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Sometimes you just have to shake your head when you read something. Roadracingworld.com published a press release about shortening the Sunday AMA Superbike race at Road Atlanta. The race was reduced from 25 laps, down to 20 laps. The reason for the reduction was at Dunlop’s Jim Allen request, due to safety concerns. The kicker is the safety concerns was the Dunlop tires were blistering and in one case the tire came off the rim and wire from the bead on one tire was viable

In a statement released by Dunlop, the company said, “With knowledge gathered from the recent tire testing session and confirmed in the first Superbike race on Saturday, the tire compounds available to the Superbike teams for Sunday’s Superbike race may not be able to withstand high tire temperatures for the duration of a scheduled 25-lap race. Though there were no tire failures of any type in race one on Saturday, September 1, there were several instances of blistered tires resulting in reduced grip.”

What is funny is, the AMA road racing series is not a “Spec” tire series. Dunlop, Michelin and Pirelli directly support the series. What makes Dunlop such a powerhouse that the AMA can change the length of a race and the “Request” of the Dunlop racing representative Jim Allen. The fact is that Dunlop tires are on about 75% of all the AMA Superbikes, and many non sponsored racers chose Dunlop tires. These racers just can not easily switch brands of tires in a weekend, plus the expense to have extra tires is something these racers may not be able to afford.

The last big spectacle in racing where a tire brand was “unsafe” for a race was the Auto F1 USGP at Indy. At that time Michelin requested the governing body of F1 to slow the cars to prevent tire failures. The F1 governing body refused and all but 6 cars (All Bridgestone cars) did not start the race and pulled off. That action hurt the F1 racing in the US, Hurt the image of Michelin race tires and in general was a bad gig for everyone involved.

Over on the MotoGP side, this year Michelin riders are struggling against the Bridgestone mounted riders. MotoGP added a new rule limiting teams to 14 front tires and 17 rear tires, pre-selected before the beginning of each MotoGP weekend. Michelin was famous for making many tires and even one off tires produced the night before the race. Now with a pre-selected tire limit, Michelin riders find their tire choices are not as competitive as the selection from Bridgestone. The once all good natured Valentino Rossi has even started to show frustration to the tire rule.

Back at the AMA race in Atlanta, the race was shortened. Their was no big public outcry from Michelin and Pirelli on the matter their tires go the distance, while Dunlop needs a shorter race to stay competitive. I believe Dunlop could have told their racers to be easy on the tires to make them last, but what racer is going to slow down 2 or 3 seconds a lap? Dunlop could have offered free tires to the privateers and everyone could have done a pit-stop and changed tires during the race. But neither of these options were mentioned as possible solutions, the only word was to shorten the race.

In the end, racers safety is most important. It is best for the AMA, Sponsors and everyone involved to shorten the race. I still think some Penalty to Dunlop is in order, or other tire brands need a “Get out of Jail” free card to use when something similar happens. Who knows, but my guess is, that will not happen.

Anyway one race weekend at Laguna Seca to go, before the end of the AMA road racing season…. My racing season will start up about the same time.