i cannot believe that anyone would race on that track. I was there Friday and there were potholes deep enough that dirt was visible, patches comming up, gravel everywhere, and tires for apex markers! To quote one rider who did venture out.." should have brought my XR100, I would have walked away with the entire event"
I guess IRP doesn't look so bad now! I can see where WERA is looking into new opportunities but this may not be the best avenue to travel. I race north central and would love to have the april IRP back and an event at Grattan.
Heard that, "Indiana RR". The midwest, that people love to hate, is where the racing is. - Nelson Ledges - Mid Ohio.......would be nice to get back on that. - I.R.P. - Mt. Meridian - Gingerman - Blackhawk Farm....WERA used to run there. - Grattan............ ditto Stretch that a little, and pick up: - East St. Louis - Road America.......that would be nice. There ARE places to race, if someone wants to "split the 250's from the HW twins".
Well it seems to me that everyone who went to Richmond had a Great Time. It was bumpy in some locations but it isn't anything that most of us havn't faced before. The racers I spoke with actually had a great time and felt that they were treated with the utmost respect and hospitallity. WIth all the vendors at the track was nice. You could get food or whatever at a reasonable price. With having the cars and carts at the event help break up the rush that we usually feel, it was awesome. Other racers felt it actually gave them time to have fun and meet other racers that they havn't spoke with all year. When was the last time that all of the riders had the potential to bring home around $2000 in cash in a weekend. This gave all of the racers more incentive to ride their best in both Expert and Novice. The trophies were huge compared to the ones that we usually get. This was the first year for the event and there is always room for improvement in the future. WERA did a great job with the new challanging event. Mid States Racing was very impressed how WERA was able to handle the event. With having WERA there and the racers, it helped with building more potential spectators. People who have never seen a motorcycle event got to see one first hand and loved it. As for the ones who wants to knock the event, they must either suck or do not know how to set their bike up properly OR IS JUST NEGATIVE. The track condition was simular to IRP but hey real racers cope with the environment. Lets get some other replies from racers who attended.
I was at Richmond, and I can’t imagine how much effort the promoters must have put into the planning of the event. I hope it was a success for them. After the first practice on Saturday, I don’t blame anyone for not wanting to race. It was definitely different to what we are used to racing on. However, it is obvious that the promoters didn’t know what to expect from motorcycle racers and they seemed very flexible and willing to address our complaints. By race time on Sunday, the track was MUCH better. They brought in extra hay bales to cover a unprotected wall, and swept the track. There were a lot of crashes for the size of the grids, but most if not all appeared to be rider error and not due to the track surface. The schedule was annoying, but mostly because I am used to the fast paced WERA race day. For those who didn’t attend, we had skydivers, a car show, airplane fly-bys, a top fuel drag bike on display, all the carnival junk food you could ever want and a clean pota-potty every 20 feet. You could also get discount tobacco, NASCAR merchandise, your knives sharpened and a set of fringed leather chaps in the vendor’s area. There was also a video arcade set up in the hanger, trophy girls, and a country music concert for those of you who are into that type of thing. The track was close to town, and it had a bunch or hotels and restaurants. I had a good time. I raced on used tires and left with $850 in prize money and a “I survived the Richmond GP” t-shirt. Where else can a novice do that?
I will have to side with Rusnak and PPR. People were friendly and the bikes put on a good show. Racers are similar no matter how many wheels they have under them and I talked to all kinds of them. The track wasn't perfect but few are. Walled turn: Turn 15 at Indy, turn 10 at Putnam. Bumps: Nothing near Nelson Ledges..Dirt: ditto. And the porta-potties were clean!! There really weren't more crashes than usual. None from the experts that I remember. C-Superbike Novice had several but since when is that a new phenomenom. There was a bonehead one at the end of the C-Production Race, after the finish line. I think the rider who wanted an XR-100 was complaining because he was an expert getting passed by novices in combined practice on Friday. I'm am all for anyone who wants to promote us outside of the select group of friends and wives that go to the track for each race. If enough events like this could be put together we could be racing for money every weekend. I see 5000 people going to watch street cars race at the local 1/3 mile oval with a purse paying down a fair way. Bikes put on a better show and we have to pay to be there!!
You know, I think the promoter for The Richmond Grand Prix deserves a big thumbs up! He tried very hard to pull together a really interesting and unique event which is more than some of the other venues that we go to. The facility was clean and there were plenty of porto pots available. Food was plentiful and reasonable. Domino's pizza and TCBY were there. I certainly haven't seen that at any other track. Vendors were on hand to sell t-shirts and other items. There was an antique car show, video games, and other entertainment. On the same property was a skydiving school, which provided a lot of entertainment throughout the day for everybody. They also had concerts at night. The car people were really nice and they were genuinely interested in the bikes. I actually found the shifter carts very interesting and could see myself in one when I retire from racing the bikes. It takes a lot of time and money to put something like this together. It is also a big risk that the event will not go over well and you'll lose money. The promoter had plenty of friendly staff on hand that were willing to help if they could. They took our suggestions into account and tried to accommodate us when they could. For example, there was the issue of a wall being to close, they brought haybales in which even the AMA doesn't always do (e.g. Miguel Duhamel- Louden). They also stated that if the event were to take place again next year, they would move the wall. Some of the rider's had some issues with the layout. They made a slight modification and most of riders felt it made a huge difference. Granted the track was not in the best of shape, but for the most part, there was plenty of run-off which is more than we can say about a lot of other tracks. We heard from several people that if this event was successful, the track would be repaved for next year. So these complaints would then be null and void. To sum up my rant, we need to be a little more constructive in our criticisms or people won't do anything for us. Why would anybody put on an event for motorcycles or anything else if we can't even give them the benefit of the doubt that they tried? I'm not saying that this event was perfect, there is certainly room for improvement, but it's really nice to see somebody take an interest in our sport; offer decent purses; promote the event to the general public; and offer other forms of entertainment for us all to enjoy. I know it's hard to believe, but some people out there just don't enjoy motorcycles or racing in general. So, I'm sure it was nice for them to have something else to do. Mary
First of all, hats off to the promoter, from the time I was there it had looked like it was going to be very entertaining, for the fans.The promoter had went out on a limb putting this together for all of the fans to see this many different venues. Second of all a car or Go-Cart can pretty much race anywhere with out taking an airlift out of the track.They can race on anything. On the otherhand people think for a couple of hundred bucks its ok to throw out riders safety. A wall with a couple of haybales, 10 feet from the racing line cmon is it worth that? Running through the back section with asphalt being sprayed at you in the face? The promoter had no idea what a motorcycle would need for a track to be safe.The Flagman had said we were way to picky for them. Its my safety, and if you guys want to run on tracks like that where they lay asphalt the night before, to patch potholes, then go ahead. Did anyone check out the track before we had went up there? The whole event was set up for the spectator, not for any motorcycle racing at all, the fans were looking for motorcycles to be torn up and carried away, they didnt see that with the cars.Thats why they put them in the crash turn with a wall and a live tv camera, its what the public wants to see. Maybe they put the fans there because they didnt want any asphalt flying up and hitting them in the face like we were having to deal with, or to show how nice the track was in that corner.Anyway thats my 2 cents,it was good for the sport in one way,and a huge way it was a step backwards for riders safety.I guess now you should just ask yourself when racing side by side with a competitor who is just racing for a trophy,will he do whatever it takes to get to the front for a trophy?
I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents. Jeff Muskopf and I were there for the start of this track and whatever you rode on this past weekend was 110% better than the first day we ventured to this (airport). You should have seen our bellypans after that first day, we had to repaint them from all of the rock chips. So, yeah it probably was a ruff track, but unlike IRP, there will be many vast improvements to this track and the property. I predict the CYCLE JAM will eventually be held at this track. and I guarantee the showers and camping facilities will smoke IRP. What we have here is the beginning of WERA making all of their races money motivated, or purse sensative. If I could have been there and won every race, I personally would give half of the winnings up so the next race could be purse bound also!! If WERA is smart they will get together with the man that set this whole thing up and work on getting the track set up for next year's CYCLE JAM. If WERA put together a contract for the next 5 years? I'll bet the track would be completely redone by july 2001!! For those of you who are unaware the city of richmond ownes the track(airport). and the city would only gain from bringing a week of guest to their 'out of the way' haven. Imagine the possibilities???????!!!!!
Hey Top Gun, Have you seen the walls at IRP or Road Atlanta? From what I hear Loudon, Memphis, Gateway and Sears Point are no better. Of course the event was set up for the spectators. They are the ones who are going to determine if the event was successful or not. They are the reason that the purse was available, and the wall was set up to protect them from the cars and bikes. The fans are the reason the track was set up so that we had the option of racing. The promoter has said that next year the wall will be moved back. As far as having the stands and camera in that turn, there was no better place for them. Don’t forget, there was oval car racing going on. Where else would you expect to watch that from other then in the oval? As far as the fans rooting for motorcycle crashes, who cares. That is just human nature. If I were to crash, I would rather put on a show for someone rather then have no one see it. Either way I still crash. BTW: do you think people don’t look for car crashes for entertainment? NASCAR fans are not watching a 4 hour race to see a bunch of rednecks make 1000 perfectly executed left-hand turns. Ed (Brett's Hero)
Sounds like most people who went with an open mind had a blast. In terms of safety, its down to the individual whether they think a track or facility is safe enough for them to run at. Obviously there were enough in attendance this weekend that thought so. I would love every track to have 200 yards of run off and cotton candy to catch me every time I fall off (and I agree with Ed, I'd much rather crash with a camera pointed at me), but its not going to happen. I'd also love to race in front of a crowd of 10,000. This means more payout at the track, more sponsorship and, err, more groupies. This event is definately a step in the right direction, and I applaud everyone involved in the organisation. Next year, with a few of the track surface and safety issues resolved, should be just about perfect.
Sorry that I didn't make it... Sounds like it was pretty cool. Maybe next year WERA will add Superbike D or F2 so that I have a class to race in... Anyhow, I agree with what Mary said about the promoters. I don't know if everyone knew it or not, but the promoters were at both the races at Putnam and IRP asking questions, looking for input, and drumming up support. They worked pretty hard to make it work for the bikes. This is the type of things that bike racing needs to get more exposure. They may not know a lot about bike racing, but I'm sure they learned a lot and they seemed very willing to listen to anything that was suggested to them, give them your input! I have no doubt that the safety can and will be improved. The folks at IRP don't seem to know much more about bike racing (did anyone attend their practise before the Cycle Jam? If you did, you know what I mean!) We could use a few more places to race in this area! If we want to race at places like Indy (now that there is a road course for the F1 cars) and Ky Speedway (If..) then it can only help to have events like this.
The thing that really becomes funny is, the riders that were running up front in the races arn't the ones complaining about the event and the ones that didn't fair to well can find any reason to complain. (I hit a false neutral! WHATEVER) UNDERSTAND for once outside of a WERA event, motorcycle racers were welcomed and encouraged to come! Instead of being displayed as outcast or vandils we were pronounced as more of the main event. As Ed said people want to see other racers crash wheather its cars, boats, monster trucks, skateboards or whatever! You know it could happen before you ever leave your house. You may also never come home from an event, IT HAPPENS. (If you are afraid to crash or possible get hurt then stay home!) I forgot misery loves company. Nobody wants to see something bad happen to another racer or to a friend but guess what it is part of our world. Back to business, it seems when majority of the riders at the event that didn't have a problem with the wall or not so perfect back section had a good time, how could they all be wrong and a small handful of people bitching be right. Track saftey is part of the riders responsibility. Each rider dosn't have the same skills, so how can you measure each riders saftey level. You can't, the rider must measure his own saftey level to their ability. If you are not comfortable with your ability, then don't ride or slow down. As for the other dangerous turns at tracks around america, they seem to run year after year and you and other riders seem to be there year after year. At least the promoter at Richmond is willing to work with us to make a safer environment for all of us. There are some tracks that will never change.
Well, the wall was 10 feet from the line - at the point where you were running parallel to the wall. It was much further from the line at the points where you were braking or leaned over and you would head towards the wall if you fell. We were able to get more haybales but luckily while there was a lot of hard racing going into that corner no one teted the bales, one rider fell and never got near the wall, hi bike did hit it but at an angle. It actually would have receive less damage had there beien nothing there but concrete since the covering on that part of the wall caught the bike and broke parts... If it had been smooth it would have just slid alongside the wall without have such a violent type of stop. Anyway, the wall was not as bad as it seemed to some of the riders, luckily they chose not to race for which I commend them - anytime you feel a track is too dangerous to race you should'nt be out there, racing itself requires all of your concentration without you worrying about other things. As for being there and setting up the track, I go there Wednesday morning and would have cancelled the entire event rather than put riders into unnecessarily dangerous situations, as it was I felt the wall while not perfect, was not a huge danger to riders and we went from there making it as safe as we could. The pavement on the old runway coming up was more dangerous than the wall. We won't be able to run an event there without some paving being done. If they are able to pave then we'll definitely go back, probably with a similarly limited schedule, and the wall will go back at least another 20 feet or so. From our end the weekend was a success on all fronts, the track was safe and can be made safer, new people now know about the sport we all love, and fun was had by almost everyone. What else can you aske for from a race?
Hey this is one of the boneheads that wrecked in the C-prod race finish, I had a great time (under the circumstances) at the track I feel it wasn't any worse than some of the streets we ride on or rode on before we started this. As long as I don't have cars coming at me head on I'm happy! A racer has to over come to be fast. I can't think of any of the tracks that we race on that are smooth, even putnam has its bad spots, just ask Jeff Muskoph how rough Mid Ohio is if you get of line. I say KUDOS to those who put on this event and thanks for giving us a something different for a change and for an audiance of people other than our friends and relatives. I hope that we put on a hell of a show for them and maybe some of them will come to see us again. My friends tell me that I had a hell of a crash ( I don't remember much tho). Needless to say I will be at the next event here.
No problem but it'll have to be BYOTG. You know what the truly sad part of it all was, we never did get the "if you build it they will come" picture of riders pushing their bikes out of the corn field.
LOL I was thinking some more about that picture and I actually thought of another shot. Wouldn't it have been cool to have some vintage bikes coming out the cornfield with some of the newer bikes on the track. Truly a "Field of Dreams" photo op. Mary
