Photography courtesy archived AMA press kit
It’s been rumored and talked about in the paddock for a few months now, but on Monday AMA Pro Racing revealed one of its proposals for the future of AMA Pro Flat Track Championship (aka AMA Pro Grand National Championship) in terms of motorcycles to be used. It appears that the GNC1 class will be racing on twin-cylinder motorcycles at all venues and GNC2 riders would compete on essentially the same machinery (converted 450cc motocross bikes) they run in most races, with the exception of some Miles today. All riders would be required to wear leathers helping promote a more traditional flat track look among series competitors.
Big 750cc twin-cylinder bikes were raced on TT circuits through the early 1980s, when nearly all riders moved to 600cc single-cylinder bikes. Short tracks have always been contested by smaller bikes, first 250cc singles and twins and then later the 600cc and eventually 450cc singles, so running big twins on short tracks would be a first.
The reaction among riders so far has been almost universally negative. None of the current generation of racers was around when twins were raced on smaller tracks and they seemed concerned with the safety of launching the bigger motorcycles off of jumps on TT circuits like those at Peoria and Castle Rock. They also seem to do a collective head scratch when told they’ll race their big twins on short tracks.
Reaction among fans in social media seems mixed and largely divided generationally. Older fans of the sport cheer the possibility of seeing the big Grand National Twins machines being raced again on TT circuits. Many of them remember legendary races, such as Jay Springsteen winning the Peoria TT on a Harley-Davidson XR750 in 1983. Younger fans seem to side with the riders saying watching the twins on Peoria and other small tracks could potentially be boring after seeing the high-flying antics of the 450 MX-based machines.
AMA Pro Racing also seems to be responding to some manufacturers who do not make single-cylinder race bikes and sponsor riders in the series. Those manufacturers, such as Harley-Davidson, Triumph and Ducati, aren’t thrilled to watch their sponsored riders be forced to race other brands in short track and TT events.
The one thing this bulletin does not address is the problems associated with racing 450s on big Miles such as Springfield. In the past the large pack racing of the 450s has produced harrowing crashes and resulted in the sanctioning body not allowing the 450s to race at some tracks.
The bulletin release yesterday by AMA Pro Racing reads as follows:
AMA Pro Flat Track is one of the most iconic sporting institutions in the history of the United States. In recent years, however, audiences have declined, manufacturer participation and sponsorship have waned and all stakeholders in the sport have seen significant declines in revenue streams. AMA Pro Racing is the guardian of the sport and understands that its unique flavor and exciting, elbow-to-elbow action deserves to be taken to a wider audience and, to that end, has launched a strategic review that will culminate in the creation of a 5-Year plan.
The 5-Year plan will lay out a road map that re-engineers the business of the sport and delivers renewed value for all of its Stakeholder groups. Early in the process it has been determined that the racing class structure, at the core of the sport, has to be modernized in order to offer commercially relevant opportunities to a wide range of motorcycle manufacturers, providing clear on-track identification of their technology and the athletes who compete using their hardware.
To this end, AMA Pro Racing is proposing an evolution of the sport to offer two distinct racing classes that will be instantly recognizable, distinct from each other and will form a launch-pad for the sport to regain its position as the leading professional motorcycle racing series in the United States.
During the summer months of 2015, AMA Pro Racing will be discussing the plan with representatives from manufacturers, sponsors and the AMA Pro Flat Track Advisory Group, and will be running a series of workshops in order to detail the rules package for the 2016 season. The final class structure will be publicly announced in a press conference at the 2015 season finale in Las Vegas during the weekend of November 21-22, 2015.
The Classes
AMA Pro Racing proposes two classes for AMA Pro Flat Track starting in 2016.
Proposed GNC1 structure:
- All GNC1 class events will be contested on multi-cylinder engine motorcycles.
- Engine size limits by configuration type to be determined.
- Minimum weight limits will be applied and linked to engine size.
- Riders will be required to wear leathers at all events.
Proposed GNC2 structure:
- All GNC2 class events will be contested on production motorcycles with single-cylinder engines up to 450cc.
- A minimum weight limit will be applied.
- Riders will be required to wear leathers at all events.
