WERA GNF wknd thread (updates/pics/results)

Chad is a stand up guy, and a great competitor. I'm pretty sure none of the guys he has raced against this year had any type of problem with him being on the grid with them. I didn't. He Beat me fair and square this weekend. He Is The National Champ in my book.

 

You know how the beeb is; I only made that comment because i didnt want to see a thread about a kickass event be ruined by 10 pages of "oh yeah, well i think..." type comments from people who have no involvement nor knowledge about the situation.

 

It makes a lot of sense. I rode 40min out of almost every hour the weekend before helping with the JDSA, then i practiced on Thursday and raced on Friday with no problems. Then it turns cold and I have issues with arm pump.

 

How was your hydration? I know when the weather cools off, I tend to slack on my water intake, then arm pump comes on.

That, and depending on where my palm is on the clip-on, I'll get a sweet spot where I can't release the brakes while on the brakes. :wow: There have been times I almost have to take my hand off of the clip-on to release the brakes into turn one at Summit Point.

You may be able to find the spot I'm talking about just by squeezing your hand with your other hand and placing your thumb against the brake hand's palm. It's a really weird feeling.

 

I was indeed totally kidding!

Don't take this the wrong way, but I do like reading your posts.

And you are right, there are some other things to talk about, like me trying to handle the 1098R around there. Talk about arm pump!!

 

Oh ok, I was mistaken. You know that IndyDucati loves WERA. Plain and simple! I will agree to disagree about Chad being Dq'ed but he was going expert one way or another and thanks for letting us run on Sunday.

Now back to the good stuff, thanks WERA and all the cornerworkers for a great event and a ton of fun.

My favorite part of the weekend other than the awesome racing was when Tommy depants Rata on Friday night only to see Rata get a "full revenge depants" on Tommy in front of the whole upper deck before CSuperbike Novice!

 

I feel your pain! I bought a 1098S race bike, rode it 1 weekend and was like "shit on this".

Then i sold it.

I love the motor and brakes but the ergo's killed my hands/wrists. I have heard the Panigale's are an asston better, but haven't been lucky enough to ride one yet.

 

On yeah

That was too much like work. It was easier to just unass it and get something different.

 

WERA Barber GNF Senior Race Video

WERA Barber GNF Senior Race Video Oct 26: Can see the back of the Senior experts getting mixed up with the novices catching up.
Enjoy.

(PS: yes I know, I bogged down my start, as usual)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWWGW-XhjLs

 

breaking news!!!!!!!!!!


Sandbagging expert doesn't have issue with sandbagging experts!

 

LOL Sore Losers....


Already got that yellow crap off my bikes.

 

Being a person that finished on the box behind Chad I hardly feel/felt cheated. Chad and Alex were setting a good pace, which I know I need to be at next year. This is coming from a guy with 5 race weekends and 6 track days on a worn out 16k stock LEGAL bike with none of the above.

I look forward to chasing Chad next year.

Also Sean, I would think putting in what will disqualify you from being a novice in the rulebook might cut down on any misunderstandings of this sort.

 

Not to stir up a hornet's nest, but actually, Sean - you had Rusty complaining at the VMD about Chad and even posted a comment regarding it shortly after to which you responded. Granted, you were not sure the issue when responding, but I would assume you would have checked on it and looked to see what the issue was in case it was an "AMA" racer running as a novice at VMD.

You may not have known specifically, but I know Rusty complained to probably at least Jim at the track as he stated he had made a complaint and was asking how it was possible. That was at VMD...

Just saying that from what I know of the situation, Chad is a good kid. He was bumped up, did the AMA race and thought that he was over his head and wanted to ride in a class he felt more comfortable and knowing his experience and lap times, was probably worthy of sticking with the novice ranks until end of the season. The other aspect is that after he felt he was over his head and several agree that his times were top novice times. Thus, he was obviously not matured in racing enough to feel confident in racing an expert level series. He asked to be bumped down and WERA permitted it. I think once he was permitted to be bumped down, everything he did novice, expert or otherwise has no bearing. He should be evaluated and "watched" and made sure he isn't waxing the competition, but at the end of the day, he was permitted to be bumped down and he was under the impression he was fine.

We all know that even one additional weekend can make a rider better. He ran the rest of the season as a novice and got better as he progressed and probably would attest that he was going to get bumped up at the end of the season for sure.

It happens sometimes to where a kid gets bumped up after very little race experience and is a fish out of water. Typically, the race orgs see this issue and in the interest of safety as well as building experience, put that racer back down to novice until end of the season or evaluate if he is waxing his competition. Then, after review or end of season, place him back into expert.

I guess the problem I have is that once the attention was brought to the issue, he was still allowed to run as a novice. Then, at the end of the season at the very last race where he has been running under the idea that everything was still fine and acceptable to be racing as a novice, he is DQ'd and all championships pulled and revoked. In front of his peers, sponsor and everything...

I think a sidebar conversation prior to the GNF or in the office or tower, etc would have been a better approach. The costs of travel, the costs of fees and race expenses all in mind could have been avoided or plans changed to adjust to the idea that he would be an expert vs being a champion in his first year as a novice... Of course, you not knowing until Friday is understandable as to why you did it the way you did, but again... I think it could have been avoided had the issue that was brought up in July was addressed...

Considering that the guys he was racing against and their times? I think he was fine as a novice. Looking at the times at VMD for example, he was only a second faster than the next novice and about 3 seconds off the expert times. Pretty consistent considering... And, compared to a provisional novice (Rusty), he was only just a bit faster in being 2 seconds fastest lap time...

Dunno. Probably issues on both ends, I suspect. But, the problem I have is that the complaint was brought up at the track during the VMDs as well in a thread here on the BBS... How can it go over 3 months w/o being addressed after being brought to people's attention? For the kid to go 90 plus days post VMD and longer as a novice and then be told at the GNF that his championships and everything was pulled was a big problem that could have been avoided I think had someone taken the info and done something or at least did some fact checking to see if it was legit or not.

Here's the thread to where it was brought up...

http://forums.13x.com/showthread.php?t=300396&highlight=mid-ohio

Again, no dog in the fight here and I think maybe the system is flawed ever so slightly and I completely understand that stuff gets hectic and people have intentions to check things and things get pushed aside or forgotten due to that craziness. I just think it could have been avoided a lot sooner.

 

he must of got confused by the pro card he had in his hand from the very prevoius weekend and had to have a wera expert card to get that it's all so confusing
so confusing it makes you ride novice and he must have confused wera since he had to have a novice card to race vmd in novice but also apparently had a expert card also to get ama license .
seems confusing huh?
actually all very cut and dried no excuses