Turn 1a

[Woodcraft]

I believe that there are plans to scrape up the excess sealant.....

[union]

I watched that save; damn impressive, sir.

Since I left before the riders meeting on Sunday, what became of the sealant snakes they had put down in T9?
.
.

There was talk about scraping up what they can. As of race time Sunday they were still there but didnt seem to be an issue yet. Hopefully they are gone by the time its warm.

[zx1012r]

I practiced in the rain Sunday morning. The line in 1A was no big deal, but they obvious burned it off a bit. The snakes in 9 were a bit scary. Not so much if you kept an inside line, you could feel the front push over each one, but the long continuous line was hairy, as both tires are on it at the same time. Definatley pucker worthy.

In the dry they freaked my head out, but didn't feel too bad.

[aLive]

Numbers do not lie. If anybody has pics, please post them.

Here's the rookie that went down:



This is the bad crash:



and a couple of experts:

[CBR929RE]

Here's the rookie that went down:

we don't need to see this
I was so happy when I got back in the garage to check my bike and figured out the water was from the tires and not the bike.

[aLive]

we don't need to see this
I was so happy when I got back in the garage to check my bike and figured out the water was from the tires and not the bike.

haha I didn't realize that was you

Well, screw 1A ... turn 3 sux more. Don't ask me why I'm saying this

[Scottg22]

My take on that shitty Legends car start finish stripe? F That thing!

No seriously, just like Eric said, the line is a non issue in the warmer temps. Sunday I had ZERO issues with the line (granted Tom B. and Eric did burn the stripe and stiff brissle broom the stripe to try and gain some adhesion there).

There is a slight 'scoop' before the stripe, which upsets the chassis (along with the motorcycle transistioning into t1a from t1) the slight bit of suspension movement combined with COLD track Temps AND crossing a painted stripe before the apex of T1 causes a loss of traction and the track was so cold and the tire temp is down... = no chance of saving it. My best lap on Sunday was a 12.2 so like I said I think the many crashes on Saturday were a combination of things.

I crashed in the MWGP Dash for Cash with a 2-3 second lead on lap 7. I was confident that I was going to win and wasn't pushing or trying to gain time .. just looking to maintain the lead I had built. I went from positive $500.00 for winning the dash to Negative $1000 (bodywork and paint and parts) in about .1 seconds! I did nothing different from laps 4-7 in t1a.

Tom came to me after the riders meeting on Sunday and said they are open to sugguestions and have some ideas. They would buy the high traction paint if they could source it, but he claims he cant find it anywhere.

I suggested they remove part of the painted line where we race on as the legends cars dont race on that part of the track (they are more towards the wall by the pits) . NHMS is owned by SMI / Burton Smith, he wants the stripe there -he is a bizillionaire and its his playground.

I am confident that they will get it sorted with Erics input and others before the next LRRS Event. If you guys have a good suggestion drop Tom an email. tblanchette@nhms.com

[Pittenger5]

They would buy the high traction paint if they could source it, but he claims he cant find it anywhere.

I dont know how well it would work under hot tire pressure (in fact, I doubt it would hold up well at all). But there is the tennis course/pool deck grit paints that could be used. As well, there are additives that can be added to the paint to give it grit. Not knowing what they used to begin with I cant say if theres a particular product that will work, but there are somewhat some options.
If they're serious about finding paint, have them drop me an email, and I will try to help them, or pass them onto someone that would know for sure. rpittac@aol.com

[jtaylor719]

12.2 in 50 degree April weather? Are we going to see 9s this year from you??

That's the first time I've seen #11 turned into an =

[OreoGaborio]

Eric, Scott, thank you both for your input.

I'm glad no one was too seriously injured this weekend with the cold and all the crashes... Glad to know that you guys are on Tom's case and a solution for T1a is in the works


Now maybe this should be in a thread of it's own, but I have a question with turn 8 under the treehouse.... I wanna say there were at least 5 to 8 racers that went down in that section this past weekend & that seems unusually high. Have there been any talks about that? Any theories on why there were so many crashes up there this past weekend? Just wind & cold? Do you guys think the contours of the pavement have changed at all? This might be something worth talking about, considering it's the fastest corner on the track.

[Pigman]

I work for an Abrasives Company and can donate any size Grit that can be mixed into the paint and will provide more grip than just regular paint any day...I am sure it won't solve the problem 100% but will make it a NON-Slip area for sure... PM me if interested

[Scottg22]

I dont think there is anything that has changed in T8. The cold temps offered less grip.. Your right its, fast back there and cold track temps/cold air temps = equal less grip. Factor in the bumps that have always been there and it can lead to people making mistakes.

Trying to input the bike to turn on those bumps in 80 degree weather vs. trying to input the bike to turn over those bumps in 40 degrees HAS to be considered.

[Awesome]

Eric, Scott, thank you both for your input.

I'm glad no one was too seriously injured this weekend with the cold and all the crashes... Glad to know that you guys are on Tom's case and a solution for T1a is in the works


Now maybe this should be in a thread of it's own, but I have a question with turn 8 under the treehouse.... I wanna say there were at least 5 to 8 racers that went down in that section this past weekend & that seems unusually high. Have there been any talks about that? Any theories on why there were so many crashes up there this past weekend? Just wind & cold? Do you guys think the contours of the pavement have changed at all? This might be something worth talking about, considering it's the fastest corner on the track.

I noticed a whole lot more crashes on the right hand turns, it was cold, my theory would be the right side wasn't staying up to temp.

[butcher bergs]

My take on that shitty Legends car start finish stripe? F That thing!

There it is, kids. Spoken by a multi-time LRRS Champion.

I suggested they remove part of the painted line where we race on as the legends cars dont race on that part of the track (they are more towards the wall by the pits) . NHMS is owned by SMI / Burton Smith, he wants the stripe there -he is a bizillionaire and its his playground.

In other words, Burton Smith does not care about the safety of ALL of the participants in circulation on that track.

Well, at least he's open about it.

[Scottg22]

I wouldnt say he doesnt care... but when u own that many companies and corporations as big as he does.... how can he have his hand on every detail?

The reality is its NHMS's job to make it right for all participants of the track - car guys, porsche club, SCCA, LRRS, Nascar, etc. Tom is willing to listen to find a good solution that works for everyone.

As I told Tom when speaking with him, and I quote " I could give 2 shits about guys driving little legends cars with a roll cage. Motorcycles racers have a piece of leather between us and the ground. Our safety need to be considered first." Tom acknowledge it and wants to make it right. Thats shows as they went out Sunday AM and trying to burn away the stripe.

AND Sunday the stripe was a non issue.

Like I said earlier... offer some feedback to him. We sure dont need anymore people jumping on the ANTI- (whatever) bandwagon. They are doing alot of new stuff right this year... lets try to be positive and see what the next event brings.

[Pigman]

Like I said earlier... offer some feedback to him. We sure dont need anymore people jumping on the ANTI- (whatever) bandwagon. They are doing alot of new stuff right this year... lets try to be positive and see what the next event brings.
Well Said....if we ask and it doesn't get attend to then BITCH, but untill then we should bring up these issues and problems in a more mature way...and let the powers to be fix them as they should..

[Palm Bomb]

Scott Greenwood crashed right in front of me right after he blew my doors off (which I'll admit, I kinda got a cMan God cause it was wicked cool). He popped right up and threw his hands in the air like WTF just happened.

[butcher bergs]

I wouldnt say he doesnt care... but when u own that many companies and corporations as big as he does.... how can he have his hand on every detail?

At the risk of sounding argumentative, he is apparently aware of the location of that line and wants it to remain in that spot, no? If that is the case then I might suggest that Mr Smith loosen up the reigns a bit on that line location and let the safety-conscious officials make some decisions.

[Palm Bomb]

WTF...word correction? LOL

[TTD]

I suggested they remove part of the painted line where we race on as the legends cars dont race on that part of the track (they are more towards the wall by the pits)

hmmm... this seems like a quick and easy solution.

Interested in hearing their response to this suggestion?

[OreoGaborio]

I noticed a whole lot more crashes on the right hand turns, it was cold, my theory would be the right side wasn't staying up to temp.

Absolutely. When I hit my tires with an IR Temp gun after coming off the track I was seeing 130 max on the left side of either tire and about 80 max on the right... and that was later in the day.

But I also heard a couple of comments about T8 feeling a little different. Maybe there was just a little extra movement of the coldish tires or maybe there was a subtle physical change with the turn itself... just interested in what some other people that rode thought about it.

I dont think there is anything that has changed in T8. The cold temps offered less grip.. Your right its, fast back there and cold track temps/cold air temps = equal less grip. Factor in the bumps that have always been there and it can lead to people making mistakes.

Trying to input the bike to turn on those bumps in 80 degree weather vs. trying to input the bike to turn over those bumps in 40 degrees HAS to be considered.

Thanks. It probably hasn't changed, but at the same time I wouldn't mind seeing those ripples go bye-bye.

[rolker]

Frost heaves perhaps? How much does the winter affect the track from year to year? Hasn't the turtle in 12 morphed a bit from year to year?

[wheelieman14]

Absolutely. When I hit my tires with an IR Temp gun after coming off the track I was seeing 130 max on the left side of either tire and about 80 max on the right... and that was later in the day.

I agree with the right side of the tires being much cooler than the left side. My tires were baked to 175*F on the tire warmers & did the warm-up lap for Saturday's Race# 6 (LW GP). Temps in the garage were only 46*F at 1:30 PM & dropped down to 44*F at 2:00 PM for this race. I started mid-pack in LW GP and heading up the hill for Turn 4, felt my back tire spin-up as I was leaning to the right. We all know that during the regular (warmer) racing season that the left side of the tires will wear out much faster than the right side at Loudon. I think the tires being colder on the right side will have an effect in Turns 1a, 4, 8 & possibly 10 on these colder days.

I know nobody really wants to have race weekends only a couple weeks apart, but moving the April LRRS event up 1 to 2 weeks sooner and extending the October LRRS event out 2 weeks later is not a well-thoughtout decision. Granted, it is "hit or miss" as to what the weather will be on any given weekend in New England (New Hampshire). I'd have no problem canceling my October race entries, if the weather forecast is back into the 40's. Besides, having the Final LRRS Event as a conflict with the CCS National "Race of Champions" at Daytona, is not going to help the bottom line for NHMS, based on LRRS rider participation.

[brady]

Like I said earlier... offer some feedback to him. We sure dont need anymore people jumping on the ANTI- (whatever) bandwagon. They are doing alot of new stuff right this year... lets try to be positive and see what the next event brings.
Well Said....if we ask and it doesn't get attend to then BITCH, but untill then we should bring up these issues and problems in a more mature way...and let the powers to be fix them as they should..

and address your correspondence to "Bruton" Smith, not Burton; no one likes having their name screwed up

[SVRACER01]

Wirelessly posted (HTC EVO "DROID" : Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; en-us; Sprint APA9292KT Build/FRF91) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)

I heard the solution will be to have the bikes run NASCAR turns 1 and 2 instead. Flah tout!