WERA & American Motorcyclist Association Team Up as Co-Sanctioning Bodies in Road Racing for 2017

The American Motorcyclist Association out of Pickerington, OH. and WERA (Western Eastern Road Racing Association) out of Canton, GA. yesterday announced a partnership for the upcoming 2017 road racing season that will see the two long-standing sanctioning bodies teaming up to offer more possibilities for racers for the future ahead.

The two series (long before AMA/Ohio sold off Pro Racing sanctioning rights to AMA Pro/Daytona/DMG) have long seen riders and teams crossover from one series to the other, so this should see some nice dovetailing for current teams and riders for the road racing series. AMA/Ohio holds the FIM sanctions that the now reworked AMA Superbike Series operates under with the MotoAmerica racing series.

In the shot above, the late Donald Jacks on the #59 Roadracing World/Team Hammer/Valvoline Suzuki and Chris D'Aluisio on the #2 Southwest Motorsports/Dunlop/Red Line Oil Yamaha TZ250 battle during a WERA Pro Series Formula USA race at Indianapolis Raceway Park in Clermont, IN. in July 1992. The former Formula USA Series saw many crossovers from both AMA and WERA competition that would pit the Formula 2 250's against the big-bore 4-strokes of the day providing fans, teams and all in attendance with a wonderfully exciting racing platform.

Check out the press release below thanks to the American Motorcyclist Association and we wish the best to AMA and Evelyne Clarke's WERA associations for the great news and great racing assuredly ahead!

American Motorcyclist Association partners with WERA Motorcycle Roadracing

PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- December 9, 2016 -- The American Motorcyclist Association and WERA Motorcycle Roadracing have partnered to advance the sport of motorcycle road racing in America. Beginning with the start of WERA's 2017 season, all WERA events will be co-sanctioned with the AMA.

"WERA has produced a long line of impressive winners, and many of them have gone on to great success in the AMA Superbike Championship and beyond," said AMA Track Racing Manager Ken Saillant. "The professionalism and fairness demonstrated by WERA's leadership has always been exceptional, and the organization is an important partner for the AMA as we work to grow both amateur and professional road racing in this country."

With this partnership, WERA has access to AMA-approved insurance, AMA ratification and recognition of results, and the opportunity to develop a clear path to professional licensing for those riders who aspire to race with MotoAmerica, the home of the AMA Superbike Championship.

"AMA and MotoAmerica have worked hard and are succeeding in bringing growth to professional motorcycle road racing in the United States," said Evelyne Clarke, WERA owner and president. "Many WERA racers have a dream to compete on a professional level, so it is important to provide them the path to accomplish this, which is one of the things this partnership will do. The many benefits of an AMA membership are valuable to all WERA racers."

Clarke, whose history with WERA dates to 1976, added that the AMA's role as the country's premier motorcycling advocate also was important to the decision to sanction with the AMA.

"The AMA has long defended our freedoms to ride and race," Clarke said. "This includes uniting AMA members to help defeat the lead law ban on youth dirt bikes as well as stopping the more recent effort by the Environmental Protection Agency to prohibit the conversion of emissions-certified motorcycles into race bikes."

WERA, based in Canton, Ga., is one of the oldest and largest national sanctioning bodies conducting motorcycle races at road courses across the United States. Since 1974 WERA has enabled thousands of racers at all levels the opportunity to compete across the country. WERA offers a Rider's School with entry-level racing, pro-am racing and vintage racing for anyone with a motorcycle.

For more information on WERA, as well as the 2017 schedule of events, see www.wera.com.

About the American Motorcyclist Association

 

Founded in 1924, the AMA is a not-for-profit member-based association whose mission is to promote the motorcycle lifestyle and protect the future of motorcycling. As the world's largest motorcycling rights and event sanctioning organization, the AMA advocates for riders' interests at all levels of government and sanctions thousands of competition and recreational events every year. The AMA also provides money-saving discounts on products and services for its members. Through the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Pickerington, Ohio, the AMA honors the heroes and heritage of motorcycling.

 

 

For more information, visit www.americanmotorcyclist.com.

 

Not a member? Join the AMA today: www.americanmotorcyclist.com/membership/join 

Media contact: James Holter
Phone: (614) 856-1900, ext. 1280
E-mail: jholter@ama-cycle.org

Larry Lawrence's The Rider Files.com Takes a Look at Multi-Time WERA Champ Kurt Hall

Multi-time WERA Champion Kurt Hall on the #1 Team Emgo/Valvoline Suzuki GSXR gets a push off after a pit stop during a WERA Endurance Series race at Indianapolis Raceway Park (now Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis) in 1990.  Helping to assist on the stop is Team Hammer's crew chief, Keith Perry (in glasses) who to this day still crews for the original Team Hammer (now M4 Suzuki) in the AMA Pro Road Racing Series.  Team Hammer started back in the very late '70s/early '80s with Bruce Hammer and John Ulrich (of RoadRacingWorld.com fame, among others!), and is one of very few teams over the years/decades who never strayed from running the Suzuki marque in racing, which they have now campaigned for over three decades.

Hall won numerous titles in the WERA Endurance Series (with The Human Race Team and Team Hammer), as well as pocketing a good share of Honda and Suzuki contingency monies over the course of his 10+ year road racing career while running numerous production class races that paid out manufacturer contingency dollars to top finishers in the 500/600/750/1000-1100 classes back in the late '80s and early-mid '90s.  Besides winning endurance championships, Hall was also a multi-time production class champion. 
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Kurt Hall was one of the most popular and winningest riders in WERA competition from the early-mid '80s until he hung up his helmet and leathers over 17 years ago.  Campaigning Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki machines over the years, some of his biggest wins came in the WERA Endurance Series while riding for the Human Race Team and Team Hammer (now M4 Suzuki.)  Hall was as personable off the track as he was effective on the track when racing, and always seemed to have a smile on his face around the paddock. 

Larry Lawrence's The Rider Files.com has a great overview of his career over the years that takes a look at one of the most popular and lethal men to have ever thrown a leg over a road racing machine over the years.  Great reading about one of the greats of the sport!
 
Thanks to LL for another great story on one of the legends of the sport, and one of the truly nice guys around the paddock:

http://www.theriderfiles.com/?p=11692
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Fritz Kling Remembered by Stu's Shots

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Fritz Kling on the #31 Gold Hill Yamaha 1000 comes through the last turn before coming back onto the front straight at the old Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP-now ORP due to O'Reilly Auto Parts monetary involvement) on his way to winning both WERA Pro Series/FUSA events back in July '92. Fritz completely spanked the field in both events that summer at one of the tracks that he had some of his biggest success at-the other being Grattan Raceway outside Grand Rapids, MI. Grattan was really considered his home track since he was from the Lansing area, but he placed on the podium many times in WERA competition at IRP as well.
IRP/ORP hasn't hosted any motorcycle road racing events in some time now-probably a couple of years after this event. Around that time Putnam Park opened outside Putnamville, IN., and the races were slated over there. This was about the time that the NHRA took over control of IRP. It's a shame as from the time I saw my first road race at IRP in the mid '70s I was hooked on it big time. Back then I was within 15-20 minutes from the track. Now I'm less then five and no more road racing.
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With the camera shooting as he spoke, Fritz Kling is interviewed by Larry Lawrence (of The Rider Files.com and author of the 'Archive' column in Cycle News & CN AMA Flat Track contributor) after winning the weekend's premier WERA/FUSA Pro Series events at IRP in July of '92. One of the sponsors of the event was Dreyer (not Dryer as mis-spelled on the banner) Motorsports Yamaha/Suzuki from Indy. Dreyer Honda is the oldest Honda dealership in the United States and opened the Yamaha/Suzuki dealership just down the road from the original Honda shop, on the west side of Indy, in the mid-late '80s (if my memory serves me correctly). Fritz was used to talking to Larry, as back in those days Double L was a regular contributor to American Roadracing, and along with Dan Schmitt out of the Chicago area covered the majority of the North Central WERA races at that time. Between Fritz' smile and LL's it was beaming in the winner's circle celebration that day!
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Jeff Heino on the #25 Fastline/MCM Racing Suzuki 1100 leads Fritz Kling on the #19 Gold Hill Yamaha 1000 at Mid Ohio in the summer of '92 during the AMA/U.S. Endurance Team Championship sprint race. Fritz rode for Gold Hill, Dutchman Racing and several other big teams in those days and was always a presence on AND off the track. His towering frame (he must have been 6 ft. 3-4 in. +/-) seemed to not only dwarf the competition but the motorcycle itself as well. It never appeared to be a hinderance, though, as he regularly beat guys he was giving up at least 30-50 pounds on. He was always a joy to watch on the track, and a great personality off the track as well.
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Fritz Kling is interviewed by the track announcer at Mid Ohio in the summer of '92 after placing second to Scott Russell in the AMA 750 Supersport race. Fritz was riding his College Bike Shop/Class Racing Kawasaki 750 that day against Russell's Muzzy Kaw. He almost always had that smile on his face, one that you could tell that he was just loving having fun and racing at the same time. Laid back off, but a monster on the race track, you knew if Fritz showed up at an event you'd not only see that smile but would also see him up at the front with the competition.
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Fritz Kling was drafted onto the Harley Davidson VR1000 AMA Road Racing team as a team mate to Miguel Duhamel in the 'early' hours of the VR's run in AMA competition just after Daytona in '94. Riding the #77 machine at Mid Ohio, above, during practice or qualifying for the '94 event, Fritz didn't have the success that Miguel did that weekend (Miguel put it on the front row of the national and led the first few laps), but neither did Doug Chandler, Chris Carr (okay, CC did put it on the pole at Pomona in '95), Scott Russell, Pascal Picotte, or Mike Smith. And those were just the list of guys that rode the VR on the factory team. Jamie James, Tripp Nobles and several other riders competed on the VR for Don Tilley, among others, with far less success. This didn't seem to matter to Fritz as it still seemed like whenever he got off the bike he still had the big kid-like smile on his face. He always projected the feeling that he was just glad to be there, in spite of the bike's major short-comings.
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Fritz Kling was a motorcycle road racer out of the Lansing, MI. area, that was born on June 10, 1967. He was a regular WERA and AMA competitor for teams such as Gold Hill, Dutchman Racing, Harley Davidson as well as his personal sponsors College Bike Shop out of the Lansing area (just to name a few). He always seemed to have a smile on his face, and almost always seemed to be up towards the front of a motorcycle road race event. Among his many accomplishments were his '89 Michigan Grand Prix Championship at Grattan Raceway, just outside of Grand Rapids, MI., in the WERA series, and winning several events that I attended at IRP back in the '80s and early '90s.
Other then when I did an announcing gig at IRP for the WERA folks in the fall of '87 and got to hand out the trophies at the end of the weekend's events-I handed a few over to Fritz that day as I remember-I only had the pleasure of meeting and/or talking to him one or two times over the years. In October of '90 I went down to Road Atlanta for the WERA GNF's with an old time friend (Jim Knipp, another long-time WERA Champ and racer) to hang out, help out where I could, and take a few pictures along the way. We were fortunate enough to run into Fritz at a local eatery and my friend Jim introduced us formally that evening and he had that big smile that evening just as I had seen it on him many times before at the race track. And always a positive and friendly attitude to boot. He had one of those endearing personalities that would stay with you and just make you feel good you got a chance to speak to and with him.
Unfortunately, Fritz lost his battle with brain cancer on November 7, 2008, and won't be around tomorrow to celebrate his 43rd birthday with his family, his friends or his race competitors. Not unlike the way he battled on the track, his race against the cancer that took him away from us was just as fierce. But unlike his battles on the track, we are the ones who lost out when this battle was won by The Man who called Fritz home before his time should have been due.
Tomorrow I'm going to take a moment of silence to remember Fritz Kling, as the good guy and fierce competitor that he was.
And I'm going to remember that killer smile of his as well and remember how blessed we all were to have been in his presence to see the fun loving guy he was and the positive vibe he projected on AND off the track. And I'm going to remember the giant he was among people, let alone racers, literally and figuratively.

God Bless, Fritz, and Happy Birthday. You are truly missed, but never forgotten........
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