Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A. Racing Division Manager Keith McCarty–a long-time veteran of AMA Pro motorcycle racing–is excited that MotoAmerica is taking over professional motorcycle road racing in America. McCarty says he’s confident that MotoAmerica President Wayne Rainey and his group are capable of doing a good job.
“I’m happy that we are going to have a series,” McCarty said, when asked for his reaction to the news that MotoAmerica is taking over control of professional road racing in America. “I think that Wayne and his group will do a really good job. I think they understand the landscape really well.
“The fact that they are going to work with FIM and try to help develop American riders for an easier transition to Europe [and International competition] I think is a terrific thing. I’m sure there’s a lot of riders who were very happy about that, and certainly a lot of Americans are happy about that, too.
“I think we have a history with all these guys [in MotoAmerica], so we expect a pretty smooth transition while knowing there’s a ton of work that has to be done. But I believe they’re capable and they have a strong desire to succeed. So that’s all good stuff for us.”
With the new leadership comes many questions. Where will the series race and when? How many races will there be? What will the classes be? What will the technical rules for those classes be? Will control tires and fuel still be used? Will the races be broadcast on TV, streamed on the Internet or both?
“I think I’m not so concerned about any those other things,” said McCarty. “I mean I am, like everybody else, wanting to know, but I believe that there will be good decisions made for what direction things can go. There is a short amount of time and there are a lot of questions, none of which have been answered yet, but I’m sure in due time they will come out and that will be good.”
Asked what single piece of information he would like to get first from MotoAmerica, McCarty said, “I don’t know that there’s one single thing that’s most important. Unfortunately, they’re all interlaced with one another, but I suppose I would probably want to know that we have a television package to go along with whatever the rest of the series is going to be like. That’s one of the key marketing pieces that’s been missing. I believe the racing’s been really good. We just haven’t done a good enough job from a marketing perspective, I think. Hopefully, television [coverage] will be the beginning of bringing all of that back, I believe. We’ll see what this all brings, but we’re excited, for sure.”
In a press release issued earlier today, MotoAmerica stated more information would be released shortly via media outlets and www.motoamerica.com.