World Superbike News

Thanks to Patrick Mayon for this photograph

This weekend the World Superbike Championship takes place at the Miller Motorsports Park circuit near Salt Lake City, after an absence of an American round for four years.

The circuit was opened in 2006 and none of the World Superbike riders have ridden on the track before so riders and fans alike are looking forward to the practice session on Friday.

Troy Bayliss said, “I miss America and so am happy to be going back there. In one way I’m sorry we’re not going back to Laguna, a track I enjoyed and know well but, having said that, I met the owner and designer of the Miller track while at Assen and saw the layout and it looks like a great track too. To be honest that is about all I know of the track at the moment, it looks pretty safe but might also get very dusty, so we’ll have to see when we get there. I have good memories of racing in America, I guess my last visit was when I was in GP and I did OK so yeah, I’m looking forward to going back there again!”

Troy Corser has won three times in the past in America and is hoping for the same this weekend, he said “I am looking forward to going back again, it was always a nice race in America. From all I’ve heard and seen, the track we are going to is well designed and safe. It should be good. I still keep in contact with a lot of people over there, sponsors and friends and so on. More so now because they all know we’re coming back and they want to come and see the race again! I made a lot of friends over there and we have been keeping in contact by email. It’s great to be going back to the states again, for the championship and for me personally.”

Carlos Checa has been racing in America in recent years with the Moto GP series and said “I am looking forward to racing in America again. It’s always a good place to go and I try to get there a couple of days ahead and visit friends and do some climbing or cycling. I have always raced at Leguna Seca, so the Miller track will be a completely new experience for me and I heard it is a very fast track. Then again, it will be new to all the riders in the competition. I think the USA is a good place for the championship and it need to be included in the World Superbike Championship. Any credible World Championship should have at least one event in the United States.”

Max Biaggi said “I’ve just watched it on the internet and seen some pictures. It looks like it’s similar to European-standard tracks which is good. It’s not like the American tracks which are not so safe and not so wide. When we started racing in America the sport was not that popular but in the last few years that we raced there, a lot of people started to come and there were more people involved from the star-system who came close to this sport. Unfortunately where we go is in Utah, which is very far away, it’s not like California. We’ll see, it’s the first time there and it depends a lot on what people expect from this kind of event. With time however, I think people will also go there.”