For the last three seasons insurance company GEICO has sponsored Richie Morris Racing (RMR) in AMA Pro road racing competition, and the RMR team has repaid GEICO with four National Championships, two in AMA Pro Daytona SportBike and two in the Vance & Hines XR1200 class, and three of those titles were earned by rider Danny Eslick. The fourth was won by Chris Fillmore.
Earlier today, however, it was announced that GEICO had signed a new, multi-year deal with Chris Ulrich Racing, which will field 2010 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Champion Martin Cardenas in the 2012 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Championship, thus signaling the end of the GEICO/RMR partnership, a fact confirmed by RMR Team Owner Richie Morris.
“First of all, I want to thank GEICO for a great three years and wish Martin good luck. He’s a class act and a good rider,” Morris told Roadracingworld.com in a telephone interview Thursday.
Morris then went on to say he was actively making plans to go racing again in 2012, plans that include once again fielding teams in both the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike and Vance & Hines XR1200 classes.
“I’m going to be expanding my Harley program. We’re going to have a Rossmeyer [-sponsored] Harley for sure, and we’re going to expand our rental program,” said Morris. “Guys won’t have to commit for the whole season, so if they want to do three or four races they can do that, sign on for those races at the beginning of the year and do a fly-in-and-ride. They’ll have a mechanic and a bike, and it’ll be just like the Rossmeyer bike with a chance to win. So I’ve been concentrating on that.
“Since November 1 I’ve been working really hard on the SportBike team. Fortunately, I’ve known about this [GEICO’s non-renewal] since Mid-Ohio, so it didn’t just hit me today. So I’ve been working on the SportBike team since July. Stay tuned.”
Asked if he had any deals with or plans to work with two-time and current AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Champion Eslick in 2012, Morris said, “No, my feeling is Danny Eslick should be on a Superbike. I’ve said this several times: I think Danny has proven all there is to prove on a SportBike, and I think he has the talent to go race on the world level. For him to get that good offer at the world level he should probably ride a Superbike, and RMR [Richie Morris Racing] is not going to do a Superbike next year. We decided this last season that Eslick would not ride an RMR SportBike [in 2012], and RMR would also not have a Superbike. Therefore, you’d have to ask Danny Eslick what he’s doing.”
Attempts by Roadracingworld.com to contact Eslick were unsuccessful at post time.