The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), the sanctioning body of the MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Series, has released the 2019 rulebook governing America’s premier road racing series, which includes a significant change in the technical rules for electronics in the Superbike class.

In the past, MotoAmerica Superbike rules were written to closely resemble the FIM Superbike World Championship rules, with a few exceptions. World Superbike teams are limited to how many engines they can use, and MotoAmerica Superbikes must use a standard gearbox while World Superbikes are allowed to run a standard gearbox or one alternate, homologated set of gear ratios.

Now, another significant differance has been added to the rules.

In 2018, teams fielding a Superbike had three options for their engine control electronics: Run the standard Engine Control Unit (ECU) and reprogram (reflash) it to suit their needs, run an approved “Superstock 1000” kit ECU like a programmable Yamaha YEC race kit ECU, or run an approved “Superbike Kit” electronics system.

The “Superbike Kit” system allowed the most advanced ECU and electronic systems to be used, offering the most advanced programming and performance. However, the rules stated “Only the machine manufacturer or one approved partner can submit a single system for approval.” In other words, Ducati assembles the “Superbike Kit” electronics they want to use that still meet the rules, that kit is then homologated, and anyone wanting to use a “Superbike Kit” electronics system on a Ducati has to use that same kit.

The parts, price, delivery lead time, firmware, software, software updates, and more are all stipulated in the rules, which in theory makes it possible for any team with the necessary resources to buy and run the same electronics as the factory team.

However, this rule also limited teams to getting their “Superbike Kit” electronics from the same source, and the level of support and customer service from that single source might vary from team to team, affecting performance.

For the 2019 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship, all three of the previous Superbike electronics options remain available, but a new fourth option that allows the use of advanced electronics from alternate sources has been added. Superbike teams can now choose to run MotoAmerica-approved “Superbike Kit” systems.

At first glance, the wording of the rules governing the MotoAmerica-approved “Superbike Kit” electronics appear nearly identical to the rules governing World Superbike “Superbike Kit” electronics with a couple significant exceptions.

The phrase “Only the machine manufacturer or one approved partner can submit a single system for approval” does not appear in the MotoAmerica-approved “Superbike Kit” rules, and the phrase “The ECU must be from the MotoAmerica approved Superbike ECU list.” has been added.

This means that a team can run a MoTec or other electronics system instead of the Magneti Marelli system homologated by most World Superbike teams, as long as the ECU is on MotoAmerica’s approved list.

Find the entire 2019 MotoAmerica rulebook here: http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/Racing/Story/r…