Questions and Details about AMA RRGC Sept @ V.I.R.

[MAZZ77X]

OK I searched around for info on what this event is all about and I can find is a few additional classes with AMA in font of the title of classes that already exist within the CCS standard format???


1st.  What is the real attraction to riding the AMA classes VS the CCS classes that are essentially the same.


2nd.   What does the $90 entry fee get that the CCS class doesn't offer


3rd.   What are  the AMA "awards" that are given out and what is the criteria for choosing the candidate?


Basically what I found is I need to enter my normal classes to stay in the year end points chance for championships and pay an additional $90 per AMA class to participate in the AMA portion of the event. So all in all i guess my question is what do we get for entering the "AMA" races in return for the additional costs?


Sorry if this seems like a rhetorical question but for the life of me I could not find what answers I am looking for???  This is all new to us as we have never participated in anything of this nature before,  just learning as we go.......

[Burt Munro]

This might explain a bit about the awards.... The list of previous Horizon winners is pretty impressive.
http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/bikes-hayden-gillim-is-the-first-ama-horizon-award-winner-of-2010/

I worked the event when it was at Mid-Ohio (I believe it was '09 & '10) as a stand alone event - not combined with any other racing except USGPRU.  The attraction was that riders from WERA, CMRA, CRA, etc all came in to race. It was a chance for the younger riders to match up against most of the hot young talent in the country that they may not previously have raced against because they normally ran in other organizations. I thought it was a pretty cool event and a chance for some riders to get some important recognition.

[clarustnb]

I raced the lightweight races last year at Daytona.  The allure of the big pull was pretty impressive.  Jake Zemke was there fighting it up with the other CCS regulars in the bigger classes.

Sadly there was less than a handful of bikes signed up for the amature Lwt classes, but that was the entire theme of 2012.  I ended up getting a pretty sweet trophy out of the deal though and got invited to the AMA National banquet in Ohio in January.  If I thought I could be competitive in the Expert grids, I would do it again in a heartbeat.

But to directly answer your questions:

1: It is just another race.

2. It gets you entry into... just another race.

3. The race is a one shot winner take all "AMA National Championship" award.  I have no idea how the Horizon award fits into the picture of the races.

[truckstop]

Andre Ochs won the Horizon Award last year, and got a magazine cover out of it:
http://issuu.com/americanmotorcyclist/docs/0113_ama_racer

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/ama-roadrace-grand-championships-to-run-with-asraccsusgpru-september-21-22-at-vir/

Andre was a co-winner of the Youth Award in 2011 along with Nick McFadden. Jake Lewis won the Horizon Award that year, and had previously won the Youth Award in 2009.

Other special awards are the Vet/Senior Award, Youth Award, and the Top Novice Award. In order to qualify for any of these, you must participate in the AMA classes. Generally the Horizon award is pulled from the 600 and 1000 classes, the senior award from the F40 class and other results and the Youth award has previously been considered from USGPRU classes along with the AMA classes when run in conjunction. There are no hard set rules though, and it's at the discretion of the AMA officials at the event. For instance Ricky Valdez won the Vet award in 2011 even though he was in the 600/1000 classes. (Age requirement is 30+)

AMA winners also get an invite to the Championship Banquet which will be held in Columbus, OH, January 18th. The Championship Banquet features winners from all the all the AMA sanctioned amateur disciplines.

Photos from last year's banquet: http://gallery.americanmotorcyclist.com/AMA-Racing/2012-AMA-Championship-Banquet/

Photos from the 2012 RRGC at Daytona: http://gallery.americanmotorcyclist.com/AMA-Racing/2012-AMA-Road-Race-Grand/

** Also going to add the disclaimer again that if you hold an AMA PRO license and have participated in a PRO race in the 12 months prior to the RRGC you are not allowed to participate in the AMA RRGC classes. 

[MELK-MAN]

I raced the lightweight races last year at Daytona.  The allure of the big pull was pretty impressive.  Jake Zemke was there fighting it up with the other CCS regulars in the bigger classes.

Sadly there was less than a handful of bikes signed up for the amature Lwt classes, but that was the entire theme of 2012.  I ended up getting a pretty sweet trophy out of the deal though and got invited to the AMA National banquet in Ohio in January.  If I thought I could be competitive in the Expert grids, I would do it again in a heartbeat.

But to directly answer your questions:

1: It is just another race.

2. It gets you entry into... just another race.

3. The race is a one shot winner take all "AMA National Championship" award.  I have no idea how the Horizon award fits into the picture of the races.

Jake Zemke was there to win Ducati contingency money, nothing more. Without a paid ride, Jake had to do what he had to do to make $$. He was more than cool, and Mark Miller Jr. actually beat him in one of our ccs championship races by a wisker

[tug296]

Yep, Zemke was there for the money, I started the Super Twins race on the row behind him. There were more than a few there for the money which wasn't a whole bunch.