This is what can happen, and whether there is a line actually painted on or not, or cones or no cones, ALWAYS look over your shoulder and stay off the racing line! This was from yesterday at Hallett. Not me, but a guy that I was pitting with.
*Was.... That is a huge bummer. I cannot believe you weren't absolutely livid! I hope the bike cleans up easily.
I know that guy, Todd Knauer. Lucky for the idiot who "clearly gave a signal" that Todd is one hell of a nice guy! That's a brand new 16 model...
Yep, that's a new ZX10...he just took it out for the first time on the track. And yes, he's a really nice guy. Most people would've probably thrown some fists in that situation, or at least some foul language!....especially after that guy was like "He gave me a clear signal". And that was advanced group too!
Bike's actually not too bad surprisingly. Helped that it fell on the grass. Pretty much everything on the left side got busted up but she'll live to go fast another day. Still sucks that he'll have to spend a decent amount of money because of someone else's stupid mistake.
Chatting with Todd on another forum, he has had over 7000 views since he posted it. This vid should be used in class to demonstrate how important it is to never cross the blend line and to never swing out into the race line even after you've cleared the blend line. Luckily, neither rider was injured and also nice to see Todd show great character by not losing his composure.
blend line or not, there was no reason for the rider getting onto the track to swing out as far as he did. hug the inside and make the fast riders pass you on the outside. in Qatar last week, Lorenzo entered the track and got in the way of Rossi in FP. However, he hugged the inside and Rossi went around him. If any Motogp rider were to enter the track and swing all the way out at turn 1 like this idiot did, there would be casualties. Big thumbs up to Todd for keeping calm.
Anybody who throws fists because of a crash should never be allowed on a track again. It sucks but if you are going to put a bike on a track, you better be willing to write it off as a total loss. Glad everybody is ok, though!!!
The most disturbing thing about this is that it happened in A group. Hallett runs their own "motorcycle lapping days" and I have to question how they handle registration. I did a weekend there last year and was kinda blown away that they gave the "OK" for riders to wheelie on the straights to get a good photo. I was going to hit that track again this year but I think I'm gonna pass. I'm on the side of safety first....
I must say, I've rode with 3 different orgs last year and STT is by far the most thorough and well organized. Safety it top priority and given the fact we all want to make it to work on monday I rather ride with STT than some of the others I've ridden with. I got touched during a pass once last year at a track day event with another org. That stuff wouldn't happen at a STT event.
Watching that gave me chills, and really aggravated me because it was senseless. Crashing happens, we all know that. It has always been a part of the sport and always will be. BUT, crashing because of somebody doing something completely boneheaded (and against the rules) is ridiculous. This crash was 100% preventable by using a little common sense. There are 3 things that should always happen, ALWAYS, and things like this won't happen. 1. Don't cross the blend line. Stay off the racing line until you get further down the track and up to speed. 2. If you are going to Pit-in, SIGNAL EARLY. Do not wait till you can see Pit-in to signal; do it 2 turns before hand. You can throw an arm up or leg out just to give everyone a heads up. When it is time to Pit, get off the racing line before you start slowing down. Remember everyone else is still hauling ass, and somebody could be right behind you. Before you come off speed, get off the racing line. 3. Once you have signaled you are going to Pit and are off the racing line....PIT. Do not change your mind and re-enter the track. I have seen someone taken out directly in front of me by somebody changing their mind just before Pit-in and swerved back onto the track. It was ugly. If you want to rejoin, then go down Hot-Pit and rejoin the track just like you did when the session started...without crossing the blend line.
You took that too literal...I meant to say "most people would've been pissed as hell in that situation". But if you've watched any Moto 3 races, there have been times when even the pros were literally punching each other. Not that I think it's right by any means, but people handle situations like that very differently.
Yeah I was very surprised with the riders meeting. They went through the flags in like 10 seconds, and all they talked about was red, yellow, and black. Which is funny because there was a debris flag that went up in one of my sessions, but they never talked about it in the meeting...I just knew what it was because it's pretty much the same everywhere you go. They also said wheelies are OK just not in traffic. Some people took that too seriously, and there was a guy on a GSXR that was wheeling on the back straight which is next to the paddock area like almost every single lap! They never talked about blend line and proper procedure of getting on and off the track, and they never mentioned anything about passing rules! I was in the intermediate A (they split that one in 2 groups because of so many people) and they never said anything in the meeting about passing rules. In all fairness, I'm sure all of that is covered in their HART program, which all novices are supposed to do AND everyone that hasn't been there before, unless you have a racing license, then you don't have to do the HART program. Of course I had it waived since I didn't want to deal with that...there was no time anyway, and I've done enough track days with 5-6 organizations to have enough common sense and know how/when to pass people and how to get on and off the track, but if I was new at this with only a couple of track days experience, I would've been confused as hell! I would go there again for sure, just because the track is awesome, but I think I would rather go race with MCRA or CMRA instead of doing Hallett's track days.
I've ridden with 5 now and agree that STT has been my favorite. I would like to ride Hallett again and probably will despite what I posted earlier. Every track day has the risk vs reward factor, I just prefer to ride with STT because I know the risk is less to worry about!
Trackaddix is still my favorite, but they only go to 2 tracks ...STT is my favorite for everything. You should come out to MPH some time