Next AMA/DMG bombshell: Mladin packs it in

Just out of curiosity, Monte, what did STT do for its customers that day?

 

Partial credit for the Saturday or a substantially reduced fee for Sunday if they wanted to stay.

 

So from the sounds of it...they didn't need to do the work to get your business.

 

cool. :up:

 

We waited and started late while they did what they had said they would which was move some wall, remove a gate and barrier and some other stuff.

 

so it took less than 3 hours to do everything you guys asked them to do? REALLY?

 

No, it took a bit longer.

 

I always wondered why STT went everywhere else except for HPT.

Makes sense.

I will happily drive to Timbuktu to go to a STT day (as I have in the past)

Back on topic, I can't blame either MM or Hacking.

 

Yea, that's wild! Must have hit something sturdy for gash that frame open... lets hope nobody hit's it this weekend. I gotta say being from oklahoma, I'm VERY suprised they picked HPR to race at... the track is older, beat up and really not in a place where roadracing is that big. I don't know why they didn't look at a track in the Texas area, they probably would have more than 100 people show up

 

I've always been worried about objects in the run off area that were not really noticeable for a car or bike even at mere cruising speeds.

In a track walk at Shannonville back in the 1980s I found 18 inch rocks hidden in the weeds right in the runoff of the fastest corner (Turn 1).

I would be interested to see a check list from like the IRTA for a track safety inspection.

Too bad there isn't a not-for-profit org that inspects tracks here in the US to ensure racers' have a reasonably safe environment. . .

 

http://www.fim-live.com/fileadmin/alfresco/Codes_et_reglements/SRRC_Eng.pdf

-jim

 

URRA Local 66

 

And that is why opinions are not equal to facts. The facts are the greatest are willing to step up for the least. I myself will benifit from MM's actions the next time I do a trackday at Topeka. He had the balls to help my sorry slow butt. The people that won't follow him are scared, plain and simple. They would rather risk their lves than stand firm and miss a race.

I think there should be an end to Russian roulette. You think those that want to play, should.

Just curious, Ulrich said Hayes and. C Ulrich did not sign off on the track changes. I know Mr. Ulrich is a smart man and covers all the bases, so I write this knowing I might be wrong.

If Hayes and little U didn't sign off, are they following MM? Will they race? Can Chris race knowing that dad thinks MM should be in charge of safety? Or are they part of the non-unity problem?

These are questions, not statements.

 

I think some here may benefit from reading about Jackie Stewart and his quest in the early 1970's for safety. At that time a driver who raced for 5 years had a 2 out of 3 chance of dying.

Here's a quote:
"There were also grass banks that were launch pads, things you went straight into, trees that were unprotected and so on. Young people today just wouldn't understand it. It was ridiculous."

I don't think Jackie has seen what most Motorcycle road racers have been subjected to here in the States.

Here's a quote that sounds a bit like Mat Mladin...but it's about Jackie Stewart:

"Stewart's work was not appreciated by track owners, race organizers, some drivers, and members of the press. "I would have been a much more popular World Champion if I had always said what people wanted to hear. I might have been dead, but definitely more popular."[8] However, his race wins, combined with his popularity with the public and his business savvy, prevented his message from being silenced".

Here's the wiki link to read the whole thing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Stewart

 

But, you see, your opinion that everyone else is too scared to not race is not based on facts. Did you ever consider that some of them simply don't see the track the same way that Mat and Jamie see it? There are at least two guys that I know in the field who have raced on that track before, and won. For you to accuse them of being too scared to pack up and leave is simply nonsense.

IMO it's interesting to observe that it seems that JU, one of the biggest proponents of safety in the sport, has apparently left the decision to race up to his guys. They're racing from what I can tell.

 

Are Josh and Chris racing this weekend at a track they didn't sign off on or are they following MM's lead? I've read about your safety patitions. I hope they passed down to your son. Btw, are you racing or sticking with Mat, King U?

 

Oh ok. Thanks.

 

I've always learned that racers in general consider themselves to be undestructable or in denial that they are going to be the one hurt because of something.

I have to wonder how much that plays into everything that is going on (not just this weekend bu anytime someone gets onto a very unsafe track).

You see we have a unsafe track here in Seattle....well compared to the one in Portland at least. There is a large group of people who won't ride at Seattle due to track safety. Some people call them pussies. Some people understand. Othres just don't care. But I find the situation to be echoed in the case at this AMA round.

 

And this press release by Heartland Park....http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=37552

It makes me sick. Its ALL damage control and it smells so bad it's like I just puked all over myself. It makes me angry to read that press release. It doesn't matter if the place is safe or not. Its that they are being so damn igorant that anything happened.

 

Another one bites the dust.... http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Jul/e/n090731f.htm