It probably escaped your notice in the excitement of the first round of the MotoGp world championship, but the Daytona 200 was run and won last weekend as well. It was won, for the fourth time, by American rider, Danny Eslick. It probably is unnecessary to mention that Danny is an American since the almost the whole of the 69 bike field was made up of American riders. And it is here that the motorcycling fans in the Land of the Free are today bemoaning what has become of the once “Greatest motorcycle race in the world”
The Daytona 200 has an impressive history, going back more than 50 years. In its heyday it attracted entries for all around the world with Finnish, Venezuelan, Italian and American riders having their names etched on the perpetual trophy. Roberts, Romero, Dick Mann, Gary Nixon, Gary Fisher, Dale Singleton, Ron Haslam, Graeme Crosby and a massive list of the whos-who of motorcycle road racing have all raced at the Daytona 200.
But, even as early as the mid-1970’s, the seeds of the 200’s downfall were being sown. They came to public notice in the most dramatic and unwanted way with the horrendous 1975 crash of Barry Sheene where he was lucky to survive a 170 MPH crash on the main straight when his Dunlop tyre de-laminated at top speed. The B&W image of that fateful moment is one of the best-known in road racing history and the film of the crash and its aftermath make horrifying viewing.
Despite the efforts of all the tyre manufacturers it became clear that the stresses placed on racing tyres, especially on the notorious banking, was more than the existing technology could bear. Nevertheless, the 200 continued as an “open” race well into the 80’s when it became a Superbike race, dominated by the the big four stroke bikes rather than the “pukka” racing bikes that had given Daytona its reputation. Even then tyres were still an issue and pit stops for tyre changes became even more frequent.
By the 90’s the bikes had again over-powered the tyres and Daytona organisers tried to reduce the problem by eliminating the banked track section. It helped but not enough and, besides, it took away the major spectacle of the race so the organisers went elsewhere for a solution. The size of engines was reduced from “Unlimited” to 600cc, effectively Supersports specifications. The both bankings were re-instated and the race distance for the 200 reduced from 200 miles to 100 miles (though the “200” name was retained)
And so the Daytona 200 has been a Supersports race over the half race distance ever since. Pit stops for tyre changes are still necessary, however, and many teams still experience tyre wear issues (remember that, even though the bikes are half the capacity of the bikes from the golden era, they are developing more horsepower and their lap times are faster).
Since 2004, however, American road racing has endured the catastrophic intervention of the Daytona Motor Group (owners of the speedway) who took over the running of top level road racing in the USA from the AMA and comprehensively gutted it. What remains of road racing in the USA is but a pale shadow of what it used to be. To his credit, Wayne Rainey and his MotoAmerica group are doing wonders to try and restore the sport and they show every sign of doing so but it’s going to take a long time. Feedback from the Team USA riders at the Island Classic, many of whom are past-AMA racers, indicate that Rainey has widespread support amongst the road racing fraternity.
So, if the running of the Daytona 200 sort of passed you by last weekend, don’t feel too bad. To their great credit the organisers have resisted the temptation to call it a “World Championship” or similar as our American brethren are prone to do with sports that are only played in the USA, but the unfortunate fact remains that the Daytona 200, as we know it now, is a domestic club race, albeit with impressive prize money. The fact is that Eslick’s 4 200 wins, despite all that they have cost him to achieve them, will never have the respect and the cachet of ONE Roberts or Spencer win in the days when the 200 WAS the greatest motorcycle race in the world.
How hath the mighty fallen indeed.