wfooshee
O, Woe is me!!
At the Laguna Seca Superbike race there was an incident in the Andretti hairpin on lap 1, several riders down. The first thing any of the continuing racers knew about any problem with the track was when they crested the front straight hill at speed to begin lap 2 to find the pace car parked in the racing line waiting for them. Apparently that part didn't make it into SPEED's TV show, nor was it even mentioned that such a close call even took place. The folks for Ricky Corey, bike #71 have posted some onboard on Youtube, though, so have a look:
{EDIT: I have now seen a recording of the SPEED coverage, and the announcers treated it like no big deal, they even said well, they know the pace car is coming, there's the sign. The first SAFETY CAR sign was at the start/finish, the riders were racing through the last series of turns and onto the front straight. The pace car was just over the blind crest of the hill. They had no choice but to run past it, and it tried valiantly but could not simply disappear as the field continued past it throught turn 2 and into turn 3. I saw three bikes come close to hitting it.}
I now reiterate my position that pace cars have no ******* place in motorcycle racing. DMG is an incompetant bunch of ******* who are interested in marketing, not racing, obvious from all their talk of their changes being "for the fans." They need to think of the riders for once and understand that stopping the race for an on track incident that can't be cleaned up in 30 seconds is not a bad thing to do. They want to use the pace car and keep the bikes ontrack "for the fans." I'd rather see the bikes race than run a parade, but what do I know? What if this had happened but with motorcycles? What would "the fans" think of that?!?!??!
Contrast DMG and road racing with the group doing motocross, and tell me again why I should support DMG in anything they want to do, ever. ******* morons.
EDIT 2: Press conference after the event, including an AMA official claiming that the riders didn't acknowledge the double yellows and safety car signs. In the SPEED recording I watched, I saw only one flag prior to the start/finish line, and that was NOT a double-yellow. Also, the start/finish station was waving a single, not double yellow, although the SAFETY CAR sign was out. Saying that, I don't know that any flag stations would have been in the shot, but the shots were wide enough that they should have been. The official also stated that the car was supposed to wait at a point where it would be visible to the riders as they exited the final turn onto the front straight, yet it was clearly beyond the crest of the hill. I looked at the SPEED broadcast a little more carefully after seeing the press conference, and I saw only one waving yellow in the shots of the end of the first lap. Obviously not all stations are in-frame as the camera goes by, but I saw workers standing idle. They might not have been flag stations, though. Still, to go on TV from the bottom of the corkscrew to the start line and only catch one flag seems to contradict the press conference statement.
Here's the kicker. The slash in the center of the circle is the single yellow flag being deployed at the start/finish line. It was not visible prior to this frame, and was clearly visible after this frame. But not a double yellow. And. . . . anybody see a pace car????
{EDIT: I have now seen a recording of the SPEED coverage, and the announcers treated it like no big deal, they even said well, they know the pace car is coming, there's the sign. The first SAFETY CAR sign was at the start/finish, the riders were racing through the last series of turns and onto the front straight. The pace car was just over the blind crest of the hill. They had no choice but to run past it, and it tried valiantly but could not simply disappear as the field continued past it throught turn 2 and into turn 3. I saw three bikes come close to hitting it.}
I now reiterate my position that pace cars have no ******* place in motorcycle racing. DMG is an incompetant bunch of ******* who are interested in marketing, not racing, obvious from all their talk of their changes being "for the fans." They need to think of the riders for once and understand that stopping the race for an on track incident that can't be cleaned up in 30 seconds is not a bad thing to do. They want to use the pace car and keep the bikes ontrack "for the fans." I'd rather see the bikes race than run a parade, but what do I know? What if this had happened but with motorcycles? What would "the fans" think of that?!?!??!
Contrast DMG and road racing with the group doing motocross, and tell me again why I should support DMG in anything they want to do, ever. ******* morons.
EDIT 2: Press conference after the event, including an AMA official claiming that the riders didn't acknowledge the double yellows and safety car signs. In the SPEED recording I watched, I saw only one flag prior to the start/finish line, and that was NOT a double-yellow. Also, the start/finish station was waving a single, not double yellow, although the SAFETY CAR sign was out. Saying that, I don't know that any flag stations would have been in the shot, but the shots were wide enough that they should have been. The official also stated that the car was supposed to wait at a point where it would be visible to the riders as they exited the final turn onto the front straight, yet it was clearly beyond the crest of the hill. I looked at the SPEED broadcast a little more carefully after seeing the press conference, and I saw only one waving yellow in the shots of the end of the first lap. Obviously not all stations are in-frame as the camera goes by, but I saw workers standing idle. They might not have been flag stations, though. Still, to go on TV from the bottom of the corkscrew to the start line and only catch one flag seems to contradict the press conference statement.
Here's the kicker. The slash in the center of the circle is the single yellow flag being deployed at the start/finish line. It was not visible prior to this frame, and was clearly visible after this frame. But not a double yellow. And. . . . anybody see a pace car????
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