BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : SEP 11, 2000 ISSUE
Fast
Track


Intro


Corporate Shadow


Infield Oasis


Splitsville
PHOTO ESSAY
Business Week Photo Essay: "Fast Track"
QUALIFYING: One at a time, the racers get one lap to ride all-out for best position on the starting grid

FAST TRACK

The sponsor logos shriek by, but Superbike fans get the message in this emerging sport.
Laguna Seca, nestled in the affluent hills of Monterey, Calif., is a showpiece of a racetrack, and today's show is Superbikes, some of the fastest road machines in the world.

Photographs by Gerry Gropp, Blake Conner, and Jonathan Ferrey/Allsport

Text by Robert Doyle and Timothy Belknap.

Photo editing by Scott Mlyn

Unlike auto racing, the spectator can see the rider's every move, from downshifts to ballet-like body English as kneepads scrape pavement at triple-digit speeds. In flashy helmets and race leathers emblazoned with sponsors' graphics, the riders are high-speed billboards seen by 82,500 spectators at this one track alone as well as viewers of Speedvision, a cable network reaching 30 million households.

Track SpectatorsIt's a spectacular sport on the verge of drawing big-money sponsors outside the motorcycle industry for its educated, upscale market--a market that is growing 15% a year, if track attendance is any indication. Women riders and nonriding spectators are an increasing portion of the crowd. After all,

Next

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

BACK TO TOP


 
Copyright 2000-2008, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
Terms of Use   Privacy Notice