FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: Can anyone say CART? After the CART/Indy Car debacle how could anyone possibly entertain the idea of introducing a second pro road racing series? They must not have been paying attention. Or maybe MIC is swooning from the sudden massive increase in attendance at AMA road racing events and the upsurge in media coverage of road racing (Hayden? Hayden who?). While I can certainly understand the concerns about focus that MIC appears to have, it seems to me WSBK and MotoGP both provide plenty of opportunity to focus on development work without having to add (exploit?) US pro racing into the mix. There are not enough road racing fans as it is. Why dilute the market further by making the few fans there are take sides? Tom Short AFM #280 San Rafael, California FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I am an avid road racing fan (and Roadracing World fan) as well as an avid motorcycle rider. With that said, I feel I MUST respond to the DMG proposed changes and the suggested proposal from the MIC on a manufacturers based road racing series for 2009. I agree with the DMG that the current AMA series needs some restructuring. Please note I say SOME restructuring. But to toss the entire series and American manufacturers on their head is beyond arrogant”¦it’s absurd. What if the DMG (or MIC) proposed the following: Supersport: Don’t touch it! It offers privateers and factory riders alike to race the ever popular 600cc class production based machine. It allows the privateers with limited funds and limited racing experience at this level to compete head to head, showcase a machine that can basically be purchased and built with limited experience and funds. Formula Extreme: Replace with MOTO-ST. The addition of MOTO-ST is a phenomenal move towards injecting new blood into the series and adding a new element of manufacturer showcasing and competition that is not strongly represented at the current time. Great proposal DMG! Superstock: Name it SuperSpec. Replace with a 1000cc spec class. Use the same tyres, and machine for 2-3 years. Spec forks, shock, exhaust, fuel ECU, etc”¦”¦all riders on the same bike. But, no factory riders”¦privateers only. This will allow for a transitional class from lower classes to the liter bike class without the dominance of a factory rider and will keep expenses at a minimum. This class can showcase privateer riders against each other as a boot camp of sorts to try to get “drafted” into a factory superbike team. At the least, it will allow riders to make an educated decision whether or not to build a superbike to race in the premier class as a privateer. Superbike: Leave it alone! Don’t make it a 600cc class and make the US series the laughing stock of the world. The International community uses liter bikes for superbikes. To retain our credibility as a series, we need to keep the format the same. With this proposed structure, manufacturers as well as riders are well represented, the series is improved and still exciting. There will still be a demand for homologation of aftermarket products for motorcycles. The series will still be structured with some similarties of the international community. If DMG will not move toward this type of class structure and holds the course toward their current disastrous proposal, I hope and pray MIC WILL start a series marketed and promoted by the manufacturers themselves and abandon the DMG. Tav Green Antioch, California FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: Motorcycle road racing is not going to be the same. It’s gone just like $1.00 a gallon gas. Wake up, Mel, NASCAR is calling the shots and either you get on board and and play by their rules or start to perfect your golf game. NASCAR is one of the most successful racing organizations and we are so lucky to have Roger Edmonson putting this new group (DMG) together. I feel that the “Ben and Mat show” will prevail no matter what they ride. But the new rules will bring new riders and new fans that have not seen the old show and now will have a chance to see some real racing, with exciting passes by many riders and not just two. The spec cars and bikes are here to stay. I don’t like it but the show must go on. The business called racing needs money to run, and it has to come from somewhere, fans and sponsors bring new money to the sport. Right now the MIC is getting their well-deserved share from the sale of motorcycles but what does that do for the average racer. All they get to be is a pay-your-own-way extra in the race and being called “a back marker” while being passed. For years really good riders like Bostrom, Ulrich, DiSalvo, Mizdal and many others, haven’t really had a shot at finishing as well as they might. The old AMA and MIC have had it their way for way too long. Let’s let the new AMA run it! They’re a multi-billion-dollar group with a proven track record ! I believe they’ll show us how it should be done. Tony Fania Sr. Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: First off I’d like to say what a great job you guys do reporting the news and if its possible for DMG to learn how to be objective from you. I’m not sure exactly what the answers are but I believe ultimately the sport is going to succeed or fail based on fan support, When you go to Daytona in March where 750k motorcyclists converge on a city, and then you come to the track for racing and the place looks absolutely empty, how is the sport going to survive ? Fans would certainly have more of a voice if they showed up and supported the sport. However, after going to many races where it has rained and fans have been kept around all day only to get soaked and then told there is no racing , is ridiculous! Again, I don’t have the answers and can only go to the races and support the sport I love and just hope that this whole mess works itself out. Lee D’Amico New York, New York FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: If nothing else they got a lot of free press. How many times has the AMA changed the rules in the last 25 years–500cc two-stokes, 1025cc four-strokes, 750cc four-stokes, 1000cc four-strokes, 600cc Formula Xtreme. Gentlemen, just take a deep breath. This, too, shall pass! Kevin Coughlin Smyrna, South Carolina