Motoamerica at V.I.R.

More interesting is the silence from Bobby and the Warhorse Team. I'm sure there were some serious phone conversations yesterday ....

 

Fong was there since he's working for Alpinestars these days. He's racing the bagger series but I'm sure if HSBK offered him the ride and it paid he'd do it but you gotta look at what's best for you long term and a steady job with Astars is the better option since HSBK hasn't renewed a rider beyond 1 season since they were just running an AMA team.

 

There's a fundamental difference between the way America treats first response and the Europeans, which I think is playing a part in the perception of things since outside of MA, the broadcast response shown at racing follows the European though process.

This is based on military casualty evacuation differences between the US and UK, which I spent quite a lot of time doing. In general:
-The European model is to bring the ER to the point of injury. The thought process is getting the maximum care to the person as early as possible. So UK helos carry surgeons and basically have a small ER in the back of a Chinook. On a racetrack there is a small army of workers that run out to haul the bike off and attend to the rider.
-The American model is to do the minimum required to stabilize the patient and speed them to the actual hospital. Theory is fancy procedures done in the field are rarely truly helpful, and are usually either a waste of time or actually harmful. More people in the field exposes more people to the initial danger and is a poor allocation of resources. So on the track, if the bike isn't in the way, we'll get it later; if the rider is ok and can walk out of the impact zone they should do that so the workers are available if something worse happens.

I'm told there is data to support the US model. I'm sure there is also data to support the EU model.
They both have a logic to them. One makes people watching feel better.

 

I don't hear or read a lot of "I should have known not to try this" from anyone in racing. Unless someone hits you, that's pretty much implied by the fact that you crashed.

 

Rumor has it they are in talks to get 2 factory techs to try and fix problems the hsbk guys can't.

 

Moto America follows the FIM medical protocol, so if the protocol was followed, there would be no difference.

 

Okay, I guess I'll shut up until I see his entire original message. Because the one that I read in this thread does not say that.

 

Even assuming that he did say "slower rider," I wouldn't trust him to know the new ones between that and "slowing rider." Unless his English has improved dramatically since the last time I heard an interview.

 

See now that is an interesting point that I think a lot of people have missed. If the original statement or tweet or whatever was written in Italian which I assume it was, a lot may have been lost in translation. For example “a couple of minutes” in English is a random amount of time but when translated into another language becomes 2 minutes exactly. Perhaps he only meant that he was lay8ing there for a bit. I’m sure it felt much longer to him than it actually was.
Also if he was trying to pass for position at the line then the rider in front slowed after the checkered flag it could have easily stood him up as the track kinks right. Perhaps he is not used to riders shutting the throttle at the flag.
Just a couple possibilities other than that Petrucci is a raging asshole conclusion that some have jumped to. It may also be possible that he is getting some bad social media posting advice.
As for some of the other comments on here, the dude is thousands of miles from anyone who he gives a shoot about and vice versa, in a country where he barely speaks the language and apparently living in Pittsburg (enough to depress anyone). He’s riding a street bike for the first time in a decade on tires he’s never used and tracks he’s never seen, with a new team, rules, etc, and he’s leading the championship despite 2(?) DNFs. Hardly getting his ass handed to him. Hahahaha

 

Nah, I really hoped Petrucci would come here like Elias. Battle our guys, raise the bar, and simultaneously prove we have some really fast guys in our SBK class....and bring international interest in the series.

Instead, ever since COTA, he's done nothing but bitch. I guess it's just "coincidence" that the bitching magically coincides with him getting beat by multiple riders, straight up?

 

I'm not disagreeing really. I'm just saying even following FIM protocol (as Cop pointed out, which I assume is being done) and unlimited resources, given the underlying medical philosophy differences (not to mention track layout differences) it would still look different here. But I digress.

What I'm poking at is perception control on the part of MA.
How often do you see an uninjured rider walking off the track giving a thumbs up to the corner worker who then either grabs the bike or turns around after starting in that direction?
No one saw the UTV meeting Petrucci and giving him a ride, you always see that on the GP/WSBK broadcast.
People who are squawking (again social media) aren't experts. They mostly don't know how track direction works at all. What they do know is what they see on the GP/WSBK broadcast. Those announcers know really quickly if someone crashes. If that rider is particularly popular, they make sure to show video of them getting up and safely walking away or being tended to by medical.

Instead, we got: Petrucci posts something that essentially reinforces an uneasy feeling that a casual fan had at the end of the race when the announcers didn't know where Petrucci went. No closure.

At the end of the day, MA is an entertainment show and perception matters. Even if we're talking about the perception of people who don't know anything. And Petrucci has a huge social media presence (for a motorcycle racer).