 An AMA Superbike race at Infineon Raceway in 2004. | |
| Category | Superbike racing |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Inaugural season | 1976 |
| Riders' champion | Jake Gagne |
| Makes' champion | Yamaha |
| Teams' champion | Fresh 'N Lean Progressive Racing Yamaha |
| Official website | http://www.motoamerica.com |
 Current season | |
AMA Superbike Championship is an American motorcycle racing series that has been run every year beginning in 1976. For most of its existence it has been considered the premier motorcycle road racing series in the United States. It is sanctioned by the AMA American Motorcyclist Association since its inception, and the promotion of the series has been licensed to several organizations over the years. Since 2015 the series has been run and promoted by MotoAmerica, who also manage several other AMA professional road racing championships, including the popular 600cc Supersport class.[1]
The AMA Superbike Championship was created in 1976 as a new motorcycle road racing series taking advantage of the newest large displacement production road-going motorcycles of up to 1000cc's that were increasingly popular with American riders. The series was initially called "Superbike Production" and was initially modeled on a regional series that had been run in California in the previous years.[2] Up until this the most prestigious racing series in the United States was the AMA Grand National Series which required competition in five different formats 1/4 mile, 1/2 mile, 1 mile and TT courses, which were all run on dirt ovals, and pavement racing.[3] Europe, under the guidance of the FIM, or Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, had a much more developed motorcycle road racing world championship, but it didn't include any American venues in the series.
In 1986, the AMA recognized the changing nature of motorcycle racing by making the Grand National Championship into a dirt-track-only series; road-racing rounds were branched off into a separate championship which was named the AMA Superbike Championship.[4] The fact that the rules were set up to compete using the same large displacement production bikes that people saw in the showrooms quickly made the series popular with fans, racers and after several seasons motorcycle manufacturers took a direct interest and began sponsoring teams and riders.[5]
- ^ "Road Racing". AMA Web Site. American Motorcycle Association. February 17, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
- ^ Cameron, Kevin. "Origins of American Superbike". Cycle World. Octane Media LLC. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
- ^ "AMA: The First 60 Years". American Motorcyclist (January 1984): 27. January 1984.
- ^ Assoc, American Motorcyclist (February 1986). Road Racing gets its own series for 1986. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ Chandler, Doug. "Thirty-Nine Years of AMA SuperBike". motoAmerica.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2021.