WSBK & AMA Pro Roadracing: Miller Time! (Spoilers)

[RaY YreKa]

Originally Posted by viajero

I sure hated to see Cheka drop it in race 2. A double would have put him in the thick of things, points wise.

Rea was looking pretty racy, but let down by a lack of hp.

Max was consistent, showing some maturity.

Maybe Hopkins should find another hobby.

I was glad he dropped it, tbh; just because Miller is less interesting if you know Checa/Ducati will win there every single year.

Did I hear right that he won 5 straight at Miller, before crashing out of Race 2?

[DogBoy]

Not a perfect comparison (tires, etc) but as close we're going to get.

http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/raci...orsports-park/

Not bad for what some on this board have dismissed as "street bikes".

[spezjag]

Originally Posted by ray_rev

I was glad he dropped it, tbh; just because Miller is less interesting if you know Checa/Ducati will win there every single year.

Did I hear right that he won 5 straight at Miller, before crashing out of Race 2?

No. He doubled at his first WSBK at Miller in 2008 on a Honda.

Then Ben Spies doubled in 2009. If I remember correctly, Checa crashed in at least one of the '09 races.

In 2010, he led both races before an electrical part stopped him while leading in Race 1; a mechanic thought he fixed the problem, so he left the part in the bike for Race 2. Sure enough, the same part failed again while Checa was leading in Race 2!

He then doubled again in 2011.

Clearly, though, having won five races there since 2008, Checa goes well at Miller.

[Drif10]

Russell also hung Melandri out to dry about the race at Donington.

Had listened to soup's interview with Rea. Caught the comments he made about Melandri brake checking Haslam, and overall being pretty physical with his team mate.

He trying for a spot on the Repsol squad?

[Mr Head]

Hmm we got a round of Flo

My thumb was sore by the end frm dabbing the FF button.

Originally Posted by UngaWunga

He'll never stop acting like a pompous ass. He's Italian with a funny mustache...

Speaking of maturity, Rea seems to have taken it back a notch on the 'need to override the pos-bike' like he and Haslam have a habit of doing. Shame he couldn't get that win. He deserved it.

Good ride from Chaz. Too bad he couldn't get a little more life out of his tires to keep douchbag at bay.

Why did it take so long for the cornerworkers to clean up the spilled out? Jesus... The Eurosport commentators had to fill those 30min of dead space, and were quite funny.

[okiegtrider]

Originally Posted by Valleyrider

Perhaps, Ralphie just got something right. Slack given....

Hell, even a blind hog finds an acorn now and then.

[snowhawk jockey]

Originally Posted by dwoodward

Yeah, nothing says "maturity" like doing practice starts on the racing line (exit of Tooele) when there are still other bikes coming around the track- instead of getting off the line to the inside, like every other rider knows how to do.

I was flagging at F10 when they all stopped in the area of F9 to practice start, at the end of the QP session. Since they were pretty far off from my position still, I couldn't see that the bikes had stopped in the actual racing line of that exit. I would have called it in, on advise, for control to flag it, if I could see they were, in fact, in the line. The exit of that turn is really fast, with a few racers finishing it on the wobble. Normally they end up wide to the outside track as they accelerate and set up for Black Rock. One of them even touched up a roost of dirt in front of me as he barely managed to keep it on the track. Wouldn't want to be on my last qualifying hot lap and have it blocked at a crucial point.

The ride down was exciting with 65 miles of snow and more of rain. Lots of Adventure in this trip. I'll be there when it runs again!

[snowhawk jockey]

Originally Posted by mdubya

Check out the puddle of oil from Aoyama's bike. That is right on the racing line I believe.



Burnicle and Whitham were very funny during the delay, which aired live on Eurosport. Quite a bit of commentary on Americana.

I can't wait to watch the race and see this piece of Red Flag action. The FIM are the only ones who can touch or change anything, like an oil spill, that negatively affects the surface condition of the track during the race. The Track Marshall was standing there with oil dry, after the bike crashed. He was ready to apply it, the second the FIM gave permission to do so. Since the Safety car left from the pits and had to drive all the way around the track to that point, it allowed the oil time to run down the incline of the corner. If the Marshall had even just dammed up the oil, with oil dry, before the FIM instructed him to do so, he would lose his license. That made for a long afternoon at the track.

[mdubya]

Originally Posted by snowhawk jockey

I can't wait to watch the race and see this piece of Red Flag action. The FIM are the only ones who can touch or change anything, like an oil spill, that negatively affects the surface condition of the track during the race. The Track Marshall was standing there with oil dry, after the bike crashed. He was ready to apply it, the second the FIM gave permission to do so. Since the Safety car left from the pits and had to drive all the way around the track to that point, it allowed the oil time to run down the incline of the corner. If the Marshall had even just dammed up the oil, with oil dry, before the FIM instructed him to do so, he would lose his license. That made for a long afternoon at the track.

Good info.

[eakins]

we had alot of hanging out waiting for that delay.

Originally Posted by snowhawk jockey

I can't wait to watch the race and see this piece of Red Flag action. The FIM are the only ones who can touch or change anything, like an oil spill, that negatively affects the surface condition of the track during the race. The Track Marshall was standing there with oil dry, after the bike crashed. He was ready to apply it, the second the FIM gave permission to do so. Since the Safety car left from the pits and had to drive all the way around the track to that point, it allowed the oil time to run down the incline of the corner. If the Marshall had even just dammed up the oil, with oil dry, before the FIM instructed him to do so, he would lose his license. That made for a long afternoon at the track.

[eakins]

Originally Posted by wxwax

Ah, that makes sense, thanks. So the so-called German attitude was "we know best", whereas the Italian attitude was more "let's try it and see"?

Inflexibility doesn't seem to work well in racing.

i spent alot of time with the aprilia corporate folks at the race and they are a very easy going bunch. test rode a dorsoduro, tuono and shiver.
like the tightness of the shiver best but that V4 twin motor was unreal.

[eakins]

race 1


a few bikes ended up in this wall over the weekend




Track tour with Scott Russell from SPEED , YAMAHA MOTOR CORPORATION U.S.A. YCRS track school from Miller Motorsports Park and Mark Hoyer from Cycle World Magazine to help sponsor Ride for Kids

[eakins]

track tour w/ Yamaha/Miller track school and Scott Russel from Speed and Mark Hoyer from Cycle world. i was sitting in the middle of all of it loving it and shooting this video :-)
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=472011862825984

[dwoodward]

Originally Posted by UngaWunga

He'll never stop acting like a pompous ass. He's Italian with a funny mustache...

My friend sitting next to me after race one, when Max went hauling ass through Tooele and Clubhouse: "I must get back to the pits, I have people to yell at". Anyone else catch the comment Sunday morning for racers *cough*Biaggi*cough* on pit scooters to slow down, there were more spectators wandering around?

Why did it take so long for the cornerworkers to clean up the spilled out? Jesus...

Originally Posted by HarveyMushman

They had to wait for the FIM to come hold their hands. Meanwhile, the oil flowed down the hill . . . That's the how the corner captain at Turn 1 explained it, anyway.

Possibly. A puddle of synthetic oil is a right PITA if you've never dealt with it, and not at all like a the occasional drip as a leaking bike works back to the pits. Given the nature of such things, FIM may have told them NOT to do the right thing first off because of how long it would take. Then FIM was on scene and looked to me like they fumbled about before admitting it was going to take the time to do it right, which involves detergent to break it up (I'm told Simple Green(tm) works on synthetic oil), then washing that off, then drying the track. (As observed from Clubhouse)

About a decade ago when faced with a similar mess, an F-USA official from Canada (ahem) decided the solution was to add some gasoline and then set fire to it. The turn workers let him, then decided that setting the track on fire was a sub-optimal solution and put it out. He was livid, but couldn't get anyone else to back him, so they waited while someone scraped up a few gallons of Simple Green. (That club now keeps 10 gallons of the stuff on hand for such events.)

[dwoodward]

Originally Posted by snowhawk jockey

If the Marshall had even just dammed up the oil, with oil dry, before the FIM instructed him to do so, he would lose his license. That made for a long afternoon at the track.

And that is why I won't work MotoGP or WSBK events- a complete lack of common sense and trust that the guys and gals with boots on the ground can be trusted to be attempting to do the right thing.