Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/377698
IN THE WIND P24 recently served as vice president of Motor Sport Operations at Cir- cuit of The Americas; Terry Karg- es, a former motorsports market- ing executive and team owner who spent 17-years at Roush Per- formance before being named executive director of the Petersen Museum; and Richard Varner, a motorcycle manufacturer, energy sector entrepreneur, philanthro- pist and businessman. The KRAVE (an acronym from the founders' last names - Karg- es, Rainey, Aksland, Varner) Group owns commercial rights to the MotoAmerica Series, which will award AMA and FIM North America number-one plates to series class champions. The group will sell sponsorships, develop other commercial rela- tionships for the series, secure tracks, create the calendar, pro- cess crew and media credentials and have responsibility for fan engagement, according to a re- lease issued today by the AMA. "If you are an amateur or pro- fessional motorcycle road racer in America, if you are a fan of road racing or if you are a company that does business in this indus- try, this is an exciting day," said AMA President and CEO Rob Dingman in the release. "Our goal has always been to entrust the promoting and commercial rights for professional racing to a talented, dedicated, well-capital- ized professional entity, and the KRAVE Group certainly offers all that and more." Rainey, an AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer, thanked the AMA for facilitating the acquisition. "The AMA was instrumental in this deal coming together, serv- ing as negotiator and mediator at all points of discussion," Rainey said. "We appreciate the efforts APRILIA SET TO GO? W ill they or won't they? The factory Aprilia race team's presence in the World Superbike paddock in 2015 is still under threat, given its plans to enter MotoGP one year earlier than its original 2016 intentions. Marco Melandri seems almost certain to go to MotoGP with Aprilia, in the Gresini team set-up. It is all about money now. That existing MotoGP team route with Gresini, which will save Aprilia from having to buy a place for its official team, may actually be the lifeline that the World Superbike paddock wants for Aprilia. With an entire Gresini infra- structure in place, and the mon- ey saved on a buy-out squad, the fresh inputs would only need to be in engineering, race support and the budget to cover them. While significant, the costs would be far less than doing it all from scratch. With new rules in World Su- perbike in 2015, but not the Evo platform that would almost cer- PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE Marco Melandri appears to be headed back to MotoGP to spearhead Aprilia's effort in 2015.