The Daytona 200 and Superbike Races
Races at the Great Oval were held before the usual small, not to say minuscule crowd, continuing a trend of the last 15 years. With AMA Road Racing now in the capable hands of NASCAR-led and financed people, crowds will return in the coming years to see new classes, bigger fields (Over 75 starters in the 200) and tight races.

Brett McCormick

The American Superbike, a holdover class from the old AMA administration, was dominated by Mat Mladin and Suzuki - business as usual for them - while the 200 Mile saw four bikes fighting for the lead until a red flag turned the event into a hard-fought seven-lap dash at the end. This year was the first of the new administration and their rules - It will get better, I am sure.

Seventeen year-old Brett McCormick finished 21st in his first AMA Superbike race aboard a Team Suzuki Blackfoot Picotte Performance GSX-R1000, after climbing to 16th earlier in the race, then missing his braking going into Corner 1 - that's the one where you slow down from 300k/h to 60 while leaning over - and lost time coming back on the track. The kid is smart, and good, very good!

Good old Miguel Duhamel made the most of his one-off ride aboard a hastily-prepared GSX-R600 from the same team, who had only 12 days to acquire and prepare two machines before the rig left Granby for the Florida track. Without any testing, it was not surprising to see teething problems combine with bad luck to keep Miguel out of the top ten at the finish. The team and Miguel deserved better, as Dunlop rep Jim Allen mentioned when he saw Miguel rear tire after the first stop: "That is the hardest ridden tire I have seen in this race." Check out a more complete report on this site later this week.

The Alligator Enduro
This traditional off-road event saw over 400 riders participate again this year. This type of event is focused on participation, and is financially more accessible than other forms of motorcycle sport such as road racing. There was little visible decrease in the number of participants, although we did see more year-old machines than in the golden years when a new bike was needed every year.

The Business Side of Things
All major manufacturers and distributors of parts and accessories were present, as usual, while some smaller accessory suppliers did not participate, to the extent that we saw much vacant land where booths used to be in previous years.