GO MOTOGP IN 2008; Mourning the lost U.S. Grand Prix? Motorcycling gives us two this year.(Competition)

Byline: PETE LYONS

Maybe they do run on only two wheels, but the United States will host two MotoGPs in 2008-when we get precisely zero Formula One races. And, unlike in F1, several Americans are regulars on motorcycling's international tour, including a former world champion.

Do you know how often a U.S. rider has been a world champ in the past 30 years? Try 15 times.

One more point: Motorcycling's world championship has seniority over "modern'' F1, by a year. It was born in 1949.

We know that stats and bullet points don't sway nonbelievers, and biking will never be for everybody, but any car person whose pulse rate rises with revs should, just once, watch a pack of MotoGP racers erupt out of a turn, front wheels pawing air and rear tires laying snake tracks.

MotoGP motorcycles are as sharply focused, highly strung and, within their smaller envelope, preposterously expensive as F1 cars. A MotoGP bike's minimum weight is 326 pounds-lighter than a lot of NFL players-and their 800-cc engines are thought to make better than 250 hp.

Crouched behind wind-tunnel-tailored fairings, riders can watch the ground whiz by their toes at more than 200 mph.