Roadracingworld.com spoke to AMA Pro Racing/Daytona Motorsports Group (DMG) boss Roger Edmondson earlier today about the imminent announcement of a Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC)-organized, Japanese-manufacturer-backed professional road race series in 2009, and he said to call him back if there actually was an announcement
The announcement of the rival United States Super Bike (USSB) series came Wednesday afternoon, so we called Edmondson back to get his reaction.
“It’s a sad day,” said Edmondson. “My only comment is going to be: CHAMP Car and IRL went through this. It took a long time for them to get back together. I’m convinced that some day the sport [of motorcycle road racing] will be back under one roof. I’m also absolutely adamant that we’re not going anywhere.
“The big questions on my mind [are] how long it’s going to take before everybody is back together and how much money is going to be wasted and how much momentum is going to be lost? But I can’t answer that question. The marketplace has to answer that.
“It’s certainly going to be an interesting few weeks coming up, because quite clearly people are going to have to stand up and be counted. And I can tell you exactly what I told the promoters, and that was if it ended up that we had two competing series I would be sorry but I would not be guilty.
“Those promoters that determine they want to side with the new organization with no heritage and with people whom they have no background need to recognize it takes events to make a new series. I’ve asked them to stand up and be counted on my side, and I’ll continue to ask them to do just that. We’ll see what happens.”
Asked about how the process of getting promoters and tracks to commit in writing to hosting an AMA/DMG event in 2009, Edmondson said, “Some are in, some are not. Look, I understand when these guys [promoters] have been getting big checks from the manufacturers and support that they’re afraid of what is going to happen without it, particularly in an economy where spectator crowds are dropping. And they’re not just dropping at motorcycle races. They’re dropping at lots of events. So any event promoter, whether it be motorcycle racing or sports car racing or even stock car racing, has to be very concerned about the effects of the high fuel prices and the general concern that exists in the economy. And so walking away from a big support check has got to be something that’s not done lightly, and I recognize that.”
MIC and USSB representatives have not returned multiple phone calls from Roadracingworld.com seeking comment.