Superbike 'city' races into Tooele

TOOELE — This weekend, Tooele hosts a city that has been traveling worldwide since March.

A city, that is, of food tents, generators, racing trailers, motor homes and colorfully decorated racing paddocks that will converge upon Miller Motorsports Park for the FIM HANNspree Superbike World Championship. Utah, the racing series' only North American venue, is the seventh stop after Australia, Qatar, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy and South Africa.

The numbers involved in staging Sunday's race are staggering.

Two riders on 16 international teams and their entourage join about 2,000 people directly involved in the race, including 15 sanctioning-body staffers, as well as 60 permanent and 450 temporary motorsports park employees. Superbike will reach over 50,000 spectators, 200 journalists, 95 TV networks and 120 million television viewers in 175 countries.

How does the Tooele race track keep all these people happy?

"We kill them with kindness," media manager John Gardner said. "Last year, two Belgian reporters arrived as journalists. They left as honored guests." Media perks include wi-fi, meals and chocolate-chip cookies during the race.

Organizers also ensure that team cargo gets to the race without a hitch.

Alessandro Matta, Superbike's transportation contractor, roams the venue with a clipboard and inventory checklists. Shannon McCaffrey of the customs-brokerage firm Coppersmith Inc. and her father Michael assist him in the U.S.

Matta and the McCaffreys take care of details like arranging for fuel barrels to travel by steamship into the U.S. and then having them repacked for rail travel. On Monday, they supervised the transfer of large crates containing team motorcycles and paraphernalia from truck trailers into numbered paddocks.

"If we have a problem and cannot solve it, the race will be delayed," Matta said. "For this reason, I have to be sure everything is in place."

On Wednesday, teams began unpacking their crates. Libris Conte, electrician for the Italy-based Aprilia team, said unpacking is his least favorite part of the race. His favorite? "Winning," he said with a grin.

Ronald Ten Kate, team manager of Holland-based HANNspree Ten Kate Racing, shares his secret to making travel easier for his 25-member crew. "We can't make long-haul flights any shorter," he said. "And many (on my team) miss their families. We encourage a family feeling. We socialize."

As other teams set up their paddocks Wednesday, celebrated Superbike rookie Ben Spies didn't seem too anxious to jump into the fray. He was, for the moment, fiddling with a mountain bike outside his motor home. The 24-year old Texan, who lives in Italy during racing season, will compete in a mountain-bike race after this leg.