Barber Motorsports Park will definitely not host a World Superbike race in 2008. Gene Hallman, President of Zoom Motorsports, (which manages Barber Motorsports Park and is a division of Bruno Event Team), told Roadracingworld.com that he informed Maurizio Flammini of his decision this morning. “We informed him that we were declining on the 2008 opportunity to host the Superbike World Championship,” said Hallman, “and that we did not want to close the door on a permanent basis and that we wanted to explore 2009 opportunities.” Hallman said the biggest factor in his decision was the addition of a Superbike World Championship race at Miller Motorsports Park (MMP) in 2008, which could have potentially resulted in four World Championship motorcycle road races in American in 2008. “All of our financial models over the last 90 days assumed three events,” stated Hallman. “When Miller Motorsports Park announced their event it gave us pause. We started looking at new financial models, but we essentially ran out of time to affectively host an even in April. “We underestimated the potential for an event at Miller. Kudos to them [MMP]. We just assumed there would be only three events in the country. Throwing Indy in the mix was the first factor. Miller Motorsports Park was another impact. Then us seeing the stretch of the industry dollars gave us concern. When we do this we want to be confident that it is the right time. You can never be sure, but you can be more confident than we were.” Asked how Flammini reacted to the news, Hallman said, “Very positively. I’ll read an excerpt from his response. ‘In any case, I was positively impressed with the professionalism of your organization and Barber Motorsports Park and hope to do something with you in the future. I will keep you informed about developments about a second U.S. race.’ So he was positive and wants to work with us.” In the meantime, said Hallman, Zoom Motorsports and Barber Motorsports Park would continue to focus on improving its next AMA Superbike event, April 18-20, 2008. “Barber Motorsports Park continues to make improvements,” said Hallman. “As we speak, earth is being moved. We have a new, 60-acre parking lot being built on the south side of the park off the ring road. The [spectator hillside along the back straightaway] is being blended in with the Expo pad to make that area one big area. And we are talking with the AMA on other ways we can make the park and our event more fan-friendly.”