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Feature
MOTOAMERICA JUNIOR CUP
THE ART
OF THE
BALANCE
The first year of the Junior Cup has been anything
but smooth sailing for MotoAmerica with constant
balancing of machines that are fundamentally different
in design. We spoke to all the major players at
Sonoma to see if there's light at the end of the tunnel
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J NELSON
M
otorcycle racing is never an even sport.
Most of the time it's one rider or team
who has an advantage, but when you
throw in machines that are as different as the
personalities riding them, it very rarely makes for
a happy paddock.
Replacing the one-make KTM RC Cup with
the FIM-spec Supersport 300 class has been
anything but a smooth transition for MotoAmerica.
Gone is the field of single-cylinder 375cc ma-
chines, and in its place, comes a field comprised
of Yamaha's 321cc twin-cylinder YZF-R3, Kawa-
saki's 399cc twin-cylinder Ninja 400 and KTM's
RC 390 R—the latter a special machine devel-
oped by KTM factory riders with the sole purpose
of winning the World Supersport 300 Champion-
ship and any national series for which it is eligible
(Italy, Great Britain, Spain, Australia).
That in itself makes for a headache for Mo-
toAmerica, which has taken to following the
FIM World Supersport 300 rules—bar the area
