LAS VEGAS (Nov. 20, 2015) - The waiting is over, the lineup is almost set and riders are ready to take to the Chris Carr-designed, Dennis Pearson-built dirt track inside Las Vegas' Orleans Arena for the first running of the Superprestigio of the Americas presented by Yamaha tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 21.
Practice and qualifying kick off at 3:00pm and the opening ceremonies for the evening program begin at 7:30pm. The national anthem will be sung by up-and coming recording artists Auburn Road.
The race, a unique all-star competition originally conceived of in Spain in the 1980s and revived by MotoGP Champion Marc Marquez last year in Barcelona, this is the first time the popular Superprestigio concept comes to America.
The lineup brings together the most talented riders from AMA Pro Flat Track going head to head with MotoGP, World Superbike and MotoAmerica AMA road racers along with riders from diverse motorcycle disciplines such as hillcimb, endurance racing, off-road and motocross. This will be the first time riders from this many motorcycle racing championships will come together on American soil since the heyday of the AMA Supermoto Championship a decade ago.
Highlighting the AMA Pro Flat Track Championship riders will be AMA Pro Grand National Champions Jared Mees, Brad Baker, Kenny Coolbeth, Jr., Jake Johnson as well as X-Games Gold medalist Bryan Smith. Riders from AMA Pro Flat Track are heavily favored to win the Superprestigio of the Americas since flat track racing is their bread and butter, but as MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez proved last year in winning the Superprestigio in Barcelona, a rider's talent will shine though no matter what and in this type of racing you can expect the unexpected.
In addition to the AMA Pro Flat Track regulars fans will get the opportunity to watch leading road racers, a hillclimber, Supermoto and off-road specialists go head to head on a quarter-mile indoor short track, something out of their normal comfort zone.
Highlighting the All-Star bracket of SOTA are Yamaha's multi-time MotoAmerica/AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes. Hayes is quite simply one of the most dominant riders in the history of AMA Superbike. His numbers speak for themselves: A four-time AMA Superbike title winner with Monster Energy/Graves Motorsports Yamaha, Hayes is ranked second all-time for AMA Superbike championships, wins, with 58 career victories.
Perhaps one of the most intriguing stories of Saturday's race is that of Jake Gagne. The 2015 MotoAmerica 1000 Superstock Championship, the 2014 AMA Daytona Sportbike Championship, and the 2010 MotoGP Red Bull Rookies Cup Championship. In 2015 "for fun" Gagne raced and qualified for a Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross National at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah! And now Gagne will harken back to the rare motorcycle greats like Dick Mann and Steve Wise, who raced at the top level of flat track, road racing and motocross all in the same season.
From MotoGP comes Toni Elias and Anthony West. Elias has 17-career GP wins, including a legendary MotoGP victory. Elias became Moto2 World Champion in 2010, scoring seven Moto2 victories along the way. In 2015 he raced part-time in MotoGP. West is one of the top road racing talents to come out of Australia in recent years.
And talk about a diverse field - consider 2015 AMA Pro Xtreme Hillclimb Champion Phil Libhart. Hillclimb is such a specialized form of motorcycle racing that rarely do you see these hilltoppers race elsewhere, but Libhart will represent one the oldest and most American forms of motorcycle racing in SOTA'15.
And then there's Dani Ribalta. The Spaniard was a key member of the racing team that won the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hour motorcycle endurance road race.
And there are many more riders will nearly as equally compelling stories racing in Saturday's event. The whole thing will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network on Sunday, November 29, at 9 p.m. ET /6 p.m. PT.
The Superprestigio of the Americas presented by Yamaha (SOTA'15) will bring together leading motorcycle racers from various motorcycle-racing disciplines from around the world to compete head to head with the stars of AMA Pro Flat Track on a specially-designed indoor short track at the Orleans Hotel & gambling in Las Vegas on Nov. 21, 2015. The special race is part of the big Las Vegas doubleheader weekend with the AMA Pro Flat Track finale taking place the night before (Nov. 20, 2015) on the same track. www.superprestigio.com #VegasFT
