I normally do the Friday practice and am there the whole weekend, If it rains then I don't roll the solo. Fitting tech somewhere in the day on Sat. would be preferred as Sunday is a bit more stressful and rushing is never fun. Also…for those of you saying just do the solo cause it’s a better deal it’s not. Yes, the entry fee Vs practice fee is almost a wash but add in ~$50 for race gas and $250-$450 for new rubber…depending on replacing just the rear or both. Getting your combined ~15 laps using old rubber and pump gas to get lose, make some final tweaks and warm up for Sunday is the better deal.
I have always been a fan of Solo 20's. I think it's a smart move from a business point of view. And personally I like it because it will hopefully put more riders in the Solo 20's.
I like that idea, but would imagine it'd be tough to have to make happen with both tech and registration. Although I know with Jim and Rich running our region, they'd be able to pull it off no problem. Not that I'd want to have them do any more work then they're already doing. Sorry guys.
A "better deal" depends on how you look at it I suppose. I've always thought it odd that some people showed up Friday and didn't race on Saturday. Racing is a weekend committment for me. I don't want to come and race on just Sunday. To each their own though ..
I don't treat the solo's as seriously as I do the sprints. I run pump fuel and it's been very rare that I ran new tires, normally I'll run the same ones I practiced on Friday or another set of takeoff's I brought with me. It does get me in a better frame of mind for Sunday, I never seem to be as quick in practice as in a race, I'm almost always 1-2 seconds quicker in a race so it gives me a better feel for how I'm going to run the next day.
Who's gonna work late? Wade's alseep after the V6LW race and aren't you at the Grattan Bar by 5:05 PM on Saturday?
Since it's at the end of the day, can we have an open bar, or get a beer sponsor? "PM Tech sponsored by Miller High Life". Honestly, the only details I could see.... ...would be have ample lighting for tech in the evening (the Grattan tech garage has poor lighting, for example). ...opening it (tech) after the last race. If WERA is still running a lean staff, then I can't see PM tech opening until after the last race since grids/crash truck need to be covered. ...what might happen is that Sunday tech might get crushed, if Saturday PM tech is/isn't open. It depends on the venue. But we'll need good coverage since most riders will want to make P1. ...if pay to practice on Saturday is the rule, then will this effect Saturday turnout at the gate, and effect the money collected by the track for entry? I'm sure this has all been thought of, I just wanted to post up.
If you want to race a track day will not satisfy that desire so I would say no this won't push people to track days. The solo's are typically more than twice the laps of the sprints, add the practice and it makes for a pretty solid day of riding. As far as the tires and fuel go just put on a set of take offs and use pump gas. You do not need a new set of tires for the solo's IMO. The reality is most do not even need a new set of tires for sprint races.
Yeah, I don't see this as good business sense. In times of economic trouble, businesses should be looking to gain more customers, not drive them away. Nobody is going to pay $75 for saturday morning practice, so wera won't be making more money. But this will create many other problems; long lines in tech and registration on sunday morning; less saturday gate fees, and more pissed off customers, people that will eventually stop racing with wera. If wera is having financial problems, perhaps revamping the entire weekend is in order. Get rid of the solo's and spread all other races out over saturday and sunday, and increase each race to 15 laps or so. Of course entry fees on a 15 lap race would be more, but I think most of us would not baulk at increased fees if our racing experience was enhanced. Unlike charging for practice, which does nothing but make the entire weekend even less attractive for most people, while doing nothing for wera's bottom line.
personally,never liked running a solo on sat. as i'm running v-6,v-7 on sunday.the bikes just aren't that competitive,so running a solo for me seems foolish.i did like when wera had a 4 lap heat race on sat.to set the grids for sun. "finals".raise entry fees a little,then everyone races sat. and sun.
I dont see it as "charging for practice". I see it as charging to get on the track on saturday. Your sprint entries are for sunday. Like I said before, I was shocked it was not that way when I joined up. It makes sense. People are reluctant to change, but given some time, it will be teh norm, and nobody will think twice about it anymore probably.
My personal opinion is that the solo's are of great importance to up and coming talent. Since AMA, WSBK, MOTOGP, etc., run 20+ laps, it makes sense to have my rider out there for those long stints.............and racing!! I know the veteran riders may not see it as such a great thing but for the kids coming up that are going to go pro at some point, I believe they are invaluable. We'll race whatever we can afford too and that will include as many solos as we can do. What I may suggest for future consideration is to make the solos a series onto themselves. Twenty lappers are the future!!
Thats cuz you can't do 20 straight laps!!!! I personally love the solos. I wish every race was 20 laps. Bigger grids = bigger payouts. None of the uber fast guys are going to run them anyway so go make some beer money. I was amazed it was free in the first place and charging for saturday practice is a much better option than raising the race entry fees. You can't gain customers by giving stuff away (remember surge?); if anything this should increase revenue (via a shotgun wedding) AND get more people racing on Saturday. CCS charges for saturday practice, and you can only ride if you're racing on sunday, so I guess if this makes you mad you should have fun looking for the double sprint weekends that have no practice? Tech/Registration for Sunday should be open Saturday, IMHO. That way it won't cause even more congestion sunday morning. Other than that, no big deal.:up:
The solos do pay money back to some. And with more entrants in races, it's not out of the realm of possibilities to make back some of your money by finishing in the top 5-7.
how would you enforce this policy, i would assume different stickers but at the end of the day and, once were well into the season i see, so many tech stickers stuck to tool boxes, there'd be no proper way to police this.