Isle of Man based Greenlight Television is delighted to have been awarded the filming contract for the AMA Superbike Championship, re-launched this season under the MotoAmerica banner with triple World Champion Wayne Rainey (pictured) as its President.
The nine-round Championship is America's most prestigious two-wheel series and was the one which brought Rainey to prominence, as well as other riders of similar calibre - Eddie Lawson, Troy Corser, Scott Russell, Ben Bostrom, Nicky Hayden, Ben Spies, Mat Mladin and Josh Hayes among them.
Its new mission is to restore that level of excellence and take American riders back to the pinnacle of the sport world wide: "As an American and a former World Champion, I want to see Americans back in the World Championship", Rainey says. "We got in contact with the FIM, Dorna and the AMA, and through that collaboration we were able to acquire this championship."
The appointment of Greenlight as its TV partner is another recognition of the company's world-renowned expertise at making entertaining motor-cycle racing for TV, and confirmation of a reputation founded on a huge resource of experience in bike racing and motorsports around the world.
Coming so soon after the formation of Greenlight USA a year ago, this is confirmation that the move across the Atlantic was both well-considered and well timed. Along with its existing commitment to the Powerboat P1 USA championship and the Offshore Powerboat Series, plus the SKUSA Kart championship, Greenlight now has more than 20 weekends of work in place in the USA. Thus the company has established a larger, permanent base in Florida in order to service these championships and look for more work.
"We've only scratched the surface so far", said Greenlight Director Rob Hurdman. "It's easy to overlook the size of this country and its appetite for exciting and entertaining sports TV coverage. We'll do what Greenlight always does - work hard, deliver great results, and hope this will be the first of many new championships."
Greenlight's existing operations are unaffected, and from its Isle of Man base and Manchester offices the company will continue to provide cutting-edge coverage to events like the NW200 and the Ulster Grand Prix and various British national championships on two wheels and four, and on water, bringing top-line sports entertainment programmes to worldwide audiences.
Greenlight also enjoys a continuing relationship with the hugely successful Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, and crews will be starting a fifth season of long-haul flights to China, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore - as well as making its regular annual excursions to headline events such as Rally Barbados and the Macau Grand Prix.
