BROOKLYN, NY, SEPT 15: The 2009 AMA Superbike Championship will feature many of the same tracks as this year’s series with final details expected to be released at the last race of the year at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Sept. 27-28.
The venue information comes a day after DMG CEO Roger Edmondson met with American Honda vice president Ray Blank at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix. In separate interviews, both men said the meeting had gone well, but that there was more work to do. Having a schedule they can agree on is an important step.
“Every 2008 AMA promoter has signed on with us for 2009,” Edmondson said in an e-mail message.
The season will start, as it always does, at Daytona International Speedway before moving to Auto Club Speedway, then returning back east for the southern swing of Road Atlanta and Barber Motorsports Park. Next comes Infineon Raceway and Road America. The AMA series heads back west to again be part of the MotoGP weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Virginia International Raceway fill out the current schedule.
Edmondson wrote that Miller Motorsports Park had yet to determine if they would add an AMA round to their World Superbike weekend. He also said there were no plans to add AMA races to the Indy GP. Domestic Superbike championships do run with GPs, but it makes for a very crowded schedule. With Indy hosting all three classes, plus two Red Bull Rookies races, adding the AMA wouldn’t be easy.
Two more races will be added pending an inspection by the Rider Safety Committee. Edmondson had previously said a safety committee would be formed, something he and the manufacturers agreed on.
Heartland Park, in Topeka, Kansas, and New Jersey Motorsports Park are the tracks which need the riders’ approval. Inspections will take place during the off-season.
The SunTrust Moto-ST Championship raced at NJMT on Labor Day weekend, the same weekend the AMA Superbike Championship was at Road Atlanta. Moto-ST raced at Heartland Park two weeks earlier on the AMA VIR weekend.
“This will be the best schedule in recent years with reasonable event spacing and travel patterns,” Edmondson said.
