(Photo: Althea Racing)

Participants

One common battle ground for all of the world's top roadracing stars would not provide the definitive answer to the never-ending debate disputing the 'world's best motorcycle racer,' but it would most certainly provide compelling, satisfying, and, most importantly, highly entertaining evidence.

Rooting interests would be both strong and multi-faceted, as race-hungry fans would naturally pull for their favorite riders, teams, manufacturers, nationalities, and series.

BSB vs. AMA Superbike. World Superbike vs. MotoGP. Jorge Lorenzo vs. Max Biaggi vs. Ryuichi Kiyonari vs. Josh Hayes. Brits vs. Italians vs. Americans vs. Spaniards. It's all there.

For World Superbike riders, not only would the event serve as an opportunity for bragging rights, it would also allow for some early-season testing (particularly for new machines, the appearance of which would provide yet another layer of interest).

The same would be true for the riders from the domestic championships, while also providing the opportunity to showcase their skills on a global stage and perhaps kick-start a world championship career of their own. Meanwhile, it would give national-level Superbike teams a rare chance to chase a world-level victory.

For MotoGP riders, there would also be the all-important element of proving their caliber, but it would also be a 'fun' environment for some top-notch competition with a somewhat lessened pressure to perform. The MotoGP riders would be considered to be at a distinct disadvantage due to their lack of familiarity with the machinery, so a ready-made excuse would already exist for any embarrassing struggles. However, history has repeatedly demonstrated that Grand Prix riders, both from the 500GP and MotoGP era, can get up to speed extremely quickly on Superbikes.

The Superbike World Championship's top three riders, Carlos Checa, Max Biaggi, and Marco Melandri, are all GP refugees, and during the peak of the Suzuka 8 Hours -- when the event used to draw top Grand Prix, World Superbike, and domestic championship riders -- more often than not, it was the GP gunslingers that led the way.

Sadly, the 8 Hours no longer attracts such a star-studded field. And let's be honest, outside of Japan, the driving interest in the event was the fascination concerning how well the Grand Prix riders would fare on Superbike (and prior to that, TT F1) equipment, especially when pit against top SBK pilots.

Consider some past winners of the 8 Hours: Valentino Rossi, Wayne Rainey, Mick Doohan, Eddie Lawson, Colin Edwards, Alex Barros, Scott Russell, Doug Polen, Carlos Checa, and on and on and on.

In fact, back in the day, Suzuka 8 Hours practice and qualifying sessions served as a sort of 'Superbike World Cup' in its own small way.

Further evidence that such a race could draw huge interest is the fact that even a one-off round of the Japanese Superbike Championship at Sugo (known as the "Big Road Race") formerly attracted plenty of Western coverage for the simple fact that Honda once fielded their GP and WSBK stars, such as Mick Doohan, Colin Edwards, Aaron Slight, and Tadayuki Okada, on works RC45s.

But the glory days of Suzuka and Sugo are a thing of the past, and so is the massive international attention, leaving a mammoth void and equally large opportunity for an even bigger event to rise in the absence.