.com we got them. Thank you John.


Load up the truck with camping gear and all our audio equipment..(uh, a little digital voice recorder, a mic and some headphones...whew, lugging around all that gear can wear a guy out...) and Heather and I are off to Salt Lake City and The World Superbike and AMA Superbike races. We're on way as professionals now..real motojournalists! The drive was easy enough, long but easy. we arrived at the track around midnight only to find the gate to the campground closed..so, camping in the back of the truck it is. A little of Kentucky's finest to ward off the chill and we get a few hours sleep.

Friday morning dawns bright and clear and pretty chilly. Looking like we had slept in the back of a pickup, we pick up our credentials and the weekend begins. After a bit of clean up we make our way to the media center. We are greeted at the door by a very nice young lady who provides us with all sorts media material and told to go ahead a find a space. The Media Center is alive! One hundred people, six languages, 99 laptop computers (we only had our little recorder)and about a million dollars worth of camera gear!!
Needless to say, we were a bit overwhelmed. So after finding a space to call 'The MotoWorld' we scoured the volumes of info and then headed out to the track. What an amazing facility. Lets go find some one to interview for the podcast. Results of our search...check back in tomorrow.
Oh, and listen to the podcast..www.themotoworld.com

See you on the road,
Paul