Dodge Shows Big Love to FIM World SuperBike Championship

Posted on June 9, 2010 by RLD

We have to be honest – we knew very little about Salt Lake City prior to our Memorial Day trip. We knew John Stockton played basketball there, and we were guessing there was a salty lake somewhere nearby, but that was about it. After this past weekend though, Salt Lake City, Utah, will officially stick in our minds as home to one of the best track experiences in the USA.

Miller Motorsports Park in partnership with the FIM Superbike World Championship put together one of the most exciting, entertaining race events that you could find this side of the Mississippi. Lucky for us, Dodge and our Italian brothers, Alfa Romeo, were amongst the title sponsors. With wrist bands stacked all the way to our elbow, a couple of lanyards and a pit pass, we roamed the 500-acre complex in a feverish attempt to cover all the action. One mild heat stroke, an IV drip and a nasty sunburn later, we surfaced with more photos and videos than your artsy cousin amassed during that year he spent in that weird European art school. But we digress.

The craziness ripped open bright and early Saturday morning with the first of many practice sessions for the day. With Lucas Oil Superbike Challenge and World Supersport supporting the FIM Superbike World Championship, that paddock was full with racers from all over the world qualifying on a full range of Italian, Japanese, German and American machinery. That evening, while the track cooled, enthusiasts and bikes alike got to kick back and enjoy a cold one to the sound of Kansas, Styx and Foreigner in concert. That’s right, we got to listen to “Dust in the Wind” live.

On Sunday, Xerox Team Ducati rider Michel Fabrizio dropped by the Dodge booth for a ride in the Viper and a quick autograph session. Once the crowd cleared, the action picked again with the three World Superbike Superpoles. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Superbike circuit, the Superpole is a unique qualifying process in which 21 riders are pared down to 16 fastest, and then to eight for a final qualifying. Placement in the last round determines a rider’s position on the starting grid. It’s an impressive sight to see, but it was made even more so by Spain’s Carlos Checa. During his run, Checa set a track record of 1:47.081 while winning the 3rd pole of his World Superbike career.

Unfortunately, though Checa was primed to win on both of Sunday’s main races, he was forced to retire with mechanical issues just a few laps from the finish of each race. Playing Checa’s bad luck to his advantage, Max Biaggi swooped in for an impressive double win.

While the bikes screaming around the track were impossible to miss, the real action was over in the west paddock. The Dodge booth garnered a tremendous amount of attention, no small thanks to the record-breaking Nurburgring 7:22.1 Viper which you might have seen blistering by on YouTube. Also on display was the Viper Competition Coupe, the Furious Fuchsia Dodge Challenger, and the absurdly fun Dodge Thrill Rides (stick around for our full write-up on that later).

But that’s not all – did we mention the ride in the Dodge Challenger SRT8 safety cars? Or the off-road Jeep rides? The two-up motorcycle track rides? The pit BBQ competition? Or even Christian Pfeiffer’s insane motorcycle stunt demonstration? Yes, that’s definitely what jealously feels like.

We never thought we’d say this, but we can’t wait to go back to Utah.

If you want to keep up to date with the World Superbike Championship, remember to check out the new World SBK app for your iPhone and iPod touch. It’s available through www.worldsbk.com or at Apple’s iTunes store, with a bunch of great features like live timing, news, videos and more…