AMA Superbike Championship is an American
motorcycle racing
Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Ot ...
series that has been run every year beginning in 1976. For most of its existence it has been considered the premier motorcycle road racing series in the United States. It is sanctioned by the AMA
American Motorcyclist Association
The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is an American nonprofit organization of more than 200,000 motorcyclists that organizes numerous motorcycling activities and campaigns for motorcyclists' legal rights. Its mission statement is "to promo ...
since its inception, and the promotion of the series has been licensed to several organizations over the years. Since 2015 the series has been run and promoted by
MotoAmerica
MotoAmerica is the organization that promotes the AMA Superbike Series since 2015. Sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), it features six classes of road racing: S ...
, who also manage several other AMA professional road racing championships, including the popular 600cc Supersport class.
The AMA Superbike Championship was created in 1976 as a new motorcycle road racing series taking advantage of the newest large displacement production road-going motorcycles of up to 1000cc's that were increasingly popular with American riders. The series was initially called "Superbike Production" and was initially modeled on a regional series that had been run in California in the previous years. Up until this the most prestigious racing series in the United States was the
AMA Grand National Series which required competition in five different formats 1/4 mile, 1/2 mile, 1 mile and TT courses, which were all run on dirt ovals, and pavement racing. Europe, under the guidance of the FIM, or
Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme
The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM; en, International Motorcycling Federation) is the global governing/sanctioning body of motorcycle racing. It represents 116 national motorcycle federations that are divided into six regiona ...
, had a much more developed motorcycle
road racing
Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...
world championship, but it didn't include any American venues in the series.
In 1986, the AMA recognized the changing nature of motorcycle racing by making the Grand National Championship into a dirt-track-only series; road-racing rounds were branched off into a separate championship which was named the AMA Superbike Championship. The fact that the rules were set up to compete using the same large displacement production bikes that people saw in the showrooms quickly made the series popular with fans, racers and after several seasons motorcycle manufacturers took a direct interest and began sponsoring teams and riders.
History
1976 to 1982: The 1000cc era
At the inception of the series there was stiff competition between the more experienced teams racing European twin cylinder bikes, which included the BMW R90S, Ducati and MotoGuzzi motorcycles and the teams racing the more powerful Japanese inline fours from Kawasaki, Suzuki, Honda and Yamaha. While the Japanese bikes produced more horsepower, the European bikes tended to have superior handling. The inaugural series in 1976 was won by rider Reg Pridmore on a BMW R90S owned by Team Butler and Smith. European machines won every race in 1976 and the first half of the 1977 series, but after two seasons of work the Team Racecrafters Kawasaki KZ 1000, again piloted by Reg Pridmore, won the first race for the Japanese. With the advent later that year of the better handling Suzuki GS 1000, the less powerful twin-cylinder European bike's race domination was over.
As the series gained more and more attention in America the factories took note, and in 1980 Honda entered the series with a factory team and brought a top rider from their stable, Freddie Spencer, to compete on their behalf. Up until this point Honda and the other Japanese manufacturers were more focused on the International Grand Prix and in particular its premier 500cc Series, which was run on purpose built 500cc racing motorcycles. By 1980 the 500cc class was completely dominated by two-stroke machines, which at the same time had been phased out for road use in many countries. The American Superbike Series was suddenly more relevant and appealing to manufacturers.
1983 to 2002: The 750cc rule and the age of the Homologation Specials
The speeds that the 1000cc four cylinder bikes producing up to 150 horsepower were able to achieve were overwhelming the stock frames, suspension and tires of the era. Thus for 1983 the AMA, working with the top teams, decided to reduce the maximum capacity of the Superbike class to 750cc.
Honda, which had been competing in the series on their CB 750F was ready with a new bike in 1983, initially planned as a "homologation special" that is, a bike which is built in just enough numbers to satisfy the production rule. (Typically 5,000 units sold worldwide).
That bike, the
Honda Interceptor VF750F
The Honda VF750F is a street bike designed by Honda from 1983 to 1985. It has an , liquid-cooled, V4 engine which sports dual overhead cams (DOHC). The V4's were started a year before with the 1982 Honda Magna VF750C and Sabre VF750S but were ad ...
was a huge departure from the air-cooled, two valve per cylinder CB-750F. It featured a square tube steel perimeter frame which wrapped around the outside of the engine, rather than the older hidden round-tube frames. It was a water cooled V4 with four valves per-cylinder. Originally Honda had planned only to make enough to meet the requirement for production racing, but the bike was extremely popular, even at the price which was higher than the older CB-750, and it went into full production. Honda was unsuccessful in winning the championship with the new bike in 1983, as Wayne Rainey riding on Team Muzzy Kawasaki GPz 750 won the inaugural 750cc Superbike championship, but Honda went on to win the next five years in a row of series championships with the Interceptor.
As the popularity of the series grew the long established
Daytona 200
The Daytona 200 is an annual motorcycle road racing competition held in early spring at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The race was founded in 1937 when it was sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association ...
motorcycle race, which had begun on a course constructed on the beach in 1935, and had moved to the asphalt auto-racing track in 1961, switched to Superbikes. The race had been one of the few venues where FIM style Formula 1 500cc machines raced in the United States, but by 1988 the speeds the machines were reaching on the high-banked tracks were simply too high for safety given the tire technology of the time. In 1985 the race format moved from GP bikes to Superbikes, and it became part of the AMA Superbikes series. This increased the visibility of Superbikes even further, and cemented in the minds of many Americans that the Superbikes were now the de facto premier motorcycle racers, eclipsing the FIM 500cc series, with their unavailable two-stroke racing machines.
2003 to 2008: Return of the liter class
In late 2002 AMA Pro Racing, the promoter in charge of the AMA Superbike Championship at the time decided to open up the series to 1000cc production bikes. Their plan called for allowing near-stock 1000cc machines to compete against the then-current state of the art 750cc Superbikes that were the incumbent series competition machines. In addition, they would be allowed to increase their capacity to 800cc. The complicated rules allowed "claiming" of the 1000cc stock machines, a technique where competitors can buy the winning machine from the owner for a set amount of money, and intended to keep modifications down in near-stock racing classes. Ultimately this complicated mix of machines and rules was not liked by many of the competitors. In 2006 Ducati withdrew factory support from AMA Superbike racing, and in 2008 Honda followed suit.
2009 to 2014: Daytona Motorsports Group
From 2009 to 2014, the Daytona Motorsports Group was the organizer under supervision of the AMA. The AMA, not pleased with motorcycle counts and participation in their events, stripped the DMG organization of the sanction and awarded it to a new organization led by
Wayne Rainey
Wayne Wesley Rainey (born October 23, 1960) is an American former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, he won the 500cc World Championship three times and the Daytona 200 once. He was characterized by his s ...
, KRAVE, with assistance from Dorna (which organises the FIM MotoGP and World Superbike Championships).
2015 to Present: MotoAmerica takes charge, FIM alignment
KRAVE organized multiple championship road racing series for the AMA, which are collectively known as the
MotoAmerica
MotoAmerica is the organization that promotes the AMA Superbike Series since 2015. Sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), it features six classes of road racing: S ...
Road Racing Series beginning in 2015.
MotoAmerica chose to align the multiple racing classes closely with those used by FIM, which simplifies the work that manufacturers must do to compete in both series.
* Superbike (matches FIM regulations)
* Stock 1000 (FIM Superstock 1000)
* Supersport (FIM Supersport, 600cc to 750cc)
* Twins (800cc, two cylinder)
* Junior Cup (FIM Supersport 300, 300cc to 500cc)
The most successful riders included
Doug Chandler
John Douglas Chandler (born September 27, 1965) is an American former professional motorcycle racer. He earned a reputation as one of the most versatile racers of the 1980s and 1990s. Chandler is one of only four riders in AMA racing history to ...
,
Scott Russell,
Ben Spies
Ben Spies (; born July 11, 1984), is an American former professional motorcycle road racer. He was sometimes nicknamed "Elbows" due to his riding style, in which his elbows protruded outward. Spies won the AMA Superbike Championship for Yoshimur ...
,
Miguel Duhamel
Miguel Duhamel (born May 26, 1967) is a Canadian former professional motorcycle racer. He is the son of Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame member Yvon Duhamel. He is tied with Toni Elias for the fourth-winningest rider in the AMA Superbike series ...
and
Mat Mladin
Mathew Mladin (born 10 March 1972, in Camden, New South Wales) is a retired Australian professional motorcycle racer who last raced in 2009, riding a Yoshimura Suzuki in the AMA Superbike series. He won the title seven times (no other rider h ...
, who holds several series records including seven championships. Five non-Americans won the title –
Englishman
The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England, who speak the English language, a West Germanic language, and share a common history and culture. The English identity is of Anglo-Saxon origin, when they were known in ...
Reg Pridmore
Reginald Charles Pridmore III (born 15 July 1939) is an English former professional motorcycle road racing national champion. He is remembered for winning the inaugural AMA Superbike Championship in 1976, followed by 1977 and 1978. He is the fat ...
, Australians Mat Mladin and
Troy Corser
Troy Gordon Corser (born 27 November 1971) is an Australian former professional motorcycle road racer. He competed in the Superbike World Championship from 1992 to 2011 except for the 1997 season when he competed in Grand Prix motorcycle raci ...
, Canadian Miguel Duhamel, and Spaniard
Toni Elías
Antonio "Toni" Elías Justícia (born 26 March 1983) is a Spanish professional motorcycle racer and inaugural champion of the Moto2 World Championship. He is the third member of the Elías family to compete in motorcycle racing. He currently ride ...
.
Television rights are held by MotoAmerica, but can currently be seen on FOX Sports 1 & 2, MAVTV Network, MotoAmerica's Facebook page, MotoAmerica's Youtube Channel, and MotoAmerica's LIVE+ App.
See also
*
List of AMA Superbike champions
This is a complete list of AMA Superbike Championship
AMA Superbike Championship is an American motorcycle racing series that has been run every year beginning in 1976. For most of its existence it has been considered the premier motorcycle roa ...
*
AMA Pro Daytona Sportbike Championship The AMA Pro Daytona Sportbike Championship was a motorcycle racing series run by AMA Pro Racing. The category was similar to the Formula Xtreme class, allowing a wide range of engine types and displacements.
The flagship race for the series was t ...
*
AMA Supersport Championship
AMA Supersport is an American motorcycle racing series. The race series was founded and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1987.
The road racing series allows motorcycles of up to 600cc engine capacity. The American Mot ...
References
External links
*
Superbike Championsa
SportNetwork.net
Motorcycle road racing series
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