Motoamerica at V.I.R.

The only problem I have with Petrucci is that he tends to use his huge social media presence to post things before he has given due consideration to how they sound. His frustration ends up sounding like bitching about MA and his competitors not meeting his standards, which reflects badly on him and his team. If he had waited to post after his last crash, until he had seen the video and checked the times involved he might have made a different post.

 

Eventually they do. Max's comment on FB is that it was a new engine after the crash- thus setting the stage that he was legal in other races.

All I could think was "Oh God, now we're never going to hear the end of it from @FastByKids " After those top speed comments, I was thinking "this guy must be trolling? Has he never been through the Hog Pen at VIR??"

Regarding Danillo's crash, that new ARMCO is a little close for comfort. After the kink, the track drops away a bit and it also continues to curve right a little- something you don't notice when you're riding the regular line. But if you try to go 'round the outside of someone, you'll notice it real quick. You can't stand it up and run all the way to the trees like Tommy Hayden did back in the day.

We had a pretty good weekend. Took me until Q2 to get to where we left off last year lap time wise, and Saturday I had a good start, was able to improve my times by another .5 sec, get 21st place and not get lapped...... not a bad show considering I made one major mistake in T1 and a few more minor ones in the closing laps. The heat was crazy. I guess I forgot how physical this track is, you really need to hustle at VIR to make a good lap....Gagne makes it look so easy!

Sunday I was feeling the heat and fatigue, I lost some positions in the 1st split and got stuck racing with guys I had the pace to run away from if I could have gotten clear. No excuses, they flat out-raced me, which is their job. Hats off to them.

Kaleb is a little more sensitive to setup than Jody, glad he found something for Sunday. Those guys are running incredible times.

In case you haven't noticed, Drama sells. MA must have played the clips of the Joshes talking in the press conference over the loudspeaker 10 times. Seems to have worked as it got you guys all riled up. Danillo is probably playing the same card. Although I don't see how anyone could have gotten to him quicker- no corner worker stand outside of T1.

Cheers!

 

First question was in reference to GP/WSBK, but I'll re-phrase the question. How often in the GP/WSBK broadcast is the viewer left in any sort of doubt about the outcome when a popular rider crashes?

To more directly answer you final question, here's the perception that a casual has:
Announcers don't see Petrucci in the post race celebrations at turn 1, "where'd Petrucci go?"
No footage of the crash. Only clip is briefly of Petrucci standing and potentially looking confused (whether he was or not, or just looking around, doesn't matter)
Then the announcers don't sound like they are sure of where he is during the interviews either. They mentioned assuming he was in medical.

So a fan who is emotionally invested in Petrucci is uncomfortable, like "their guy" isn't being taken care of. They may not even be able to put it into words. Then Petrucci posts on IG. Now they have the words to go along with their emotion.

All of the above can be explained. All of it is understandable. None of that matters in the world of social media, where having an immediate opinion is the most important thing and validating emotional response is the name of the game.

 

We have been trying to get Sean to bury the hatchet for over two decades with VIR . It's a bucket list item and a track I always wanted to race. Hell, I'd put on my leathers again and setup another 400 to race my kids! So, no---have no clue about the Hog Pen.

As for Petrucci, well---appears many of you have never worked or been around many Italians. Hot headed, usually give zero cares for your feelings when upset, and very passionate. I'm sure he will cool down and regain his composure.

Funny you mentioned "Drama Sells". MotoA just had a Twitter post amping VIR for "drama".

 

I'll grant you the announcers make up shit frequently.

From an analytical/cold facts perspective, I agree. Personally, I only really wanted to see/know how he crashed. A curiosity satisfied by Cam Peterson's comments to RRW.

My inclination is to assume everyone is an irrational idiot. But that's not very useful. So looking at a FB group that is mostly casual fans, I'm trying to understand where their responses might be coming from.

Whether or not anyone should change their approach based on that response is a different question.

 

I suppose the true moral of the story is: DON’T TUCK THE FRONT WHILE DOING 175 MPH AND CRASH.

All of these post race observations and comments about Moto-America having unsafe standards and subpar safety protocols are complete crap - As if both Moto-GP and WSBK are somehow inherently safer or implement a higher standard of safety. Some peeps are really showing their ignorance and lack of knowledge. Carry on.

The BBS is back.
So is the stoopid.

 

Both him and Oxley are idiots.

 

Simple physics is hard.

 

Are you sure about this?
Seems as if there is a lot more involved with this than you are stating. I mean for someone who doesn’t grid up and race in the class, you seemingly have a rather large axe to grind, repeatedly.
Just saying.

 

Simply not true.

 

So your real complaint is with the producers and the directors of the broadcast not showing you what you want to see. Remember that the announcers can't see anything you can't see unless it is right outside their window. Otherwise, they rely on the broadcast, too.

 

Maybe the best comment in this thread.

 

No mention of Ducatis going down

https://www.motoamerica.com/duly-noted-vir/

 

Or knows some kids in the series whom have some phenomenal talent struggling over things they can't control?

Or might have two kids constantly in my ear who want to "race with their friends". Cough Cough Cough Mongo is right Cough Cough Cough, but they truly need to stay in WERA for a few years.

Anyway, I know it's debatable but in my eyes it's the best race of the weekend. And if MotoA keeps some things in check it has a phenomenal pipeline to get MORE kids into the show.

 

For the record, only talking perception. Jason and Greg are repeatedly wondering what happened to Petrux, say over and over he must have crashed, then you see him alone with no track support en route. I watch a shitload of US and Euro pro series racing and it struck me in the moment.

I get the logistics. I get how VIR is set up and an ambulance could have been on the way while he was walking. But it wasn't. And no one saw that. That gives his public bitching more weight to anyone else who felt it didn't correlate to what they're used to seeing.

 

if he was up and walking in less than a minute (this has been established), and the ambulance would have to cross a hot track as the rest of the field crosses the finish line, why would it roll at all ??