Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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By HENNY CHICANERY RAY ABRAMS USGP:When? Where? How? e re to hol d the USGP? Rat he r, what racetrack wo uld prod uce a be tte r USGP? Should sa fety be t he first concern? Or close racing? And where is the most desirable location? All questions being pon dered by the interested parties in advance of what is expected to be the re turn of the USGP in 200S. But all secondary co nsideratio ns. The single most important question : Who can afford it? The current choices to host the race are Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the venerable former home of the USGP and current home of World Superbike and AMA, near the idyllic seaside town of Monterey, and Barber Motorsports Park, the most beautiful racetrack in the wo rld, now completing its second year of hosting AMA Superbikes just west of Birmingham, Alabama. If you want close racing, it's hard to argue with Barber, at least based on the weekend's AMA races. The largest mar gin of victory was 2.3S seconds, in Superstock; the smallest 0.0 I I in Saturday's Superb ike race. Without con sulting record books, it's a fair guess that this was the closest-ever weekend of AMA road racing. Erion Honda's Jake Zemke missed out on a pair of Superbike wins by a combined 0.388 seconds. Zemke's revenge came in Formula Xtreme, which he won by 0.OS9 seconds over Miguel Duhamel. Roger Lee Hayden beat his brother Tommy by 0.030 seconds W in Supersport. First impress ions of the Barber track were that it was too tight and too twisty. And it is. But it is fun, according to most riders. Challenging, as well, for the riders and the ir teams, and especially the tire companies. No track in the world chews up fronts like Barber. The tightness is the stick ing point. Spread ove r its lush and manicured 2.3 miles are 14 turns, according to the AMA count, I7 by others. More per mile than any ot her track on the AMA sched ule. Very little time is spent upright, which explains the tire wear. Eric Bostrom uses the lowest three gears on his Ducati Austin F04 Superbike. Yoshimura Suzuki's Mat Mladin does the same on his Suzuki GSX-R I000 . A MotoGP bike would use no more. "I don't think this is a racetrack you'll see MotoGP bikes at their best," former SOOcc World Champion Kevin Schwantz said. "Three gears on a GSX-RI000 . I just don't think this is the place." Mazda Raceway is a more open racetrack, according to Yoshimura Suzuki's Mat Mladin. Not that he's endorsing it. "I think they 're both too small for those bikes," he says, and he's right. But if he had to choose, he'd go with Laguna Seca. "They can stretch their legs there." Proton KR's Kurtis Roberts is the only GP rider to have ridden both. Roberts won the final Superbike race of the year at Barber last year. His view is that Barber might be the better venue, if changes were made . Changes also nee d to be made at Laguna Seca, he t hinks. ''A Superbike over tum one is scary enough, but MotoG P ove r turn o ne might be impossible as far as being safe," he said. "How are they going to make that safe enoug h the whole race , all the way through qualifying? "Laguna Seca w ith a MotoG P bike , I think in turn o ne, one of the Hondas or Ducatis might get lift off over that turn ." Kurtis said that for Barber to be mo re of a GP track, it wo uld have to cut the kink out of the left-right flick on the back straight . It wo uld add two gears and remove one of the more dangerous parts of the track . But it would also create a problem at the end of the straight, where there's already questionable run-off and an errant bike could re- join the track farther along. "I believe that Barber is a better place fo r a race, as far as a racing on TV and all that stu ff," he said. "I saw the Superbike race in AMAand there's many opportunities to pass. Mladin showed that yesterday. "Laguna Seca doesn't create the passing possibilities. And in case of bad weather, Barber has grip. Laguna has nothing. It's like running around on ice cubes. If the grip level improved, it'd be better." Kurtis' older brother, Team Suzuki's Kenny Roberts , made safety recommendations after inspecting Laguna Seca. The fixes are expensive, and therein lies the rub . Both Barber and Laguna have to look at the bottom line. Can they afford a MotoGP race? Operational costs for Laguna Seca would be in the $3 million range, plus a seven-figure sanction fee and the added costs of safety improve ments needed for MotoGP. It's a daunting sum that looks insurmo untable in the short term. Barber is still working the numbers, so it doesn't yet know what the costs are. Certainly any track changes would be less expensive, but it would have other expenses that Laguna doesn't, like modular garages for the teams. www.cyclenews.com Dorna desperately wants a race in the United States and is willing to reduce its sanct ioning fee . But its recent experience with dodgy financing at the South African GP means it won't move forward without a solid business plan. Neither would Laguna, and neither would Barber. George Barber, the philanthropist and e nthusiast who created the motorsports park, didn't acquire his wealth by making bad decisions. Gene Hallman, who heads the team that pro motes races at Barber said that "Despite the fact that both (Doma and Barber) have tremendous resources, neither one of them is going to compromise into a bad business deal for themselves." Hallman said he'd know in the next 30 days whether Barber would vie for the GP. In order for Mazda Raceway to hold the race , it would need help from the industry. A title sponsor would have to assume much of the load, with others com ing on board . The more the merrier. Ifthe industry supported it, it can and will happen. Now's the time to let it be known . The fans also need to make their voices heard. "I think it wou ld be awesome; it would be really special," former Laguna winner and current Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden said of a USGP. "It wou ld mean a lot to race a GP in my home country. I think it would help MotoGP in America . If fans could come see a race, it would be good for the sport for the people that follow them. It wou ld be close to home." Nicky is the only Hayden who hasn't raced at Barber. His choice is Monterey, though he, and many others, think the best venue would be Road America, the four-mile track in Wisconsin where the MotoGP bikes could shine . That won't happen without major track changes . "I haven't seen Alabama," Hayden said. "I wou ld say that's definitely, from what I know, the top choice . I think Road America would have big potential too ," though he concedes work would have to be done between the Carousel and the final corner. Dorna seriously considered Road America several years ago , going so far as drawing up an alternate layout that would have eliminated those sections. The track later invested in a full closed circuit TV system , a requirement in international racing . There was chatter of World Superbike, a companion event to Laguna Seca. It didn't happen. In the end , it comes down to money. As it will this time . eN CYCLE NEWS • MAY 26, 2004 127