Dorna’s American dream is fading
Dorna’s US ambitions had another wobbly weekend at Austin. The MotoGP moguls have been trying to conquer the US since the 1990s. After false starts in Florida, California and Indiana, this latest Texan trial is looking a bit tarnished. This is not because of a lack of effort from the Circuit of the Americas, nor even a dire lack of spectators. No figures this year, but last year’s 47,000 was more than in Australia and (obvs) Qatar, though half the number of at least six European races.
COTA has a fine and varied long lap, good weather, and is close to a great city. Sadly, however, GP racing just doesn’t figure for enough of the vast population, leaving COTA strapped for cash. It showed in the worst possible way – the track was so bumpy it was ridiculous. There’s a pattern here. There have been three previous attempts to establish bike GPs in the US. None went the distance.
Back in the 1960s, Daytona lasted just two years. A decade later, Cal Rayborn showed that, even if US riders rode Harleys and put their feet down, they could be devastatingly fast. In 1976 Pat Hennen was the first American GP winner; in 1978 Kenny Roberts deposed Barry Sheene to begin a three-year reign. He was followed by Spencer, Lawson, Rainey and Schwantz, ten titles between them. It was a flood. In less than 20 years US riders surpassed the number of race wins by formerly dominant Britain, which had been winning since 1949.
But it passed unnoticed back home. It took more than ten years from Hennen’s win for the GPs to return, at Laguna Seca in 1988. Racing there stopped and started several times before the last in 2013. Desperate for a foothold, Dorna promoted the race themselves for a spell, while track safety and a bad resurfacing job were ignored. Then came Indianapolis, which had a seven-year run, but never really took off.
And now COTA. This is year six, and the track has deteriorated so much that – in spite of a desperate attempt at a cheap fix, skimming the tops off the bumps – it was bumpier and dirtier than ever. “Critical,” said Rossi. Many riders thought that any further deterioration would make it unusable.
With just one American rider (Joe Roberts) in all three classes, have we just seen the premature end of yet another American false start? Let’s hope not.
‘The track was so bumpy it was ridiculous’