The AMA track inspection follows two recent visits by FIM Safety Director Claude Danis, who identified certain upgrades to meet the needs of the Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship, with whom the AMA Superbike Championship will share the facility over the weekend of May 29 June 1, 2008.
The positive changes which have been made are increased asphalt runoff, improved curbing at a number of corners and modifications to the runoff at the final corner and the entrance to pit lane.
Zemke, who will move from the factory Honda Superbike and Formula Xtreme teams to the privateer Erion Racing Honda Supersport team in 2008, was very pleased with the changes that have been made.
It looks good, he said. It's not going to take much to get it ready for us to race on, just a couple of little changes here and there. Obviously, Alan and Larry (Miller, track owner) go out of their way to make sure that we get what we want here. It's great to see their enthusiasm to make this the safest track that we go to. Obviously, they've also worked on the last corner, which was the only problem we ever had with the Outer Course, and the fix looks really good. It's really great to see a track that wants to be on the forefront of safety for motorcycle racing.
The track will operate a unique dual-pit-lane concept, it will be set up so that the World Superbikes and AMA Superbikes each have their own distinct pit lane, with the World Superbikes working out of the Grand Prix garages and a hard barrier placed to separate that area from the AMA Superbike team working area and pit lane.
Each series will have its own pit-out, with the AMA using the existing pit-out, which has been modified for better flow and higher speed, and the World Superbikes using a new extended pit lane with pit-out at Turn 1. This arrangement will allow fans to visit the World Superbike pit lane while the AMA bikes are on the track, which will provide unprecedented access right in the middle of the action.
