Stick to your guns Sean. We've restarted endurance races lots of times after a half hour or more with no warmers and had no problems. A compromise would be to allow unplugged warmers to be used which was allowed at one of the races last year. No generators and extension cords to worry about. We did a CMRA 6 hour race a few years ago and they had a 35 mph pit speed limit. They had two radar boxes where your speed was displayed like you see at road construction sites. It was actually pretty cool trying to keep your speed right at 35, and then to figure out when you were past the radar and could nail it. However, this causes the need for a couple of additional pieces of equipment that have to be maintained and monitored. This was at NOLA which was a straight on track entrance. Placement at other tracks I'm sure would be a problem. I have no idea of how much over you had to be to get penalized, but we didn't get hit. One of the coolest parts of the action are the no pit speed limit, and I hope that doesn't change. The race director could say a few words of caution at the rider's meeting and let folks know if it gets stupid, he'll do something about it. Still remember the great Tray Batey lofting the front wheel about three feet high and riding it through three gears up the pit road at Grattan. He got fined and was proud to pay it (it was effin awesome).
It was fun for the GNF but not feasible for the normal rounds. I'll think more about the Novice and I'm planning on adding F1 to the big bike expert list.
What's the big stink about generators and warmers? The bikes come in, they go up on stands and the warmers go on with a small generator which u can get for about 400 bucks new. When race control is 3 minutes away from opening pit out, you blow an airhorn that signals the crews to clear the pits of the generators and tire warmers. Too easy.
Just a few things - Because it's another piece of equipment that 30+ teams will have across pit lane. It will take more than 3 minutes to get it cleared. It will give more opportunities to mess with the bikes - which will result in more animosity between teams and towards us for not being everywhere to catch it. It will be yet another expense a new team will feel is required to be competitive keeping some from racing the series. There are no upsides to it. It is not a safety issue, you all have to make sure you don't use more throttle than the tires can handle in every single corner. I get the comfort issue but that's really all it is.
it doesnt take more than 3 minutes. every FIM sanctioned org uses the same start procedures. at 3 minutes, the air horn blasts. One person can move a small genny 2 tire warmers, and 2 stands from one side of the pits to the other side in 3 minutes making 2 trips. Take a survey and I bet over 80% of the existing endurance teams want warmers. Besides, if the teams that dont want them are comfortable not using them, by all means they dont have to...
You're truly going to compare full on pro racing initial start procedures with an endurance red flag - where even those series use a quick start procedure? I've done enough of both to stick with my saying it can't be done in our series at our events in a timely enough manner. It also doesn't address the other concerns. As for what the teams want - I know what they want, however my job is to balance that out with what is necessary and best for the series/races/teams/riders as a whole. It's a messed up balancing act for sure but it's part of the job so I keep working at it.
I was just using it as an example as 3 minutes being plenty of time to strip the bikes of warmers and stands. Also, to be clear, most red flags have very short clean up times and I can certainly understand no warmers for a short red flag. I cant think of a recent red flag in endurance that caused an extended delay (say, over 15 minutes). It's in these cases of an extended clean up (on a relatively cool day) which is the concern for me. I'll leave it alone, but I certainly think it's something that should be looked into...
I was really pleased with how the events ran this year. The relay class was a great option for a lot of guys so kudos to whomever thought of it. I know not everyone was a fan of it, but those were some of the deepest endurance grids I have ever seen. Bring on 2022! (Anyone seen the schedule yet )
Yes on GNF - Friday is the current plan. 5 rounds for sure, working on a 6th if we can get it scheduled correctly.
Be better if Nelson’s isn’t on it.. min all fairness, we lost two bikes to “that’s racing” situations. But thank you to Mongo for being nice to us that round and to the corner worker who found My transponder
I'm torn on Nelson, I know it's not the coolest place but they're doing a lot of work and the track itself really is cool.