The Daytona Motorsports Group which bought the rights to the AMA racing series has been releasing the new rules for the various classes. The last rules to be released are for the Literbike class, covering the purse, contingency money and other technical details. Tech rules are almost identical to the Canadian Superbike rules and what I thought was the best part, look at the list of bikes eligible for homologation:
Aprilia RSV 4
BMW S1000RR
Buell 1125R
Ducati 1098S
Honda CBR1000RR
Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R
KTM RC8
MV F4312
Suzuki GSX-R1000
Yamaha YZF-R1
This could make for far more interesting racing than we’ve seen in a long time.
Superbikes will now be made up of 600s, 750s, the Ducati 848 and the like:
Aprilia Tuono
BMW HP2 Sport
Buell 1125R
Ducati 848
Ducati S4R
Honda CBR600RR
Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R
KTM Super Duke
MV Brutale 910S
Suzuki GSX-R750
Suzuki GSX-R600
Triumph Daytona 675
Yamaha YZF-R6
It will take a little getting used to but this class, too, could be pretty exciting.
The Buell 1125R is eligible in both classes, I guess the difference is simply the horsepower limit for each class which puts the 1125R more naturally in the Superbike area though someone who’s a real tuner might exceed the 140 horsepower limit and want to play in the Literbike’s 185 horsepower class, and even though it could be at a disadvantage there, Steve Crevier has already shown that, at least in Canada, that’s not too much of a problem.
Link: Cycle News
Link: Roadracing World
aaron says
I wonder why the 1200cc rc8 is included, but the 1200cc ducati 1098r is not. the 1098s gives up 100cc to the ktm.
motoxyogi says
@aaron
Probably because there are not enough units imported to the us, but then that doesn’t explain why the s1000 is in there. I think they were designed with WSB in mind rather than any national race championship.
Love to see if anyone will take the 312r.
easyrider650 says
That’s awesome. I hope we see teams move outside the big four, because this could really get exciting.
FredM says
I wish that they would put together rules that required truly stock “open-class” bikes with nothing changed but tires and removal of street paraphernalia.
I don’t want to know what a bike will do with racing fuel, massive changes to the engine, modified chassis geometry (e.g. rake), different brakes, and carbon fiber body panels. I want to know what the one on the showroom floor will do.
If manufacturer X builds the fastest bike, then don’t penalize them with additional weight, restrictor plates, etc.
And get rid of the horsepower limit. Just require that the engines be factory stock and not balanced, blueprinted, massaged, or tweaked.
I don’t want to encourage the manufacturers to sell us a bike on Monday that shares nothing with Sunday’s race bike save the name and appearance.
This would have the added appeal of making racing affordable and leveling the field for privateers. If a privateer can go into a dealership and buy the exact same bike being raced by the factory, then it all comes down to the rider.