are the track day riders going to have to do any more safety prep than they normally do on our race day? I'm concerned that if they crash that oil and antifreeze will make our race day a lot less fun
I believe they'll be expected to meet our track day requirements. I've been doing track days at Mission since 2006, if I recall correctly, I'm aware of one oiling incident. I don't believe it was a street bike that did it. No names... Parker? I for one welcome the hybrid riders, their attendance at our events supports our racing.
im glad the track day events are supporting our races too, but i think the track days should be on separate days, due to potential oil/coolant on the track, that being said I understand the hope that the track day guys see the fun that we have racing and join us as racers. is there any plan to take a survey of the track day crowd and find out if any are interested in racing? and if not, why?
I do agree with Andre about the safety issue. I concur that many of those street riders do not thrash their machines as mercilessly as the race bikes, but a missed shift at 16,000rpm and sometimes shit goes bang. But the rulebook/event is geared for safety so if a trackday rider wants to run on race days should they not run a pan and engine guards at least? If there has been only one oiling incident in many years, then why are we so worried about bellypans? Why bother at all? Of course, I'm biased because I have limited clearance with my belypan and would love to remove it lol. See you August 3rd!
The purpose of the race bike prep rules is to reduce risk when racers are riding in very close quarters pushing as hard as they can. Since trackday sessions are not timed and riders are not riding as close, the convention in the industry is that race levels of prep are not required. For racing in tight quarters, it is another matter. I personally would never race with another rider whose bike is not prepared to the level of the WMRC rulebook, and as a courtesy to other riders I ensure that my bike is fully prepped whenever I hit the track, even at trackdays. That said, the hybrid trackday riders are not on track with the racers, they are not being timed, and they are not riding competitively therefore trackday levels of bike prep are the requirement. The risk to the racers is manageable since they do not share the track and therefore no racer is going to be surprised by an oiling event caused by a trackday bike. The primary risk is to the race day schedule in the event of track oiling requiring a long cleanup. This was discussed at two seperate general meetings with the membership (back in May and also in June) as well as among the exec. It was decided that the risk to the schedule was acceptable given the added exposure the hybrid days would bring the club. OMRRA has also been running hybrid days already this year which have been generally well received.
Andrew, as usual your response is clear and well thought out. I believe the hybrid days can bring more future racers, I just wanted to voice my concern. Thanks!
I have only heard a couple of complaints regarding the idea of a hybrid day. Why take a negative stance on this? The club needs support (read MONEY) to continue to survive so that we can race. Hybrid day will have a higher attendance than a standard race day, and will also bring in more money than a standard race day. Higher attendance will increase the potential number of spectators. It will be up to the promoters/announcers and anyone in the pits that would like to help out, to get more of the people attending into the stands. If the racing is a good show, maybe we can convert some track day riders into racers. However, as we all know most track day riders have no desire to race. Why not try to inject some desire into their blood? Maybe pump some egos with a simple "You look fast out there man - you should race!" Show them how much fun club racing is on the track and in the pits. On the other hand...if the show sucks, small grids, boring racing, grumpy pricks in the pits, bickering or any other bullshit happens, then we pretty much can write off the idea of attracting these track day guys to become racers in our club. (outside of the small cc classes) We haven't seen a significant bump in racers entering into any classes lately, so whatever formula that has been used in the past is not working and it is time to try something new. So thank you to the exec for attempting something new.
I think the new thinking and direction that the exec is taking is great. The club needs to try new ideas and do new things! I applaud the efforts and look forward to the results.
Regarding track 'oiling' concerns; only one major incident that I can recall this year (and it was not a hybrid!). Due to the great work by our volunteers the situation was handled quickly and efficiently and the schedule was hardly effected. The special 'Abzorb All' grease/oil sweep that is used at MRP is very good and the race surface was safe within minutes!! WMRC Race Director.
Personally I was amazed at how quickly Kramer in particular got up to speed in the restart. Awesome job from race control.
