| Author | Message | ||
     Trojan |
Onc again the Daytona 200 turns into a badly organised, poorly attended and embarrassing balls up! A '200 mile' race is eventually run over 15 laps following the tyre manufacturers admission that they can't build a front tyre that will last any longer! This allows the eventual 'winner' (whose engine had expired one lap prior to the red flag!)to change his engine during a 2 hour break intended to change tyres (2 hours!!! I thought they had quick change rigs at Daytona!) and come back to win the restarted 15 lap sprint 'race'! I've seen better organised school sports days than this, and it is little wonder that the Daytona 200 is no longer a world class event with very few spectators bothering to sit through the entire debacle! Roll on the GP season! | ||
| Court |
More encouraging words from someone 5,000 miles away.  I had a good time. . . . and there was at least a bit of history made. | ||
| Slaughter |
Dunno... a stand-alone 200-mile race might have some interest in the hearts of the Faithful - but I've got a problem with an ENDURANCE race counting toward the points tally in a national series which has NOTHING to do with endurance. Yeah, yeah, yeah, tradition, history... I GOT THAT - but I'd rather see the 200 as a stand-alone race, along with the other equally-valid events: mud and cole slaw wrestling, the usual Daytona bike week fare. YEAH, open the season at Daytona but don't kill the privateer teams by making the 200 miler count toward their national points in the Daytona Sportbike class. At least the Superbike teams get a break from this absurdity. | ||
| Court |
By the way "Daytona" is a shadow of what it once was. No 2 hour waits in restaurants . . . . .hotel rooms (reported) to be available in most places . . . And headbands almost looked funny and out of place. We sat next to 4 hardened Harley riders in the airport who were representing their "don't follow the crowd" individualism by wearing matching fedoras. Fags The days of Daytona being an HD destination are history. | ||
| Trojan |
More encouraging words from someone 5,000 miles away. It took some investigation over here just to find out who won, let alone all the confusion and fiasco that went into the running of the event (again!). Maybe if they learnt to organise it properly more riders and fans would travel from 5,000 miles away like they used to Last year the lights went out and riders went the wrong way if I remember rightly? Or was it the tarmac that was crumbling? This year the tyre manufacturer suddenly realises (AFTER a rider crashes) that the front tyre won't do 20 laps never mind 200 miles (and most teams planned on doing the whole race on one tyre too!). The organisers then allow a bike that broke down BEFORE the red flag to change the engine during the 2 hour tyre changing break and to take the restart as if nothing had happened 2 hours for a tyre change! What were the spectators supposed to do, talk amongst themselves for 2 hours? The resulting 15 lap dash ends up with a major accident ont he last corner and nobody knows who has won for ages afterwards amidst talk of complaints and protests. That is obviously a successful race then? If this had been an FIM event heads would be rolling this morning. The AMA seems to think it was a success! Daytona was once a major race in the motorcycle calendar that I used to get excited about at the start of each season. It is very sad to see the parlous state it is in now, but if it means you can find a seat so that must be OK then.. and there was at least a bit of history made. Which was? The days of Daytona being an HD destination are history. I think the days of Daytona being a destination for bike racing period are history if this is the best they can manage. (Message edited by trojan on March 14, 2011) | ||
| Court |
>>>What were the spectators supposed to do, talk amongst themselves for 2 hours? Me? . . .I took a series of photos entitled "The Chicks of Daytona 2011". There are worse things than to be stuck, particularly after this winter in Manhattan, in the Daytona sunshine with a trunk full of $50,000 worth of lens and nothing but time on your hands . . >>>>Which was? Erik Buell's announcement at the AMA Hall of Fame breakfast. | ||
| Court |
By the way . . . I don't disagree with any of your observations about the race. I do, and it's just me, have a habit of first seeing the GOOD things that happened and this was a year, looking back in near time, was a year I would not have wanted to miss for anything. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Erik Buell's announcement at the AMA Hall of Fame breakfast. Which was? Any info you could share about his speech would be greatly appreciated. | ||
| Court |
Erik made a HUGE announcement during his 90 minute interview . . . I'm kind of waiting to see if someone else breaks the news. I don't want to be. . as I was recently labeled, a "pompous know-it-alls". Surely someone else caught it . . . if not, the AMA is going to be releasing selected video clips on YouTube in the not too distant future. Or perhaps folks thought that having Erik, along with all the other Motorcycle Hall of Fame folks, as well as the rather interesting composition of folks in the audience (anyone notice anyone else interesting in the audience and wonder why they'd be there with their entire family?). . was just a pleasant way to spend 4 hours on race day. Who knows . . . . I'll defer to the brake experts and bite my tongue. | ||
| Maddiemsu |
and the chicks too, but first Erik's speech. | ||
| Trojan |
Erik Buell's announcement at the AMA Hall of Fame breakfast. Unfortunately that gets even less coverage over here than the race (i.e. none at all!) so someone will have to let us in on the secret I'm afraid | ||
| Court |
>>>so someone will have to let us in on the secret I'm afraid I'm betting you'll be hearing plenty. Call it a hunch. He's relentless. | ||
| Geforce |
Announcement? ...*grabs a stick and prods Court* ... Do tell sir. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
during the 2 hour delay... I put about 120 miles between me and the the track... I had fun... it was nice to see everyone... the flat track racing was great... the 200... not so much | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
yes... do tell... | ||
| Trojan |
yes... do tell... I have checked all of the AMA web sites and there is no mention of what happened at the breakfast and even google shrugs its shoulders at me when I try to search for it..... WHAT HAPPENED!!!!! Please...... | ||
| Svh |
History was really made on lap 3 when Ricky Orlando became the new mileage king at Daytona. Amazing how many miles of racing time this privateer racked up so far. The previous record was 3,728 miles. | ||
| Bob_thompson |
I pretty much agree with what been said so far and will add I believe Erik made a great choice NOT to run any of his 1125's in the 200 and save them for the Superbike races giving them a 12th place and at least some points to start the season. And kudos to Pat Mooney for his starting 26th I believe and finishing two places up in 24th. Good job Pat. I wonder what will be said about Erik and the elves when they debut the 1190....soon. Should be VERY interesting to say the least. I think some naysayers will be silenced. Hoorah! Go Erik BR! | ||
| Court |
By the way . . . the folks who carried the Buell banner in the Daytona 200 were nothing short of a total class act. It was Pat Mooney with the support of a crack pit crew. I was able to capture a good deal of the action in their pits and, when I get time to sort throught the 2,000 images, will share some. I confess that the racing was fun but visiting with Geoff and Jodi May, Paul James and Pat Mooney and their crews was what made the trip for me. What a fabulous bunch of folks. Court | ||
| Crusty |
I was in a race with Rick Orlando in 1976. It was the Aspen 4 hour race in Aspen, Colorado. Rick was on a Honda 550 and won. I was on a RD 350 and finished somewhat lower. When I saw him on Speed, I really got a kick out of it. | ||
| Ljm |
Where can we go to find out what happened at the breakfast? Happy to start searching the web. BTW, this is my first post since we went down. Guess we are alive again! | ||
| Reepicheep |
Heck no, we would head over to the pits to see what the various teams are up to and how they are pulling it off! Frankly, I'd find that just as interesting as the racing! | ||
| Davegess |
The tire deal was totally Fed up. Dunlop messed that up big time. Certainly the track was 10 degrees Celsius hotter than it was during any of the testing or practice BUT that sorta happens in Florida in the spring, major screw up for them. It took two hours because a large number of teams (small low budget guys mostly) did not have any of the harder tire mounted on a rim and Dunlop had to mount dozens of tires. I think they had no choice, seeing Eslick tuck the front end at 175mph and slide down the tri-oval was scary. They could have easily killed people by continuing. Big break for Ducati, The bike was running when the red flag was thrown and he was on the same lap as the leaders. He made it to the pits and the finish line just like everyone else did so he was within the rules to swap engines. I think the rule was changed to eliminate confusion over what work was allowed and what was not allowed under a red flag which has caused a mess in other races. Nobody figured you could pull off swapping an engine. I have commented about the status of the event and will be posting some more thoughts about it here http://www.davegess.com later today BUT it is a shame that the race has dropped off the world radar; it was well off it long before the new rules. The actual racing now is very good, better than it has been in decades so that is the first step in building it back up. Gotta get Americans to come to bike races than we can worry about the rest of the world. Gotta be able to actually pull off the race during the live national TV slot so there is a bunch of work to be done! | ||
| Blake |
As to the 200, I have to agree with Matt. complete and utter failure from the perspective of a racing enthusiast watching via television. Allowing Zemke back into the race was bizarre. I don't think the issue was that the tires wouldn't last. Eslick's bizarre front end slide and 140 MPH crash happened after just three laps on a new tire. | ||
| Redponcho |
OK Court spill the beans! This is all I have found: Erik Buell announced major financing secured for his new company Erik Buell Racing. He WILL be producing quality motorcycles geared to both advanced and new riders in the future. Brilliant, likeable guy, very committed to the future of our sport. | ||
| Doerman |
Thumbs up to: - Dunlop to have the guts to make a difficult call to change the tire, putting rider safety first and corporate reputation and profit second. - Latus: Incredible effort on behalf of the crew to swap engine in less than 2 hours. Personifies "Never give up" - AMA officials for heeding Dunlop's advice and stopping the race for safety reason - full well knowing it screwed up the telecast opportunity - Jake Holden, for pointing out to Dunlop the tire overheat condition Thumbs down: - Dunlop for not knowing that 48C track temperature was outside the operating range for the soft/medium tires. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, but I fully understand that all of the discombabulations turned off a large percentage of the audience, which hurts revenues and current/future sponsors. I think Slaughter has a very good point. Don't count the 200 as points in the DSB championship. That would cause the teams to run with more of a MotoST setup, geared toward distance versus sprint. | ||
| Elvis |
Erik Buell announced major financing secured That right there is a pretty big story. Last official word was he was still seeking investors. If he has the financing, it seems all the major hurdles are gone. | ||
| Reepicheep |
WHOWHOWHOWHOWHOWHOWHO!?!?!?!?! | ||
| Firstbuell |
regarding the performance of G May's Erik Buell Racing 1125RR - the official AMA Pro results for the 15-lapper read: 12. Geoff May (Buell 1125RR) -52.255sec basically, that's 3.5 sec/lap off the front - while not so good, it IS an improvement from the nearly 5 sec/lap they were off in qualifying ! | ||
| Court |
>>>we would head over to the pits to see what the various teams are up to and how they are pulling it off! Mike and I employed that strategy and allocated resources accordingly. Since we didn't know how long the delay would be . . Mike, armed with a 600mm tripod mounted lens . . stayed in the horseshoe (you've got to see his pics of the flames belching out of an exhaust) and I, armed with a 70-200VR headed to the pits and caught everything from Pat Mooney's amazing maneuvering about a bike that obstructed his pit entry . . . to the eventual exit from the pits. The first thing that became evident is that the physical arrangement isn't intended to have ALL bikes pit at once. Pat had his task cut out for him just getting to his pit. Some of the shots of Mike (Coolice) and his Team were spectacular. Nothing is quite as amazing as watching a great pit crew work. Which is also the reason that Mike and I shot iPhone video of J. D. Beach and his pit crew practicing the night before. I haven't read any comments about the race I disagree with so far. It was in some ways a travesty with some folks having credit due for doing the right, if difficult, thing. Even if Dunlop made a poor decision I commend someone for having the integrity to correct it in the interest of safety. The changing of the motor, and I'm not sure I have all the facts, appears iffy. It **may** (you'd need some facts) be one of those things that is "technically" legal but pushes the bounds of competitive integrity. For me personally . . as Buell heads into a historic season, I was more tuned to the frequency of seeing all the various Buell folks, how they operated, acted and interacted. I confess that I was thrilled. Paul James, who'd a "Buell guy" no matter what brand he may be riding at any given moment, is the definition of a class act. His pit crew . . . no less. Pat Mooney was a fellow who I'd read a lot from and about . . meeting him was special. His excitement over competing at Daytona and doing the best he could was darned infectious. Geoff May, like Paul, is pretty much the epitome of class and poise . . . he would be on a Buell, Suzuki or a Schwinn. As a long time Buell aficionado . . I'm impressed with the way he represents Buell so professionally. It's also, call it the double bonus, cool that his umbrella girl . . in addition to being the prettiest on the track is his wife. No . . wait . . it gets better . . AND she's famous not for her beauty . . not her famous husband . . but for her FAMOUS A-MAY-ZING cupcakes. Yep . . the people of Buell have, once again . . pushed the boundaries. Easy to see how Erik's announcement . . got overlooked by folks who may have been in the breakfast buffet line. 2011 Sit down . . buckle up . . and hold on. Keep tuned into the www.davegess.com for details and insight. Court |
