In the early 1970s one of the significant races that was held in Italy was the Imola 200 which drew inspiration from the American event Daytona 200. The 200 stands for 200 miles and this form of racing is a part of the two wheeler endurance racing. It along with the Daytona event was a highlight on the racing career and saw the participation of great motorcycle marques and riders. Even the great Giacomo Agostini raced and won the Imola 200 on a Yamaha Motorcycle in the year 1974. The event however has disappeared from the racing calender with the ever increasing popularity of Grand Prix racing. However, in the last two days Paolo Flammini of Infront Motorsports which is the holder of the World Superbikes franchise has revived talks of restoring the once famous Imola 200.
It is well known that both Infront Motorsports and Dorna which is the organizer of MotoGP races are now owned by the same promoter Bridgepoint Capital and with MotoGP dwindling Dorna has decided to allow production engines in custom chassis thereby blurring the lines between the two series. The revival of endurance racing along with the Imola 200, Daytona 200 and the Suzuka 8 hours could be the beginning of a new series of endurance racing just as there is one for prototype cars and supercars. But it is early days still, what with the world economy not showing any signs of a quick recovery from the recession that it finds itself today. However, news coming from Imola has pointed out that the teams in the World Superbike paddock are open to this new development though honestly speaking it does not really appear to in the realm of possibility anywhere in the near future.