It's not for nothing sportbikes are commonly referred to as repli-racers. No matter how we choose to use our sportbikes-knee-dragging, dragracing, stunting or just plain cruising-the bottom line is these supremely capable machines are born and bred at the racetrack and designed by the factory with one purpose in mind: getting around a technical racetrack in the shortest time possible. Recognizing this, it's not a bad idea every once in a while to get out to the racetrack and watch up-close as sportbikes are exercised in their natural environment, which is how we found ourselves lurking around Northern California's scenic (and challenging) Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, earlier this summer to catch up with the fourth round of the American Motorcyclist Association's Superbike championship. Nope, nothing wrong with hitting the track to check out some hot racing action. Throw in a side order of stunts and a gaggle of sexy umbrella girls (both of which were in effect at Infineon) and you've got a solid weekend's worth of entertainment.
First, the racing: Forget for a moment the bizarro-world politics that have shaped the modern AMA racing landscape, an odd universe where Superbikes have been detuned to the point where they are occasionally outpaced by Superstock machines and where the ultimate, unlimited motorcycles (the Formula Xtreme-class bikes) are based on 600cc machines-traditionally the beginner bikes in the AMA series. The current AMA rules can make the paddock a confusing place for the casual observer, but it's a testament to the skill and savvy of today's top riders that they put on one helluva show no matter what the rules say or what particular bike they're riding. The double-header weekend at Infineon proved this point beyond a doubt.
Kawasaki was the title sponsor of the Infineon event, but even a huge influx of Kawi corporate cash couldn't stop the Suzuki guys from stealing the show. Case in point: Mat Mladin owned the Superbike class, sweeping both Superbike events that weekend on his seemingly untouchable GSX-R1000 and gapping the field first by 2.4 and then by 2.6 seconds in the first two laps of Saturday's race. Mladin's Yoshimura teammate Aaron Yates also put a GSX-R1000 on the podium in the more mildly tuned Superstock class (Yates' first win of the year, coming after an awesome paint-swapping duel with Yamaha rider Jason DiSalvo), further punctuating Suzuki's big-bike dominance. Kawasaki wasn't going to miss out on all the glory, though: Tommy Hayden took both the Supersport pole and the win on his ZX-6R. Meanwhile, the Red Riders had something to cheer about when Jake Zemke took his third win in a row in the almost-unlimited Formula Xtreme class on his CBR600RR hot rod. All of which left Yamaha and Ducati scrambling for crumbs on the lower podium rungs.
And it wasn't just the high-speed racing action that kept the crowd at Infineon tuned in, thanks to the hard-working SacNuts street freestyle team that was in the house to provide ocular stimulation in the intermissions between the racing action. SacNuts fielded a dozen stunters for the weekend event, putting on one show Saturday and two shows Sunday, the latter including not only a one-wheel lap of the entire track but also a last-man-standing contest on the front straight that had even the most upright members of the AMA paddock paying attention. Nice work, guys!
Stunts, superbikes and oodles of sexy brolly babes-what more can you ask for? Best of all, there're still a few events left before the AMA Superbike season wraps up, so what are you waiting for? Let these photos serve as inspiration, and get your ass out to the racetrack ASAP to check out the action for yourself!