No Mid Ohio AMA races in 2013?!

[RVTPilot]

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Sep/120917ii.htm

Had to figure that if they were looking for a title sponsor when the race was here a couple months ago that things would head this direction.

Thoughts???

[RHill]

Hopefully its not true!

should have went this year

[SJC1000rr]

With the increasing amount of issues with Mid Ohio and the Surface, I can see this happening. How many crashes were there at this year AMA event with the 600s and so on. There needs to be some changes in policy and revamping of the surface in key area's to attract more people and races.

You can youtube anything Mid Ohio + Rain and watch every sport there crashing and going off course.

[APCh8r]

I agree with steve...hopefully this will open the eyes of the new management at Mid Ohio and get some much need renovations done to be able to handle top tier racing in rain or shine atmosphere.

[scottb]

As a season pass holder for mid ohio the last couple years, the superbike attendance has been dwindling. And without the big time vendors and factory booths, people started losing that "great value for the event" mindset.

And possibly with Mladin and Spies leaving the Suzuki cup series ( i know it was still AMA, but those years one of those guys usually won ) when they did, maybe no draw for the crowds.

[twowheelsnake]

Their events as a whole seem to be on decline. The condition of the track isn't the whole issue.

[blue03636]

I blame Jinu, he went to his first ama race this year and now this happens.

[whaler]

For twenty years Mid-Ohio was the most attended race in the series, but the year of the season final debacle, attendance started falling. Started nose diving after DMG bought the rights, and attendance has just not been the same.

In the past, the race was promoted (radio advertisements, bill boards, local news plugs). There has been nothing like that for the last 5-8 years. They really need a big money sponsor (like honda was in the past). DMG drove Honda and Kawasaki out of the series, and the two of them accounted for some major dollars for many of the rounds. The economy in the rust belt has been bad, but I think DMG and the lack of advertisement have had more to do with this than anything else.

[TRMN8TR]

Now's our chance, we gotta get Todd on this and maybe we can snag an open weekend for a Moto Series race weekend at Mid-O?

[RVTPilot]

Mid OH is the perfect storm of the way DMG has gutted the AMA series' combined with the track mismanagement. It's really sad, too, as I have friends all over the country that rave about Mid OH from back in the day. Even when I came back to Ohio in the early 2000s and it was the aforementioned "Suzuki Cup" there were still throngs of fans and vendors at each event. Now, it's like a motorcycle flea market in the vendor area, and it costs an arm and a leg for the littlest bit of food. The surface I have a hard time bitching about after spending my last two track days at Nelson, but on a big league scale, it could use some spit and polish to get back to its rightful status among the country's best, IMHO. Some of the world's finest open wheel racing took place there, and sadly that has gone away, too. Someone down there needs to get their shit together.

[RVTPilot]

Now's our chance, we gotta get Todd on this and maybe we can snag an open weekend for a Moto Series race weekend at Mid-O?

I was just thinking that.

[Helmutt]

Think there were riders going down in most every class this year, exit of the keyhole and just before the carousel. A few overcooked the backstraight, but that wasn't MidO's fault. Lack of advertisement surely played a part as well. Seems DMG may be killing AMAPR in a slow, yet cancerous, manner

[TSB67]

First time I went there was 2002 because my neighbor gave me free tickets (probably the year of that photo on Soup). I was instantly hooked and, in addition to becoming a superfan of the series in general, went back every year until about 09. (I know I went to that debacle of a Daytona race in 09, only because I happened to be there for Supercross - can't remember if I went to Midohio that year or not). I usually have some friends call me up with tickets, I usually tell them to let me know if they set up the jumbotrons again, otherwise I'd just as soon watch it in my livingroom if at all.

It's just not the same anymore. Something has changed, probably just the sum of alot of little things. While it will be sad to see another great thing go, it's almost just as sad to watch it linger on as a shell of its former self.

[CephasGT]

If it's true, it lines right up with what I've been hearing in the paddock for the last few years. What I was told at this year's event was that all it would take for MO to lose their AMA round was a single rainstorm during a weekend. With COTA opening up, maybe it won't even take that.

[madcat6183]

Nothing's going to change at the track, sorry, the whole area is a dieing community. It's really sad, but I've been watching Mid Ohio go down the crapper since I was abotu 6 years ago and used to enjoy going out there all summer long.

It's not just the track or management, it's the area around it that are dragging it down, like stated, no advertisement, no coverage, nothing coming from the community to help the track in the hard times. Used to be the 71 exits would be lined with flags, banners, hotels, resturants all had signs up, happy hours, all kinds of stuff. Now it's like no one even knows when the events are.

[Earache]

The shitload of cops at MidO is one of the reasons I quit going. And they watch every route out of there like a hawk as well - just waiting to pounce on unsuspecting out of staters that aren't used to Ohio cops.

And the Indy MotoGP has taken away a lot of their dollars as well. If you're from the Midwest and can only afford one race weekend a year, MidO for an AMA race ain't gonna be it.

[SCQTT]

And the Indy MotoGP has taken away a lot of their dollars as well. If you're from the Midwest and can only afford one race weekend a year, MidO for an AMA race ain't gonna be it.

Probably one of the largest factors.

[wantahertzdonut]

Speaking of COTA, if MotoGP holds a race there, would that eliminate one of the existing US GP events? If that were the case, and MotoGP went to Austin instead of Indianapolis, it might bring back attendance at MO for AMA.

Earache has a good point too. Cops generating revenue, I mean enforcing the law, are really doing a great job of killing crowds at anything, be it racing, concerts, fairs, you name it. But that's another rant for another day.

[CephasGT]

As of now, the existing US GP events have contracts through 2014, so that'd mean three US GPs, at least for the short term.

[Hailwood]

I've been going for 12 years now, and will be gutted if Mid-O falls off the schedule, but as others have said, it's not surprising.

The gradeur of the event has really gone downhill since the mid 00's, and I swear I saw more manufacturer support at the last WERA/AHRMA race I went to (not really, but close). For people who aren't die-hard race fans there's really not that much incentive to go.

Truly unfortunate since it's such a great place to watch a race and is so close to home.

[Casper]

Wow that would suck. I look forward to those races every year.

[snot]

I think you look forward to the camping

[Habi]

Confirmed dates for 2013.

"Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course has been a well-deserved mainstay on the American road racing scene since 1962, and the legendary asphalt has seen some of the most exciting road racing action in the country. The weekend of July 12-14, 2013 does not intend to be the exception as the series heads back to Lexington, Ohio for the 31st time to take on the 2.4-mile, 15-turn natural terrain road course for another set of exciting shootouts."

[Helmutt]

AWESOME NEWS!

[Casper]

Oh man, this just totally made my day. F-ing a.