AMA Supermoto Championship

The AMA Supermoto Championship was an AMA Pro Racing-sanctioned Supermoto motorcycle racing series that ran from 2003 through 2009.^[1] AMA Pro Racing was a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Motorcyclist Association.

Classes

Main classes consisted of Supermoto (also later known as Supermoto Premier) for 400-450cc, four-stroke, single-cylinder motorcycles, and Supermoto Unlimited, open to two-stroke, single-cylinder motorcycles and 490cc and greater, four-stroke, single-cylinder motorcycles.^[2] Support classes included the Honda Junior Supermoto Challenge with riders on identically prepared Honda CRF150Fs,^[3][4] and, beginning in 2005, Supermoto Lites for 200-250cc, four-stroke, single-cylinder motorcycles.^[5]

Course Design

Racecourses were designed with approximately 80% pavement and 20% dirt, with jumps, whoop sections, and a flat-track-style turn. Courses were between .6 and 1.1 miles in length.^[6] Tabletop and Kicker “Urbancross” jumps were designed, fabricated, and then built on-site by ASD (a subsidiary of All-Access Staging and Productions) and these added an extra Motocross dimension to the paved portion of racecourses.^[7]

Venues

Unique to the AMA Supermoto championship were the use of temporary race venues in addition to traditional, purpose-built courses. Temporary venues such as Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (unused portion of the racetrack and a parking lot), Reno (public streets), Columbus (public streets and parking lots) Dallas (Reunion Arena parking lot), Las Vegas (Rio Hotel parking lot and Bally’s Casino^[8] parking lot), Copper Mountain (parking lot) were converted into racecourses complete with dirt sections and Urbancross ramps. Kart tracks (Miller Motorsports Park, Road America, USA International Raceway^[9] ) were also used as the tight, winding circuits lend themselves nicely to the agility of Supermoto motorcycles. Dedicated racecourses (oval automobile courses with infield road courses) were also used. Examples include South Boston Speedway, Irwindale Speedway, and Music City Motorplex.

2003 Championship Format

The 2003 Red Bull AMA Supermoto Championship (6 rounds) was structured in a winner-take-all format in order to attract riders from other motorcycle racing disciplines who may not have otherwise been able to compete in the new series. The first five rounds were used as qualifying rounds for the final round, the Red Bull Supermoto-A-Go-Go held at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Riders and teams were able to participate in the final championship event based on points earned in earlier rounds. Seventy-four riders qualified for the Championship finale. The unique championship format was successful in attracting racers who were competing in other series. Examples include Ben Bostrom, Eric Bostrom, and Jake Zemke (AMA Superbike), Chris Carr, Joe Kopp, Jay Shelton and Roger Lee Hayden (AMA Flat Track), and Grant Langston (AMA Motocross).

2004-2009

In 2004 and subsequent years, the Supermoto Championship was a traditional cumulative points championship with points from each round contributing to the championship.^[10]

Television

The series was broadcast tape-delayed on the Outdoor Life Network from 2003 through 2005, with the 2003 Red Bull Supermoto-A-Go-Go televised live on November 21, 2003.^[11]

AMA Supermoto Champions

Year	Supermoto	Supermoto Unlimited	Supermoto Lites	Junior Supermoto
2003	1) Ben Bostrom (Honda) 2) Doug Henry (Yamaha) 3) Jeff Ward (Honda)	1) Grant Langston (KTM) 2) Benny Carlson (KTM) 3) Kurt Nicoll (KTM)	N/A	1) Mike Alessi (Honda) 2) Jamie Siever (Honda) 3) Aaron King (Honda)
2004	1) Jeff Ward (Honda) 2) Jürgen Künzel (KTM) 3) Doug Henry (Honda)	1) Kurt Nicoll (KTM) 2) Micky Dymond (KTM) 3) Benny Carlson (KTM)	N/A	1) Chad Cose (Honda) 2) UNK (Honda) 3) UNK (Honda)
2005	1) Jürgen Künzel (KTM) 2) Jeff Ward (Honda) 3) Chris Filmore (Honda)	1) Micky Dymond (KTM) 2) Darryl Atkins (KTM) 3) Troy Herfoss (Husqvarna)	1) Mark Burkhart (Yamaha) 2) Brandon Currie (Kawasaki) 3) Joel Albrecht (Kawasaki)	1) UNK (Honda) 2) UNK (Honda) 3) Michael Johnson (Honda)
2006	1) Jeff Ward (Honda) 2) Doug Henry (Yamaha) 3) Chris Filmore (Honda)	1) Benny Carlson (KTM) 2) Micky Dymond (KTM) 3) David Baffeleuf (KTM)	1) Cassidy Anderson (Honda) 2) Brandon Currie (Yamaha) 3) Alex Thiebault (Husqvarna)	N/A
2007	1) Mark Burkhart (Yamaha) 2) Jeff Ward (Honda) 3) Troy Herfoss (KTM)	1) Benny Carlson (Aprilia) 2) Kurt Nicoll (KTM) 3) Robert Loire (Husaberg)	1) Brandon Currie (Yamaha) 2) David Pingree (Honda) 3) Adam Cini (Husqvarna)	N/A
2008	1) Troy Herfoss (KTM) 2) Chris Fillmore (KTM) 3) Cassidy Anderson (Honda)	1) Steve Drew (KTM) 2) Darryl Atkins (Aprilia) 3) Josh Chisum (KTM)	1) Brandon Currie (Yamaha) 2) Matt Burton (Yamaha) 3) Joel Albrecht (Kawasaki)	N/A
2009	1) Sylvain Bidart (Honda) 2) Mark Burkhart (KTM) 3) Brandon Currie (Yamaha)	1) Kurt Nicoll (KTM) 2) Steve Drew (KTM) 3) Justin Ross (KTM)	1) Danny Casey (Honda) 2) Matt Burton (KTM) 3) Dustin Hoffman (Honda)	N/A

References