Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki's Blake Young and National Guard Jordan Suzuki's Roger Hayden (Photo: Brian J Nelson)

What Rubber?

Suppose common rules were actually agreed upon -- and all of the other various political and logistical difficulties were negotiated. The next key question would be what brand of control tires to use for the World Cup of Superbike Racing.

AMA Pro just announced their deal with Dunlop had been extended and Infront followed suit with a Pirelli continuation confirmation earlier today. In other words, there will not be common Superbike tires in the near future.

The use of World Superbike-spec Pirellis (the exact same tires used in British Superbike) might increase the World Cup's usefulness as a testing tool, but it would also give a sizable advantage to the WSBK/BSB competitors.

I would imagine you put it up for bid and see who presents the most attractive offer, but ideally, you hook up with a company like Michelin, who are capable of producing excellent Superbike tires but wouldn't provide an inherent advantage for the Dunlop-shod AMAers, the Pirelli-backed WSBK/BSB runners, or Bridgestone-familiar MotoGP aces.

Why Not?

The World Cup of Superbike Racing is an idea that's time has come… All I need is a billion-dollar backer and compromising photos of the motorcycle sporting world's key decision makers and we might just be onto something…

SPEED.com Motorcycle Racing Editor Chris Martin saw Eddie Lawson win aboard a Kawasaki the first time he attended an AMA Superbike race and witnessed Ben Bostrom win a World Superbike race aboard a V&H Ducati the first time he worked one. He has written about AMA SBK, WSBK, and MotoGP for SPEED.com since 2003. Chris is now on Twitter.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: The Superbike World Championship doubleheader from Silverstone, England will air back-to-back on SPEED on July 31 starting at 2:00pm ET.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED