Latus Motors Racing Quits MotoAmerica Series
Rennie Scaysbrook | December 4, 2017
Kawasaki team principal cites increasing costs of Superbike competition
Fong’s (left) team owner George Latus (right) believes the costs of running a Superbike are prohibitive.
The Latus Motors Racing team will not participate in the 2018 MotoAmerica Superbike 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 Superstock 1000, taking six class victories in 2017 for third overall in Superstock and sixth in Superbike as Superstock 1000 entries score points in both classes. Superstock 1000 will no longer feature on the MotoAmerica program, forcing the immediate 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 motorcycle 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. Fielding a podium-capable Superbike is much more expensive and labor-intensive than running our current Superstock 1000 entry. Superbike rules allow the 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 a ‘grid filler.’ We hope situations change and we’re able to be back for the 2019 season. We know we’ll miss being there.”
