so Mr. Bice said "Suffice to say that the schedule will be quite different from previous years, and I venture to say that you will be very pleased with it" The calls from discord users are a return to Indy and / or a COTA round for all classes. Given the whole COVID/Indy shit, I'd lean to COTA
I doubt MA can afford a full Cota weekend. Well, they could if they don’t care about losing a shit ton of cash.
I *Think* its going to be everyone going to COTA, Barber is moved to May (replacing VIR), and NOLA somewhere in there. The NOLA guy was at Barber talking to the MA peeps. I think they're also looking to ditch Branierd- not sure how that fits in. The car people just flat out bid MA for VIR. Also the only other date that VIR offered was Mother's Day which they declined.
While we're dreaming, I do think ACC full course would make for excellent pro racing. Nice country tour to replace VIR.
LOLOL. I was thinking the same thing. After my dad started drag racing when I was 12, I was at the track with my dad on every Mother's day and Father's Day. Tyler and I went to NOLA back in 2012 and it was completely flat and not that impressive. I would have to ask my son again what he thought of the place? Did have a couple nice meals there and it was fun hanging with Luke Huff, Bryce Prince, and the crew that weekend. That was the race Tyler's chain broke and it whipped him across his back and thigh....nice bruises for awhile.
I rode bikes at Mid-O for the first time this year. (I did go there in 2017 and 2018 when I raced cars) From a layout perspective its quite possibly one of my favorite tracks along with Pitt. Plenty of passing opportunities, and decent rewards for being brave. The lack of traction was a bit scary, but it was everyone's problem, not just mine. So I just pushed through it. The lack of run off in some areas also seemed a bit spooky. I was not interested in eating those hay-bales. I'm sure a re-pave would be an absolute must for MA to return. I think they'd have to move some stuff too, which I've heard is damn near impossible due to property limits. I don't understand why Mid-O hasn't repaved. They've gotten plenty of premier racing series to come there for years. (I have heard some are actually pulling out now) I know a re-pave is expensive, but so is having a race track with open weekends. Or having to shut down because it rained.. At least it's not 12 miles long like Road America.. Benefit of the current track though, is due to the bike sliding front and rear for 3 days straight at Mid-O, I became MUCH more confident in what I'm doing. I went no less than 1.5 seconds faster than my PB at every single track for the rest of 2022. I had Grattan the very next weekend and took 2 seconds off my lap time. Hell, I hit my previous best from round 1 in the 1st practice session on Friday. lol I honestly think I learned more about racing a motorcycle at this years VMD than I have since my first few weekends riding.
https://www.motoamerica.com/2023-ducati-panigale-v4-r-how-does-240-5-hp-at-16500-rpm-grab-you/ -mentions Josh has a 2 year contract with Warhorse... so guess his sillyseason decision lies with what class
Mid ohio can repave but in doing so MA would demand more run off and acreage to do so. And that's not possible from what I've heard