Thread: I confess. I enjoyed the AMA Superbike Daytona races (No spoilers by me)

Yup gotta say it wasn't bad. Nothing like watching SBK or GP but not bad. Looked like the stands were empty. Can they ever find commentators that have ummm some charecter like the brits when they crack jokes.

The racing was not awful, I wondered the whole length of the race........."where would Zemke be if Spies and Matt were still here?".

DMG has run off the challenging talent that was at the AMA.

Originally Posted by Hammer

DMG has run off the challenging talent that was at the AMA.

While that may be true, the current field is level and the competition good. Also, this has given opportunity to a lot of folks that would otherwise be club racing.

And Zemke won plenty of races against all comers in his career - If he had been on Mat's team at any point in the last 4 years, he would have been right up there, I think. I remember a couple of Daytona 200 races in which American Honda totally screwed the pooch on his pit stops or using a MacDonalds straw instead of the proper fuel pickup on both his and Miguel's CBRs.

As to your overall negative comment on DMG, I agree.

Zemke with Mladin/Spies?

Not buyin'.

Zemke couldn't get to Miguel's level, and Mladin/Spies were playing a different game than Miggy.

A series without the leadership and talent level of those guys is in trouble, and will not get back to being the premier national series in the world.

Motorcycle racing is by it's nature always going to be more focused on riders than NASCAR.

I don't disagree that Miguel has had the more storied career, but the last time they were on the same team in the same series was 2007 super bikes. Zemke finished 3rd (267), Miguel finished 8th (231). Duhamel was 7th in Superbike in '08, but that was the year he got injured at RA, if I remember. Zemke raced supersport that year and got 2nd. They were both on Superbikes in '06, bu Zemke was on the Erion - 7th to Miguel's 3rd.

Hard to compare them because of the difference in age, too.

I think there are several riders who would have been competitive with Mladin on an equal bike - Not superior, but competitive. Zemke has always been daring when there is a chance to win.

Maybe...we'll never know.

I think Miggy and Zemke are great riders, and the little paddock gossip I know says they're pretty dang decent people too.

But I don't see the drive/focus/intensity in them of Mladin or Spies.

Originally Posted by luvtolean

A series without the leadership and talent level of those guys is in trouble, and will not get back to being the premier national series in the world.

Motorcycle racing is by it's nature always going to be more focused on riders than NASCAR.

Agreed. AMA-DMG is certainly lacking world class talent ATM. And that is to be expected considering how badly DMG jacked the series up. However, looking at it from merely a spectator standpoint, I must say I enjoyed it because the front of the field was so evenly matched. I hope that keeps up for the rest of the season.

Originally Posted by Repeater

Yup gotta say it wasn't bad. Nothing like watching SBK or GP but not bad. Looked like the stands were empty. Can they ever find commentators that have ummm some charecter like the brits when they crack jokes.

Can't tell you how I know this, because it is not official, but the announcers will be different for the next race. I think most of you will like it.

Originally Posted by MotoVegas

Agreed. AMA-DMG is certainly lacking world class talent ATM. And that is to be expected considering how badly DMG jacked the series up. However, looking at it from merely a spectator standpoint, I must say I enjoyed it because the front of the field was so evenly matched. I hope that keeps up for the rest of the season.

So you're saying the answer is spec riders in favor over spec bikes?

I confess, that I'm so starved for racing, that I somewhat enjoyed the Superbike races from Daytona.

I enjoyed seeing the bikes on the banking, closely drafting one another, at very high speeds, lap after lap.

I would have probably enjoyed seeing the supersport kids or decent club racers doing the exact same thing. I love motorcycle racing.

I'm really glad they got rid of the pace car/pace bike, rolling starts, etc.

I didn't enjoy:

• Watching races on a track where there is virtually no passing anywhere else except while drafting along the banking
• Seeing empty grandstands everywhere
• The horrible announcers. Scott Russell may be a fine human and has been a brilliant racer, but he's really hard to listen to, especially when compared to the guys we hear on MotoGP, WSBK and BSB.

Greg White used to really irritate me, but the riders seem to like him okay, and recognize that he fulfills an important marketing function for their sport, so he doesn't bother me that much.

There is an interesting Catch-22 / chicken-egg thing going on with racing in the USA. There isn't enough fan interest to justify spending more dollars sponsoring or promoting the sport, and there may not be sufficient sponsorship or promotion to generate additional fan interest and support. Which is a bummer.

If SPEED started showing BSB racing coverage (with the Euro production and announcers) and dropped AMA/DMG, I'd be thrilled, because it would be a huge improvement as far as entertainment for the fans. Won't happen, and shouldn't happen, but the current situation is frustrating.

Originally Posted by ND4SPD

So you're saying the answer is spec riders in favor over spec bikes?

Exactly. We could churn them out from factories here in the states rather than the way they churn out Pedrobot clones out of japan every week on the GP circuit.

Originally Posted by TogaTim

Seamus and Depo are going to be calling the races? Sweeeeeeeeet. Just watch the language boys!

Not us persay but we are specs to which all announcers will be held.

Just thinking here but they added a "new" corner in the track.

Could it be that they don't want anyone to compare lap times from the last couple of years? You know since the fast guys are gone.

Originally Posted by Hammer

Just thinking here but they added a "new" corner in the track.

Could it be that they don't want anyone to compare lap times from the last couple of years? You know since the fast guys are gone.

I think what DMG has now is the best of the rest. The teams and racers are all thats left among those that couldn't find or maintain sponsorship due to dwindling factory interest. Not to take anything away from Zemke or Jordon Mortorsports, but when you consider a "privateer" won the superbike race at Daytona twice in a row its pretty astounding.

On another note I think it would be interesting if WERA, CMRA, ASRA, etc started gaining play from the factories and vendors and took over where AMA left off. You already have a lot of top riders hunting bounty in many "club" series. And its not uncommon to see pros among the ranks of endurance teams or making cameo appearances.