FEATURE
MOTOAMERICA
P94
boasting the requisite talent, experience, desire,
passion, backing, funding, and knowhow.
In fact, in some corners they're already being
hailed the people who "saved" American roadracing.
However, a series of huge chal-
lenges await them, challenges
they approach eyes wide open.
The "if anyone can do it" sen-
timent seems well-founded, but
the question really is can anyone
do it?
The likelihood of success de-
pends on your particular stan-
dards required to achieve it. Is a
simple improvement over where
things stand now enough? Or will
it require a return to the 'good ol'
days' or something even beyond
that–the fulfillment of the sport's
vast untapped potential in the
United States?
Admittedly, it's much easier to stand on the
sidelines and recognize some of the larger hur-
dles than actually negotiate them. But it may still
be a worthwhile exercise to consider some of the
variables that will determine the ultimate success,
failure, or some state in between the two that will
define MotoAmerica in the years ahead.
SO WHAT'S THE GOAL?
Rainey and co. are not shy
about their ambitions. Spoken
plainly on MotoAmerica's web-
site, MotoAmerica seeks "to
increase the relevance of AMA/
FIM North American road rac-
ing and to help prepare North
American road racers for the in-
ternational stage."
While that makes a great deal
of sense, those two goals are
not strictly in alignment–at least
they're not quite as tightly en-
twined as some may assume.
In fact, in some ways they may
even be in direct conflict, as
we'll discuss below.
Both will likely prove monumentally difficult to
achieve, marked by their own set of difficulties.
And while there is some entanglement, they are
"DESPITE DECADES
OF HISTORY THAT
PREVIOUSLY CEMENTED
THE PROPER SPELLING
OF THE WORD
'SUPERBIKE' ARE
NOT THE SORT OF
AMATEURISH MISTAKES
THE SERIES' NEW
OWNERS ARE LIKELY
TO MAKE."
