DMG President Roger Edmondson held a press conference at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca today in which he announced the 2009 schedule for AMA Pro Road Racing. The schedule includes events at 12 venues, two of which (Heartland Park Topeka and New Jersey Motorsports Park) are contingent upon approval of the course by a to-be-named Rider Safety Committee. Edmondson said that talks with representatives of Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki are ongoing, aimed at avoiding two 2009 series. Edmondson said that specific information on classes and rules will be released “in the next few days.” In response to questions from the audience, Edmondson said that the 2009 program will include a new 600cc class, Sportbike, designed for young riders to come into the sport and learn the ropes, and that the class will have age and time-of-participation restrictions. Edmondson said that members of the Rider Safety Committee for 2009 have not been named. The races at Miller Motorsports Park (held in conjunction with a World Superbike event) and at Laguna Seca (held in conjunction with a MotoGP event) will not include all AMA classes, Edmondson said. “We want to bring in enough AMA activity to support the event,” Edmondson added, explaining that he reversed his previously announced position on AMA classes being support events to a World Championship event because race team sponsors wanted the exposure to the larger crowds such events attract. He also said that the Miller World Superbike event in 2009 will include additional FIM classes, beyond just the World Superbike class itself. Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca CEO Gill Campbell added that there never was a plan to hold a stand-alone AMA National event past 2008; Edmondson said that his experience has been that National Championship events following a World Championship International event like a MotoGP race at the same track usually do not work, because the larger World Championship event typically soaks up the available race sponsorship, marketing and spectator money in its market. Edmondson said that the series will be televised on SPEED but that some terms of a contract with SPEED still needed resolution. Edmondson said that combining AMA Pro motorcycle races with car events was not planned and “not likely.” He also said that event weekends are likely to include three days of activities, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and that there will be “some controls on testing.” He said that despite rumors to the contrary, that homologation fees for specific motorcycle parts will not be very expensive, and that they may be less than homologation fees for WERA and CCS club races. Edmondson said that he had Letters of Intent with tracks listed on the schedule. A press release was handed out with the schedule, and read as follows: MONTEREY, Calif. (September 27, 2008)– AMA Pro Racing announced today their event schedule for the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing Series. The schedule listed twelve event weekends, including return engagements at all of the 2008 facilities, and added two new tracks pending Rider Safety Committee evaluation. AMA Pro Racing CEO Roger Edmondson said “We are announcing this schedule with great enthusiasm as we have been able to retain all of the events and promoters from the 2008 championship and build upon it with two new venues, Heartland Park-Topeka and New Jersey Motorsports Park. Heartland Park-Topeka has recently undergone a multi-million dollar make-over and will bring our sport to a new region of the country. New Jersey Motorsports Park is located within easy reach of New York City, Atlantic City, and Philadelphia. These major markets are sure to be attractive to our series and team sponsors. Both facilities will be evaluated by our Rider Safety Team in the near future.” The scheduled for 2009 is as follows (Update: dates for Barber and New Jersey have been corrected): March 4-6, Daytona International Speedway March 20-22, Auto Club Speedway April 3-5, Road Atlanta May 1-3, Barber Motorsports Park May 15-17, Infineon Raceway May 29-31, Miller Motorsports Park June 5-7, Road America July 3-5, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca July 17-19, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course July 31-August 2, Heartland Park-Topeka* August 14-16, Virginia International Raceway September 4-6, New Jersey Motorsports Park* * Pending Rider Safety Committee evaluation. “In the next few days we will be making announcements regarding the full spectrum of our competition structure, rules package, television agreements, and staff additions,” added Edmondson. “We continue to have productive dialogue with event promoters, motorcycle and aftermarket manufacturers. We are confident that by working together, we can provide on-track competition that will exceed the expectations of our stakeholders and fans.”