vintage wrap up

I don't really know enough about how WERA runs things to comment on any of this stuff really, but the finish points thing I do have a comment. I raced at 3 WERA races this year and DNF'd for whatever reason at all of them. Two mechanicals which were really out of the blue since I finished and won the championship at my AHRMA races this year. I don't think awarding points to people if they don't make it to the checkered flag is necessary. If you can't finish, you shouldn't be awarded points. I can see how some might be more competitive in that every point matters, but we're not racing GP races here and the sponsors aren't breathing down our necks to finish on top. Make it last the race...if you crash or something breaks, fix it and finish the next one.

 

i hate to sound like a total un-supportive dick, but i just want to pay my money, and race. im not all that interested in volunteering to help run anything if im paying. here, there or occasionally, sure. but really....im a racer/mechanic. not a promoter/organizer.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself Tony. To me preparation of the bike is an important part of racing. I believe the old axiom "to win first you must finish" is fundamental to what we do. There will always be issues with a bike that no one could reasonably anticipate - but they are few and far between. To me giving points for a DNF is often, but not always, rewarding someone for not doing the hard work of making sure their bike is ready to go the distance.

But more important than that is the safety issue. I've had a few close calls around bikes that should not have been on the track. The owners knew the bikes had issues and gridded up anyway. If my bike has issues and I get hurt that's my problem and my responsibility. If someone else puts me at risk because they ride an unsafe bike that pisses me off. I certainly don't think we should be giving them points for doing that.

 

Here it is Sunday morning and we're still going on with all of this...probably a handful of riders/members will get agitated with me for writing this, but here goes anyway:

We know the 'lay of the land' as far as WERA vintage goes. There is room for improvement but WERA management is clearly stating what it will and will not do. It is what it is, not perfect but not totally flawed either. The opportunity is there to race if we choose to do so, as it has been for years. Can we, the rider-members, do more to increase participation? Hard to say in this current downturned economy. So in the short 'meantime' between now and the beginning of the 2010 season, why not take Jim's cue to make certain the bikes are rock steady...and think of simple but effective things to do to get prospective riders to join?

I sent suggestions to Mongo about possible steps to draw positive attention to vintage racing and increase participation. Although I have not heard anything in response (any news is good news), I trust that the suggestions have been read and considered. No matter what, it is either race vintage with WERA or go race with another club. Little can be gained, or so it appears to me, from continuing a litany of complaints, other than to clean out years of mental cobwebs from imagining that vintage racing is somehow going to become more popular than NASCAR, MotoGP, or the NFL. We, like the machines we race, are getting older so why not have some fun along the way to forced retirement and obsolescence?

 

This is great, Sean has expressed and interest in understanding the frustration with the vintage program. What I posted was a perspective on things that were viewed as having a positive influence on participation. I know there were negatives to it and I agree with the safety issue totally.

Jim like you I cringe when I see some of the bikes that grid up. I wish we had a more stringent tech inspection and enforced safety criteria. To do so would require improved instructions and even a better source to assist people in understanding how to meet these requirements.

My goal in my previous two posts was to participate / contribute in a reasoned dialog about the issues, your reply and others are the exact response I hoped for. What I posted was not a demand or proposition that the rules be changed back, just a deeper perspective on what was tried in the past and the possible impact.

I cannot say the response from Sean is anything more or less than I expected. He seems to define ANY thing posted as "bitching and a hassle" even if it is a reasoned, measured non-confrontational posting about an issue or point of view.

Up until this point I have built my bikes specifically to the WERA rules and specifications without consideration of the other organizations. I am working on several new bikes, with two being WERA specific configurations. I was intent on spending 100% of my racing budget with WERA as I return to a full racing schedule. I think it is prudent to build more flexible configurations, and I may abandon one project all together as I re-examine how and where I spend my racing $.

 

I apologize I was speaking to the experience of the vintage riders that attended the GNF and how they expressed their opinion of the experience this year.

I agree with you that there is some component that will always bitch, I believe lumping all dialog into this category is a mistake.

 

Here is where we stand at this point from my perspective. Please remember this is my viewpoint only - I do not speak for WERA. If Sean disagrees I'm sure he will chime in as I don't think anyone has ever described him as being shy and retiring.

I think WERA has made it clear they will not entertain any proposals from us that require them to spend more money or devote more resources to WERA Vintage at this time. I think they will work with us on anything else we propose that they consider reasonable. They are providing us with many opportunites to race a one day format on a regional basis with professional race management. They will listen to our input on rules but the final decision on them is their's alone.

Our other choice is AHRMA which provides a national series with a 2 day format with a smaller race calendar. The organization is run as a club with all the pluses and minuses that go along with that primarily by volunteers. Their philosophy seems to be to try to provide a class for anything with 2 wheels -once again with all the pluses and minuses that go along with that. Their grids are normally larger than WERA grids as their race calendar is more concentrated and their focus is a national rather than regional one.

Those are our choices. Neither is good or bad - just different. Each of us will have to choose based on what is important to us individually.

It is what it is.

Time to go to the shop and get the bikes ready for 2010. I look forward to seeing and racing with everyone in the spring. :up:

 

It is what it is.

No truer words have ever been uttered.

 

All I know is that I'm building what I hope to be is a kick ass bike for WERA classes. That's where I'll continue to spend my racing dollars.

 

the redundant nature of this thread shows no bounds... and Bob- if you have 3 out of 4 new bikes ready by March I will kiss your ass on the backstretch of Road Atlanta!

 

No buff, he's building them to kick your ass with...........................................................................................In ahrma

 

The 4 included my existing 400. Buff, you have no idea how hard I have been working to get them ready, you may very well regret that statement and I will NOT require that you honor it on the back straight (I may hold you to it in the pits )

I am NOT trying to have the Spondon ready for march and I may decide to postpone any work on it all together. I will have at least ONE new bike operational by March. I am making a serious consideration at hitting Roebling and Daytona with the 400 and a 250 :up:

(Tim has it right )

 

Good- i hope my motivational words
produce positive results. Hope you make it out some
next year.

 

I can accept that :up:, BBS and E-mail communication lacks that tangible person to person flavor, this often leads to misunderstandings (mine in this case), I know this from personal experience.

 

Tell me about it. Please take this in a funny way.

V-2 at VIR next year?

 

I believe I made it out 50% as much as you did this year.. I am working on improving it next year:up:

 

These days I am trying to take everything in a funny way :up:... I am not sure you will approve of my V-2 configuration :wow: but it is legal per the rules, we will have to see about VIR, I have never been there but have watched the AMA and it is a beautiful looking track and I know everyone raves about it.