Small-Displacement Class Considered for 2015 AMA Pro Racing Season

More and more manufacturers are entering the small-displacement sportbike market and AMA Pro Racing has taken notice, opening the possibility of adding a new racing class representing the growing segment.

With plans to consolidate the Daytona Sportbike and Supersport classes and the Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson series signed through 2015, a spot will open up on race weekends for another racing class to support the premier Superbike Championship. The logical choice is to introduce a new small-displacement class.

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“To complete the progressive class structure in 2015, AMA Pro Racing is investigating the potential of adding an entry-level division showcasing the smaller-displacement machines which are currently in large demand in showrooms across North America,” says a statement from AMA Pro Racing.

Germany’s ADAC Junior Cup will run KTM RC390 racebikes in 2014. Photo by Schedl R.

This potential new class could potentially include models such as the Kawasaki Ninja 300 and Honda CBR250R (and its replacement the CBR300R) as well as new models to come such as the Yamaha R25, KTM RC390 and Triumph‘s new 250.

Small-displacement classes are fairly common in other national and international road racing series. The Canadian Superbike series has included a Honda CBR250R series for a few years now while the World Superbike Championship has its European Junior Cup which has used various models including the Honda CBR500R this past season.

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Jake Lewis won the 2013 European Junior Cup which ran Honda CBR500R racebikes.

Those two examples were spec racing series with all competitors running similar machines. It’s not clear however whether AMA Pro Racing’s plans will be open to different machines or if it plans to field offers from manufacturers for a single-make series.

[Source: AMA Pro Racing]

By Dennis Chung