Road America - MotoAmerica Round 4

IMO, Road America track made all the difference than any other track MA has been to so far. The multiple camera locations was awesome and the HP used for the straights keeps closer riding in all the classes. Talent of the riders is show cased more when there's close racing. Made it Great to watch on TV!

 

LOL.. seriously? I think Barnes held back in the interview with how he felt Chris was riding (pretty aggressive, but don't think it was over the top), and toned down his reasoning for letting him know he was there.

Chris rode awesome, after his dive bomb move as laps wound down, it was cool to see him get back to the front and have a shot at winning. But ya'll need to just "get on with it" and race. Excuses don't cut it. "Altered his line" ?.. come on. I could see that Chris may have been a bit startled and moved the bike on his own, but if you want us to believe that the smallest guy on the grid (arguably) moved Chis at, guessing 180lb, and his motorcycle off line by putting his hand on his shoulder ? i wasn't there, but i saw what i saw , in context of when i saw it. Two riders going at it, but heading for less and less pavement as they approached top speed out of the chicane.. Barnes didn't want to let off, but wanted to be sure Chris knew he was there. Just an educated guess.

 

Barnes was, and bet 19 out of 20 riders would have been as well .. sounds like Chris was whining. ("altered his line..." , come on) .
He's riding great, that run back to the lead pack after running off track at Canada Corner was amazing. but from my arm-chair perspective, he could do with a little meditation and yoga, to just calm down and RIDE like he knows he can. Riding angry only works for so long, and it's sad to see him be so hard on himself when things don't go perfect. It's motorbike racing, if it were easy, everyone would do it ! !

 

I don't care who was where on the track. No one needs to be touching another rider anywhere during a race. It wasn't a good move by Barney IMO.

 

Sorry, but You are delusional if you think the touch didn't alter his line. If he would of ran the normal line through there he would of pushed Barney off the inside or Barney would have had to check up. Barney said essentially that post race.

 

+ 1

 

.. and you know this .. how ? did you feel the touch ? Please explain how putting your hand on a rider "alters" their line? Did you watch the race? Chris was riding pretty hard. I think if i was Barnes, and was coming up on his side like that, having seen how tough he had been riding to that point.. i may have put my hand on him to say "hey buddy, this is a no swerve zone as we approach the edge of the track" .. but that's my opinion. Like your view on me being "delusional" in not believing that putting a hand on a guy will change the line of 500+lb of man and machine.. without pushing on their bars.

And remember, we are talking about a rider (Barnes) who literally was PULLED by another rider in the harley xr1200 class at NOLA, and the offending rider was demoted from the win for the obvious infraction that everyone could clearly see. Big difference.

 

Kris was riding pretty aggressively, as his dad I am his biggest critic though. I feel
like he should have been much more aggressive. Barney did his best to block his line in the braking zones multiple times.
The shove was just that, a shove to keep Barney from having to check up and lose his drive. It is pretty evident watching the video.
Barney really needs to keep his hands to himself.
Kris kept going out side to avoid killing his momentum and to keep from hitting riders that were holding him up. He was being too nice, IMO he should have ran it up the inside of them and not turned till they were off the racetrack.
No excuses, Kris rode his ass off but came up short. I feel like we were a tick off of where we should of been power wise. If Kris had ever been able to lead out of five or six it would have most likely been a much different story.

 

And you really dont beleive SHOVING a Inside shoulder is the same as shoving the bars??

 

Did you?

 

Barney did the right thing. Would you all of rather had him use the side of his bike to make another rider aware of their surroundings.

 

I’m pretty sure Melkas racing experience more then qualifies him to make an informed opinion on the matter.

 

So, just because Barney wanted through Kris is supposed to just open the door and wave him through huh?
If he isnt far enough up to be seen at the point he is running out of track he needs to scrub some speed and wait.

 

No. Not what I stated. Nothing wrong with letting another rider know your position especially when a rider is lose at holding their line.
Or just let the two colliding bikes sort it out.

 

But you were just complaining about Barns blocking Kris in braking zones. You can't have it both ways.

 

Awesome to see Mesa it it on the top step. A little confidence and he's going to start rolling!

 

I wasn't inferring that Barney pushed Kris off line, but that Kris altered his line because of the touch.

Watch the post race interview where Barney was asked about the touch.

 

He didn’t say Barnes shouldn’t block Kris. He said Kris should have ridden differently to overcome those blocks.

Should is an oft overused term. That said, I think racers should keep their hands to themselves on the racetrack.