Now that the “fuss” that is the USGP at Indianapolis is over, time for a bit of reflection.
Firstly, the attendance at the meeting was appallingly bad, given the capacity of the IMS facility and the importance of the meeting. This is mainly because most Americans don’t even know that MotoGp exists (or any sort of motorcycle racing for that matter) Given the great heritage of Roberts, Spencer, Lawson and Rainey, it seems inconceivable to us that the sport wouldn’t be a household word, but, sadly, this isn’t the case. Motorcycle racing remains basically invisible and the attendance of paying customers at the two venues represents a huge percentage of the people who follow motorcycle racing at all. Road trips across the states to attend are as numerous as they are to attend PI here.
Secondly, the prospect of a concentrated “hit” of racing in the states to drive home its popularity is seeming to be as elusive as ever. Despite the apparent stupidity of programming 2 races in the USA in close proximity while requiring a trip BACK to Europe for the race meeting at Brno, hopes that the races could be better programmed next year are probably not going to be realised. IMS is hoping for a contract extension for 2012 but it’s not looking good as the venue and the meeting seems to be almost universally reviled.
Thirdly, the chance of a “clean slate” start by staging the event at the new Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, seem also to be fading dramatically with news that the consortium who are building the track are now in a great deal of financial difficulty.
It seems that attempts to revitalise motorcycle road racing in the USA are still going to be facing a rocky future.
POSTSCRIPT: This item just in from crash.net confirms what I have been saying.
I know that it’s probably a bit unkind to post crash pictures and I don’t do it often, but, coming hard upon the nasty highside pic of Kenan Sofoglu’s that I posted yesterday, how about this one?
Kiwi rider, Dennis Ireland, was doing a photo shoot that required the photographer, Don Morley, to lie on the road while Ireland did a wheelstand while riding towards him. It didn’t quite work out as the RG500’s throttle stuck open (you can see Dennis’s right hand desperately trying to close the throttle) and Ireland was forced to bale off the back of the bike. He suffered broken bones in his legs and Morley was also injured. Confirms what I’ve always said, that, if you bring a camera out while people are riding a bike, something always goes wrong.