VOL. 54 ISSUE 49 DECEMBER 12, 2017 P29
LATUS MOTORS RACING QUITS MOTOAMERICA SERIES
T
he Latus Motors Racing
team will not participate in
the 2018 MotoAmerica Super-
bike Championship after team
owner George Latus revealed
he believes the new rules make
it financially impossible to field a
competitive entry.
Latus and team rider Bobby
Fong have been one of the top
outfits in MotoAmerica Super-
stock 1000, taking six class
victories in 2017 for third overall
in Superstock and sixth in Super-
bike (Superstock 1000 entries
score points in both classes).
Superstock 1000 will no longer
feature on the MotoAmerica
program, forcing the immedi-
ate closure of the race team for
2018, although Latus has said he
would consider racing again in
2019.
"I don't think there is anyone
more passionate about motor-
cycle racing than me but after
nine seasons of participation
in AMA and now MotoAmerica
Road Racing, it's time to face
economic reality," said Latus
in a press release. "The recent
MotoAmerica rules change
moves us into Superbike. Field-
ing a podium-capable Super-
bike is much more expensive
and labor-intensive than run-
ning our current Superstock
1000 entry. Superbike rules
allow use of very sophisticated
electronics packages along
with other modifications that
increase costs considerably.
Manufacturer support simply
isn't there for us to justify the
increased cost of running and
maintaining a podium-capable
Superbike. Sure, we could put
together some sort of 'low-
budget' Superbike effort, but as
a team owner I've always tried
to give riders and crew the best
equipment I could. We race to
win, not to simply be 'grid filler.'
We hope situations change and
we're able to be back for the
2019 season. We know we'll
miss being there." CN
Gagne made a
solid impression
during his three
WorldSBK
outings in 2017,
enough to land
him the full-time
gig for 2018.
the Red Bull Honda World Su-
perbike Team," he said. "I cannot
thank Red Bull, Honda, and Ten
Kate enough for the opportunity
to race the Honda CBR1000RR
Fireblade SP2 over three rounds
this year. I have learned so much
from them and I got to know them
quite well, so I'm looking forward
to getting going again." CN
Fong's (left) team owner George
Latus (right) believes the costs of
running a Superbike are prohibitive.
