Opportunity will be knocking loud
Strange Road America race weekend awaits
Let's get the obvious out of the way: The MotoAmerica doubleheader weekend starting Friday at Road America – a pandemic-delayed season opener with no fans on site – is going to be just plain weird.
“I like being in front of a crowd and the attention from it,” Superbike rider Josh Herrin said Thursday, “and being able to have people react to a pass I made on somebody on the outside in the Carousel right after I do it … that's cool and a big part of why we go racing.”
But a lack of exotic sport bikes and Harleys and sports cars and pickup trucks backed up to the fence at the 4mile track in Elkhart Lake is just one piece of the weirdness toward which this season already was headed.
And then there are positives, too, that can be found in this format and this weekend.
They're less they're there.
obvious,
true.
But
As NASCAR did when it came back, MotoAmerica stands to attract fans from afar and bring back other fans because its races at Road America will be among the few sports offerings on TV.
For the premier Supberbike class, the Saturday feature is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. live on FS2 and Sunday's for 1:15 p.m., on FS1.
Additionally, many of the other races will be live on MAVTV – and Eurosport, internationally – or delayed on FS2, as well as on the MotoAmericaLive+ streaming service.
Motorcycle races typically are among the most intense and entertaining events held annually at Road America, including passes such as the bold one Herrin described above, which he made last year to win the second Superbike feature.
Those who may be exposed for the first time on TV will get a chance to see the bikes in person – hopefully in a more traditional, interactive weekend – back at Road America June 26-28. That second, open weekend was part of the deal the track made with MotoAmerica to get racing after the series, which lost its first two scheduled rounds to coronavirus restrictions.
“People are into the sport,” Herrin said, pointing to a huge demand among enthusiasts for track time as well as his social media following that totals more
Superbike winner Josh Herrin is congratulated on his way to victory lane during the Dunlop Championship weekend, Sunday, June 2, 2019, at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
than 270,000. “It's just getting them to the races, I think, is where we're lacking.
“They want to get the races out there to a wider audience, and hopefully that'll help.”
These are tough times for professional motorcycle road racing, which in the offseason lost the Yoshimura Suzuki and Yamaha factory Superbike teams that have won 91 of the past 96 races. That means four-time defending champion Cameron Beaubier, 2017 champion Toni Elias and Herrin – the 2013 titlewinner and a two-race winner last season – are among those who've changed teams.
Herrin expects this to be a building year with Scheibe Racing, which will field BMWs for him and Jake Lewis. After rain and a crash limited preseason testing, Road America will give the team an opportunity to see what it has after struggling last season with talented Jake Gagne aboard.
“I know at the end of the day, Beaubier and Elias are going to be guys up front,” Herrin said. “That's always going to be our goal, to be up fighting with them and hopefully we're going to be there.”
Opening the season at a track where Herrin has a victory and three runnerup finishes in the past two years will quickly give the team a gauge of the bike's speed, his comfort on it and progress throughout an actual race weekend.
“For us, it's, OK, let's see where we're at. Let's see where we need to improve for the race when we come back,” Herrin said.
“Luckily, it's the first race of the year, so it's all right. There's 10 rounds, hopefully, and we've got a little bit of a break until the next race, which thankfully is at the same track.”
But ideally under much different conditions.