AMA Motorcycle Racing Points Don’t Add Up
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
A long-standing pet peeve in American motorcycle racing is the irritating AMA points systems. The worst case is, of course, the AMA Superbike series. (Or at least that’s what it used to be called…)
Ben Bostrom was the most dominating rider during the 2008 Supersport Championship, winning 5 races and settling for second three times. But one DNF and his title would have been long gone.
Complaining about the AMA Superbike points system is nothing new. Everyone shares the same gripes – everyone except the organizers it would seem. The problem is the system is far too generous to mediocrity and undervalues race wins.
The winner of an AMA Superbike race gets 36 points, plus two potential extra points – one apiece for pole position and leading the most laps. Second gets 32 (with the possibility of those two points as well.) Then points keep on rolling: 10th-place gets 21 points, while 20th-place gets 11 – almost a third of the points awarded to the winner!.
The idea, I assume, is to reward the backmarkers that put in the effort to fill the AMA grid. The ultimate consequence, however, is AMA Superbike championships are often won by the best rider who doesn’t get a DNF that season. Too many times a thrilling championship is spoiled by one mistake, as collecting 0 points in one round is almost always irredeemable.
(The AMA Supercross and Motocross points system is better, by far, but still curious. Case in point, during the opening round of the 2009 season in Anaheim James Stewart finished 19th, yet still earned two championship points. On top of the podium the separation between first and second is only three points (25 to 22) – third-place gets 20 points.)
Hopefully the new DMG-owned/promoted AMA Roadracing series will make some progressive changes – like adopting the points system of MotoGP and World Superbike.
The standard FIM road-racing points spread of 25, 20, 16 for the top three positions makes the most sense. It gives more value to race wins, and a rider could make up for a DNF faster too. The incentive of a five point gain or loss also spurs better racing on the track, a benefit for the fans.
At least that’s the argument.
Formula 1 has taken the race-winning argument to the extreme. For 2009 the F1 champ will be the driver who claims the most race wins. Period. An all-or-nothing wins championship format is daring. At the very least, it will make for an interesting season of racing.
Post Tags: ama roadracing, ama superbike, ama points
