Is being killed by TRACK DAYS! My 2 cents worth! When I started racing in 1990,if you wanted on the track you had to go racing.
And pro / not so pro racing is killing club racing... they also had carbs in 1990, so I’m waiting for “we had to jet our bikes every day” crap. I get it, we get it, just be happy they are at least on the track. That means buying tires, keeping the tracks afloat so there are places to race, buying parts which helps keep cost for racers down, etc.
valves are for toilets!!! - 2 stroke racers of old also laps had to be hand timed... none of this transponder crap!
It has been that way for years now. It sucks, but it is just one of those changes from the good ol' days we have to accept. I remember my second or third time out to Willow Springs before I actually started racing, Vance and Hines was at the track testing with Thomas Stevens and Jamie James. Stevens passed me going into turn 8, stuck his knee in the dirt and showered me with dirt and rocks. All as a way to say move your ass, I'm sure. You can't get memories like that at a track day.
I think I kind of understand the OP's rant, maybe. Just a thought, though: What about when you're 70 years old? Want to risk being a cripple for however many years you have left? Trackdays let old guys ride. It matters.
dont forget beginners too. I mentioned in the other thread... you can go to a track day with ALL your friends... regardless of their skill level. The irony... most, if not all track day orgs have racers on staff... so.
That happens at track days, too. Maybe, you should get out of Novice group. Track days runs 7 days a week, all around the world. Talk to any track owner and they’ll all tell you it’s a great thing. There’s no way a track can survive on the few professional events they host a year. And, country club tracks survive solely off track days. I don’t see why a person would take exception to anyone getting off the street and onto the track, no matter the intent. I’m just happy that riders do. And, if they segway into gridding up, great. If they don’t, who cares?
Well yeah... Reviving an old thread but of coarse the orgs have racers on staff. Control riders are just racers looking for free track time duh lol
It may happen at trackdays still, but probably not often by the current US superbike champion, which Stevens was back then. We all get the idea and benefit of track days. It was just a different time back then. It wasn't as easy to get track time, but once you went, it had a way of pulling you in as a racer. Novice group huh? Haha. Ooookay.
Just jabbin’. AMA had a rule, mid-2000’s, prohibiting factory riders from attending trackdays prior to the event, so that would curb some of that. Not sure if MA has the same rule or not. But, it was awesome to ride with the rest. For sure, they didn’t hold back much. There should be tons of current and former pro racers on the tracks out west, isn’t there?