Following the announcement of the new Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC)-organized United States Super Bike (USSB) professional road racing series, Roadracingworld.com contacted as many of the major stakeholders as possible to find out their reaction, their plans and any other information they were willing to share. For American Suzuki’s view on the situation, Roadracingworld.com contacted Vice President of the Motorcycle, ATV and Marine Division Mel Harris. Harris is also the Vice Chairman and Treasurer of the MIC. Roadracingworld.com: Will American Suzuki race in the new MIC-organized USSB series in 2009? Mel Harris: That’s our current plan. Roadracingworld.com: Do you know if you are going to participate in any of the AMA Pro Racing/DMG road race series? Harris: As I have stated previous, my instructions from the factory and our opinion of that series is more of a club race format, and we’re a professional factory race team. Usually factory race teams don’t race in club-formatted events. So I think I’ve been on the record as saying for quite a while that we are not planning on racing in that series. Roadracingworld.com: Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A. has declared that they will race with AMA next season, so we clearly have a split of manufacturers and professional motorcycle road racing in America. A lot of people compare this situation to the split in open-wheel car racing between CART and IRL. Do you see any similarity there? Harris: First of all, I can’t speak for Yamaha. I’ve read in the press where it’s been said that the manufacturers want to race against one another, to race against the best. I’ve also seen where it’s said one company was concerned about racing where there were dynos involved and holding ECUs and spec tires. So I think that if you go back and see where those quotes came from and which companies and then you go back and see that the series that’s being announced by the MIC is more of the rule-type package that everyone had agreed upon before I question where people will really finally wind up racing. I have to go back and look and see what was said in the press. If you go back and look at some of those quotes I think you’ll find what I’m saying was in print. I really can’t speak for them [Yamaha]. If that’s a decision they’ve made that’s the decision they’ve made. Roadracingworld.com: During the AMA changeover process with DMG there’s been various evolutions of their 2009 plans, rules, class structures, and it seems that they’ve offered a lot of the things you guys, the manufacturers, wanted but an agreement was never reached. Can you shed some light on that situation so we can better understand it? Harris: I guess I have to say there’s been lots of proposals and lots things and lots of final drafts which got changed and lots of comments that it would be this way and then turned out be something different than what was commented on. Basically for me, and that’s all I worry about is American Suzuki, we wanted a platform and a program where we could race our Superbike under the rules that we have this year or the rules that were agreed upon [by the AMA rules committee in 2007] to race next year. That’s what we were looking for. We also need a place where we can race our 600 in a factory setting, not a setting where the rules are spec tires, X amount of horsepower, horsepower-to-weight ratios and so forth. I don’t think the real fan wants to see a NASCAR situation. When I go to a NASCAR race and I watch a Ford, Chevy, Toyota and Dodge go through the [inspection] lines that they go through and they put a template over it and every car fits under that template. Then I go to a car dealership and I look at all those cars, that template wouldn’t fit the cars that are sitting there. So do we want to be under something like that? No. To get the technology to improve the product, which as an editor you tell us you want the product to be better, you tell us what’s wrong with our product and that you want it better. Are we going to get it better if we’re all racing the same thing and everybody gets stagnant? That’s not what we’re into. For manufacturers we race to improve the technology on our product to make it better, and we race to sell product. That’s not the same thing that’s happening in NASCAR. And when we look at the proposal by DMG, that is a NASCAR format. I’ve been told how the manufacturers take the bottom of the program [in NASCAR]. The sponsors and the drivers are worth more than the manufacturers. And if that’s the case, we’re not needed. So why is everybody concerned that we’re not going to be there in that series? We need to perfect our bikes. You’ve seen an evolution of the bikes getting better. If you’re not racing how do you get that technology? How do you improve on it? After every race all the specs of what was done is filtered back and all of that goes to Japan. That’s what they work on to make the bikes better. Roadracingworld.com: We know the 600cc/Daytona Superbike rules have stayed pretty much the same with the dyno and weight restrictions, but Edmondson did offer what you guys [manufacturers] have been asking for in the Factory Superbike class, right? Harris: But again, as I said, as manufacturers we look for a 600cc class to race in. And with the way it is now, without restrictions. The number one selling sportbikes for all the manufacturers are 600s. So if you’re out there racing 600s that are exactly the same, horsepower and everything is the same, that’s not a lot to advertise and sell product with. Why would you buy this over that? Racing is what we all use as a marketing tool to sell product. So he did offer that, we know that, we’ve acknowledge that, but that [Daytona Superbike class] was part of the program. If you looked at what he said would be a tentative schedule, Daytona Superbike, the restricted class, would race twice and the Factory Superbikes raced one time. What do the people go to the race to see the most? The big bikes. And that was being put on the back. It was the last race of the day, and only one time. I don’t think people are going to spend the money they do for tickets to go see a club race on Saturday and then only see the Superbikes on Sunday. They’ll only show up one time. Roadracingworld.com: And Roger Edmondson wasn’t willing to budge on that one, the weekend schedule? Harris: No, he said that was the schedule and that was where they were going. Roadracingworld.com: We spoke to Steve Page, President and General Manager of Infineon Raceway, and he gave an interesting perspective. He said it’s hardly worth the track’s time as it is to host professional motorcycle road racing, and that they could make more money just renting out the track. So he is now considering not hosting motorcycle road racing at all. He feels motorcycle road racing is truly threatened right now. Harris: And I can tell you on the other side of the emails and the things I have been getting for months and even talking to people at the races who come up to tell me they’re done with AMA racing. When they [DMG] go to the format they talk about now they [fans] will never attend another event. I don’t know. I’m not going to call them liars and say well that’s not it. There’s a lot that went into some of the decisions that I’ve made and probably other manufacturers have made where we got to this point. And as for Steve Page saying that, that’s fine. Maybe that’s what happens at his racetrack. He’s got some good events up there, but I know there’s some other racetracks where the AMA is their number one event. And without the manufacturers being there, as they said, why would they want to run it? They’re looking for the manufacturers, the OE’s to be available. We’re talking a split, and that’s what we’re seeing, an Indy Car/Champ Car [split], but let’s go back and look at the American (AFL) and National Football Leagues (NFL). Remember that? There were two football leagues. They finally merged into one and they became bigger and better. So not all the time when there are two events do they diminish. That [NFL] became a very profitable thing. Some of those people who came in on the second thing did a great job. I understand where people are coming from, but I think a true enthusiast and a true fan wants to see the best riders on the best equipment on the track. And I think that you as an editor and as a fan and as an enthusiast can’t tell me that’s what you’re going to get under the current AMA/DMG plan. And that’s where I leave it. We need to race for the fans. We need to sell motorcycles. We need to improve the technology. That happens when you have rules that are fair without restrictions, and the DMG has too many restrictions to create the vision we need and to provide the platform we need to improve our bikes and sell bikes and go forward. Nothing has changed from what I’ve been saying for months. Roadracingworld.com: MIC’s press release on USSB tries to deny that this is a series conceived by the manufacturers, but we know it is. How long can this collaboration among the manufacturers last? Harris: I’m not sure there’s collaboration. I can tell you that all the manufacturers are members of the MIC, and this is an MIC program. I’m not sure if collaboration is the right thing to say. They provided an alternative series [so] that the manufacturers can go racing. They want to provide a platform that meets the needs of the manufacturers, and that’s what they’re doing. So that’s what I look at. Roadracingworld.com: Maybe cooperation was a better word? Harris: I don’t think any of those words. I think that the MIC proposal is just that, it’s the MIC plan and we’re all members of the MIC. Does it mean we are the ones that actually did the work? I think the MIC is the one that put the plan together. That gets into some very touchy ground. Roadracingworld.com: We know it’s a slippery slope. Harris: That’s a real slippery one. Roadracingworld.com: USSB, do you know if it has any other staff members other than Ty van Hooydonk [USSB’s Managing Director]? Harris: The MIC itself would be like the AMA. They have a full staff, and they can [use] the people that are in the MIC format. If you look under that umbrella there are other departments. There’s RVIA [Recreational Vehicle Industry Association], the MSF [Motorcycle Safety Foundation]. So there are people connected with all those different groups that will be the staff members. So it’s just not like they’re starting out and are going to have to hire a bunch of people. They already have the people in place to do the different jobs. They would be doing the race thing in addition to something else they may be doing. I’m sure there will be dedicated people that will be hired who have some experience in racing and all the support needed to have a race series.