Even *more* stupidity dribbling from the open mouths of DMG

[vroompuppy]

Heck, I watch WSB a lot more, and F1 car racing now. Even F1 is more interesting than AMA.
I think that qualifies as taking the sport backwards.

I'm w/you! Sorry guys but I'm just about ready to give up on AMA/DMG.....assholes!!

Go Big Ben!!!!

 

[Randy]

Doing this mid season makes no sense. I don't see anyone dumping their current ride and shelling out the coin for a new (unproven) bike.

Oh no, take a look at this:

https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=37323

He isn't dropping his current ride. He hasn't run superbike this year, only DSB. Plus, with all of the positive press he's given Buell, I'm quite certain he didn't pay $40k

Actually he's been running Superbike on a GSXR. Now he'll be on the Buell in both classes. You're probably right about him not paying the $40K though. He's their privateer wonder boy!

You're right...my bad. Tells you how much I've been paying attention to AMA racing this year.

AMA response - clear as mud https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=37360

 

[wfooshee]

Holy fucking inconsistentcy, Batman!!!!

One of the reasons American "Superbikes" are pretty much what last year was Superstock is that DMG claimed they wanted to keep costs down, IIRC. They also wanted to emphsize the "production" nature of their motorcycle racing.(Gee, just like they emphasize it over at NASCAR?) Anyways, to have this in their statement . . . .

Asked if this might open up a loophole that the larger motorcycle manufacturers and importers might try to take advantage of, Ludington said, "For sure. I"ll give you an example. I know some of the R1 riders are complaining about the [stock] forks aren't suitable, a lot of flex, yada, yada. Well, you know what, if Yamaha were willing to make a limited-production R1 that came equipped with Öhlins forks and an Öhlins damper from the factory and they wanted it homologated as an AMA-spec racebike and the retail price was within the range we’re looking at and they were willing to support it and back it at the manufacturer and dealer level, we would certainly consider homologating it as a racebike."

. . . seems to contravene the "low-cost, production-based" part of that statement. I also notice that nothing was said about the hypothetical Ohlins-equipped R1 being street-legal or not, other than the homologating it as a racebike, implying not.

I can't think of anything better for us than having AMA-branded, ready to rock and roll racebikes.

That's just fucking scary. Spec-racing, anyone? Bike of Tomorrow? Perhaps Rotax powered twins? (OK, the last was a cheap shot, but an easy one.)

So I think what people need to get their heads around isn't necessarily the various nuances of the rulebook and how they lay out . . .

Well, actually, it is. Rules is rules, dude!

Everybody can piss, cry and moan, . . .

Now there's somebody who's got the fan's interests at the top of his list!!!!!

Interesting that in this article by Erik hisownself, no mention at all is made of the more-than-double displacement advantage his bike enjoys over most of the others. . . .

 

[wfooshee]

And the hits just keep on coming!

Honda response

It is very difficult for me to comment on the AMA/DMG acceptance of the Buell in question as ashamedly it is evident we had an erroneous interpretation of both the rules and the homologation process," Blank said late Friday. "I am excited now for the opportunity to consider "homologation specials" and we will diligently consider the manufacture of a similarly spec'ed Honda racer for the Superbike field as soon as it is economically feasible. This is an exciting new opportunity for all manufacturers and I am ashamed to have missed this chance through our inability to accurately analyze the current rules. Frankly, this could really be fun.

Now that's funny. I wonder if anybody at DMG even knows they've been insulted?

Mladin interview

That's what I've said in the past. And again, in the end, I don't 100% agree with what we're racing over here. I mean, if the rest of the world, England and other places, can race fully fledged Superbikes, then why can't America? Jesus, this is America, dude. This is the country where Suzuki - not in 2009 of course, but in 2007, 2008 or whenever, sold 200,000 motorcycles. I mean, if they want to spend $10,000,000 to go race, then why can't they? I know it's what the fans want. But that's the way it is. What are you going to do? That's it. Seven weeks, the last race, and that's it.

Q: You've run teams in the past, and that's probably something that interests you. Does this series interest you?
A: Oh, not at all. Oh, God no. No. I wouldn't - I would prefer to stick a screwdriver in my eye, rather than having to race like this, yeah, with my own team.

He can't be much clearer than that, can he? I'm sure DMG knows what he said about them.

 

[madmike2]

Evidently none of the DMG folks were in the Navy.

Rule #1: Don't pee upwind!

 

[MotorToad]

RRW just posted a great editorial on the train wreck that is DMG

 

[Niehart]

Just makes you want to say "Huh?"

 

[wfooshee]

I saw a link to that earlier today, and the link was dead. It appears I tried to get it during the update.

It appears that DMG needs something like Florida's "Sunshine Law," which basically means that in our legislative processes nothing gets decided behind closed doors, nothing gets done in meetings that nobody has access to or can't get a recording of, stuff like that. DMG needs to put their procedures out in the open, where teams, press, and fans can see what's going on and why. They apparently think that "being in charge" means "not being accountable."

 

[Randy]

Through all of the bullshit, there was some good racing at Mid Ohio this weekend.

 

[wfooshee]

This goes in "Stupidity dribbling" and not the Mid-Ohio thread, even though it happened at Mid-Ohio. "Conversation" between Johnny Rock Page and Al Ludington after the former became a rolling roadblock near the end of Superbike race 1.

https://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=37409

Page's obsession seems to be holding his line, ya think? He doesn't seem to recall the second part of that rule's "advice," namely to allow the faster rider to pass. Yeah, he should hold his line, but his line shouldn't be the racing line. Maybe his suspension will give him time to realize that.

The idea of holding the line is to avoid someone swerving back and forth thinking they're moving out of the way. The faster rider needs to know they're not going to do that. But that line should absolutely not be the racing line the faster guys need.

Page was suspended from race 2, and from both races of the next event, which I think is just, but that "conversation" certainly wasn't.

And anybody who thinks DMG is interested in racing needs to pay attention. Except for the very first mention, he never called it a race, it was always a "show." That speaks volumes.

And isn't he Tech Director or something? Why is he having that conversation with the rider?

 

[Randy]

If Al comes out of this unscathed, I would be surprised. Yes - he's the tech guy. No - he had no right to speak to a 'customer' like that.

The rule doesn't say to move off the fast line. If you're on 'your' line and you move out of the way, then they could dock you for not holding your line if you screw up. It's a no win situation. The key point that hasn't come out is, when was he given the blue flag? The rules don't say you'll be suspended if you don't respond to the blue flag - it says you could be black flagged.

I'm with JRP on this one - he actually did a pretty decent job of keeping a steaming pace while getting lapped. The gap after Yates got by didn't seem to change much. It wasn't the last lap when it happened.

 

[MotorToad]

The rules don't say you'll be suspended if you don't respond to the blue flag - it says you could be black flagged.

HAHHAHAHAHAHA! What would it ever matter what the rules say? JRP is a jerk and an idiot, but there's no reason for suspension from a blue flag. I'm not really sad that he got suspended, though, because I don't like the guy.

Hell, the AMA has always said the flag doesn't even mean anything (which is weird because a few years ago they specified a plain blue flag instead of the blue with yellow stripe that everyone already had). They've told us for years that we need to have someone showing the blue, but they also said not to bother calling anything in if the riders don't react to it, it's supposed to just be informing the guy he's about to get lapped.

 

[Crash Cash]

Zoinks! AMA Pro Suspends Ludington Indefinitely

 

[Stephen]

Yowsah!

I'm with the racer on this one. For a young guy to maintain his cool like that demands my utter respect.... no matter what he was accused of.

I think that Ludington has an unusual interest in who wins, places or shows. Gambling? Trying to fix a race? Not unheard of in the world of competitive sports.

And I agree 100%. What is a tech guy doing talking to a racer????

See ya, Al. Try your hand at RC racing.

Asshat!

 

[MotorToad]

Rumblings on Soup and RRW are that some riders aren't willing to run this weekend due to safety concerns. This coming from people that ran on Laguna Seca before it was refurbished, Brainerd, Louden, and turn 12 at Road Atlanta. Topeka must be something else.

I know DMG gives **** all about rider safety after they ran Motost at Iowa.

Also on RRW they interviewed DMG Dufass himself and he said some media outlets had been making stuff up and reported falsehoods, but saying there's no "blacklist" of media members. It would appear that Soup's Dean Adams feels differently from subtle hints he's posted over the past few weeks.

 

[rickcorwn]

Rumblings on Soup and RRW are that some riders aren't willing to run this weekend due to safety concerns. This coming from people that ran on Laguna Seca before it was refurbished, Brainerd, Louden, and turn 12 at Road Atlanta. Topeka must be something else.
I know DMG gives **** all about rider safety after they ran Motost at Iowa.

Also on RRW they interviewed DMG Dufass himself and he said some media outlets had been making stuff up and reported falsehoods, but saying there's no "blacklist" of media members. It would appear that Soup's Dean Adams feels differently from subtle hints he's posted over the past few weeks.

I've been to Topeka a few times and I thought it was a sucky track for cars, I was amazed to see bikes there. They've got some walls in some bad spots.

Hey! What was wrong with Brainerd??

 

[Crash Cash]

Rumblings on Soup and RRW are that some riders aren't willing to run this weekend due to safety concerns. This coming from people that ran on Laguna Seca before it was refurbished, Brainerd, Louden, and turn 12 at Road Atlanta. Topeka must be something else.
I know DMG gives **** all about rider safety after they ran Motost at Iowa.

Also on RRW they interviewed DMG Dufass himself and he said some media outlets had been making stuff up and reported falsehoods, but saying there's no "blacklist" of media members. It would appear that Soup's Dean Adams feels differently from subtle hints he's posted over the past few weeks.

Yeah, if you look at the walls and zero runoff near that bridge, coupled with the fact that it's an "S" going into the bridge, meaning if you screw up and don't make the first half of the "S" then you're pretty much guaranteed to eat the bridge pillar. Nice.

And yeah, the "blacklist" dig is directly at Superbikeplanet. Not even well hidden, there.

 

[MotorToad]

Reg O'Rourke

Old news, but they're getting rid of the Murder Car. It's a big step away from the stupid that is DMG.

I like how anyone whose paycheck isn't dependent on not pissing AMA off has no hesitation to bash the series management.

 

[wfooshee]

Previously, a decision was made to suspend the use of Pace and Safety vehicles on a hot racetrack during yellow flag conditions. Furthering that decision, for 2010 and beyond, the Pace and Safety vehicles will only be used to restart the field following red flag situations.

So they do standing starts at the beginning, but rolling restarts??!??!?! How does that jive with:

It was clear from the response of fans and the AMA Pro community that they prefer the original clutch starts, and because the rolling start did not prove to be clearly safer, we will return to the clutch start for all AMA Pro Road Racing divisions in 2010.

Another thing I really hope they get rid of, is the parade lap, or whatever you want to call it. A lap behind the pace car, back to the pits, and shut the bikes off. No idea what purpose it serves, but they do it every race. You usually don't see it on TV, but it's a colossal waste of time, riders gear up, go out, then park and mill around, go back to the trailer, whatever. It has nothing to do with the start of the race, they still do the sighting lap before gridding up for the start. This parade lap thing is something else, and it's useless. As a fan, I saw it as "All right, they're finally getting this thing going," only to see them pit, park, and wander off again. Then as a fan, I'm going "WTF!!??!??!"

 

[Randy]

Previously, a decision was made to suspend the use of Pace and Safety vehicles on a hot racetrack during yellow flag conditions. Furthering that decision, for 2010 and beyond, the Pace and Safety vehicles will only be used to restart the field following red flag situations.

So they do standing starts at the beginning, but rolling restarts??!??!?! How does that jive with:

It was clear from the response of fans and the AMA Pro community that they prefer the original clutch starts, and because the rolling start did not prove to be clearly safer, we will return to the clutch start for all AMA Pro Road Racing divisions in 2010.

Another thing I really hope they get rid of, is the parade lap, or whatever you want to call it. A lap behind the pace car, back to the pits, and shut the bikes off. No idea what purpose it serves, but they do it every race. You usually don't see it on TV, but it's a colossal waste of time, riders gear up, go out, then park and mill around, go back to the trailer, whatever. It has nothing to do with the start of the race, they still do the sighting lap before gridding up for the start. This parade lap thing is something else, and it's useless. As a fan, I saw it as "All right, they're finally getting this thing going," only to see them pit, park, and wander off again. Then as a fan, I'm going "WTF!!??!??!"

MotoGP does a parade lap and then later does a warmup lap before race. Thought World Superbike did it to.

The pace bike thing makes no sense.