More ........ from DMG. They are loving this ....,they have not had this many press conferences in 6 months.
DMG\AMA Pro Racing's Public Relations man, Ollie Dean, held a short press conference this morning at Mid-Ohio to address questions the media have about the Buell 1125RR recentley being homologated in the Superbike class. This is a transcript of that press conference.
A Okay, what can I do for everyone?
Q We just want to let you guys maybe say some more about the Buell thing that came out this week, if that's what you guys want to do. Explain the process, how that machine got homologated. If you have any comments or anything like that.
A We went through a centered homologation process. Al Ludington in our tech department, along with Roy Jansen, who's our VP of Competition, worked with getting that bike homologated. If you've got individual questions, Roy or Al would be much more able to answer those, as he answered them with David earlier today about the entire process that it went through. We went through our standard process. It's based on a production motorcycle, the 1125R. It's available and expected to be readily available through all the dealers for any AMA Professional racer that wants to buy it, which mirrors what it says [inaudible] in our homologation rules.
Q What's the difference between "street legal" and "certified for street use?" The RR clearly isn't street legal. That's sort of the way we interpret it.
A I'm not sure that there's any bikes out here that are street legal.
Q Well, no, but the bike - the basic bike - the base model is homologated.
A And the base model is the 1125R. This is what it's based on, it's a production model.
Q It's based on that, but it's a separate motorcycle. That's the difference. This is a separate motorcycle that's being homologated. This isn't - this isn't the 1125R. The release we got said, "we homologated an 1125RR," which is a different motorcycle. So that's where the confusion is.
A It's a production-based motorcycle, based on the 1125R, that has a package that went through the homologation process, that's legal to race in our series. Any manufacturer that presented that would go through the same process, for that manufacturer to try and find a bike below $40,000 that you could go out and buy and race if you were an AMA licensed rider, and if the factory would support it with its bits and pieces, and it's available through the dealers.
Q No different than you could buy an 1125R, by the rules, turn it into the exact same thing that the RR is?
A That would be a question for Al.
Q So is the position that because Buell's putting on the parts that someone who bought it would, anyways, they're just doing it before the sale instead of after the sale?
A The position is that it's an 1125RR based on the 1125R, that went through the homologation process that our rulebook mandates that all bikes would have to go through, and that it's approved to race this weekend.
Q And because it's based on the other model, the June 1st deadline isn't relevant? Because the other one was homologated by June 1st?
A I believe that's correct, but that would be a technical question for Al Ludington.
Q Well, no, I mean that's just on the homologation part. It says it has to be June 1st and available through August. Is what it says on the homologation part.
A I wouldn't want to speak for Al, obviously, in how that decision was made, but I don't necessarily fault that logic that the 1125R was available before that deadline.
Q So if Yamaha or Suzuki or somebody else wanted to build a hot-rod bike, essentially based on the GSX-R, with fairing and everything else, could they go ahead and do that?
A They'd have to go through the same process that Buell went through. They'd have to submit what their plan was, absolutely. And if there's a cost-effective way [inaudible], that's going to lower the expense that someone would have to do normally to buy whatever OEM bike it was and then make it race-ready, we'd welcome that from any manufacturer, absolutely.
Q That's different from the philosophy that we heard earlier in the year, and last year, that they were trying - I mean, Al told me they were trying to avoid that kind of stuff. Like the Yamaha LE was the one he specifically brought up. And now, this is - That was street legal.
A I don't want to speak for a conversation that you and Al had.
Q Right. Right.
A I can't really speak to that at all.
Q Okay.
A But what I will say, is, once again, if any manufacturer was to present to us, and then we could present to either existing or potential competitors, a cost-effective way to go racing, we're going to take a hard look at it, absolutely, and would welcome the opportunity to do so.
Q And is Al allowed to talk to us?
A I'm not sure I understand that question, Henny Ray.
Q Well, because when we went to talk to Bill at the last race, we had to submit questions to you. Because when I've tried to talk to Al, he said, "Ask Ollie." So I just don't know who's allowed to talk to me and who's not.
A Well, once again - and actually, what was described in your magazine about how that process worked, is still accurate in all it says in there.
Q Well, that's fine -
A No one's not allowed to talk to anybody. We just want to make sure that you get the answers from the right people. So if you will submit those questions to me, then if Al's the right person to answer them, I'll be more than happy to set up a time for you and Al to talk. If Al's not the right person to answer them, I want to make sure that you actually talk to the right person.
Q But Al is the right person to answer these questions.
A Yeah, about the homologation process.
A The questions that you've raised are essentially about a conversation that you had previously with him. I can't think of anybody better than Al to talk to about that.
Q So it's okay for any of us to talk to him? Or do we each need ... Al's never spoken to me on the record since he's been here.
A The only thing I can say is, David had some questions this morning. He asked me those questions. I deemed it inappropriate for me to answer them, because they were technical questions that I didn't have the knowledge to. The questions that he wanted answered, Al was the person to answer them, and Al was definitely on the record with him today. So if you'll let me know what your questions are, as we described in Laguna Seca, and if Al's the right person to answer those specific questions, I'll get you in touch with Al.
Q Well, the questions would be pretty much - okay. I'll think about them. I'm sure these guys will too. But I would think it's the same thing. It's just that I think what the entire - everybody I've talked to in the paddock has had the same feeling, that it's a different motorcycle. And so that's why Al would - I know that you've explained it, but that's where everybody seems upset. It's not an 1125R. It was presented as a different motorcycle. Your press release said it's an 1125RR -
A I think you're getting hung up on the "street certified," and I think they're getting hung up on whether that means "street legal." And once again, there's not a bike that would pass any DOT standard to be street legal that's in this paddock racing American Superbike. It's based on a production model that is street legal, and that production model's the 1125R in this case. It's the GSX-R 1000 in other cases. And that's where we're at.
So that's good. Any follow-up questions, feel free to email those questions to me, and I'll make sure the right person gets in touch with you.
