VOL. 53 ISSUE 37 SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 P85
Live television has added a
much-needed dimension to the
championship via broadcast-
ers beIN Sports. This alone has
helped push MotoAmerica into
the homes of millions of view-
ers, and is an integral part of
Rainey's grand plans.
"Bringing in beIN Sports for
live TV has been by far the best
step that we made this year,
getting in the promotion of
the sport. beIN is a wonderful
partner. What they want to do for
next year is going to be great,
and we're seeing there's some
real big motorbike fans inside
beIN. Of course we have the re-
lationship with Dorna that helped
line this up."
Earlier in the year, MotoAmeri-
ca announced plans to move the
rules back towards those of the
World Superbike Championship.
This move, an opposite to what
is seen in many other racing
series' around the world where
rules are progressively dumbed
down to more Superstock speci-
fication, means U.S. riders in the
premier category will now have
the same access to machinery
and technology used in Europe.
"We were actually about a
year ahead of ourselves when
we started working on the rules
package about four months
ago," he says. "In working with
the manufacturers that are cur-
rently in the championship and
them to figure out a way to get
into the championship, because
the rules now are exactly what
World Superbike is. I think the
only thing we don't nominate is
a gearbox. The good news is
there's interest from all of them
(manufacturers to come in as
factory teams), they just got to
figure out how to get it done."
Those new manufacturers
include KTM, who have been
a part of MotoAmerica since its
inception two years ago with
the RC Cup. Often the race of
the weekend and with the fullest
grids of any class, the RC Cup
has provided a relatively inexpen-
sive way for young talent to get
on the grid and impress possible
future teams and employers. The
series is being noticed around
the world, with this year's cham-
pion Brandon Paasch being se-
lected for a Spanish CEV Moto3
tryout at Catalunya next month.
"That's been most success-
ful," states Rainey. "It's real
popular. That's our future stars. I
think most people really look for-
ward to the young guys banging
bars. That's been fun, and I think
the momentum we have now at
"I THINK THIS
CHAMPIONSHIP
IS GETTING THE
RECOGNITION IT NEEDS,
IT'S STARTING TO COME
QUICKLY, AND I SEE
RIDERS TRYING
TO MAKE CAREERS
OUT OF THIS
PROFESSION HERE."
trying to move our sport to the
next level, we have to have
other manufacturers in it. But
we certainly have to watch what
we're doing with our current
rules, because we can't move
too quickly, it's a big undertak-
ing. Now the manufacturers
know about next year, it's up to
