[rsheidler]

He died back in March (March 10, I believe).

MO Article

 

[rsheidler]

While most of the roadracing world is still in shock and mourning over the death of Daijiro Kato, and while MotoGP riders are discussing a possible boycott of Suzuka unless major changes are made to the circut, Triumph have announced that they have chosen perhaps the most unsafe course still in use in international motorcycle roadracing to make the international race debut for their new Daytona 600. (They have been contesting the Supersport class in the British Superbike series.)

According to a notice posted at Crash.net, Triumph have announced that they will field a team of 3 Daytona 600s in the Production and Junior classes at the Isle of Man TT in May.

 

[rsheidler]

I agree that it in not appropriate to jump to judgement in blaming the corner workers and other emergency crew. However, it is not a particularly American phenomonon to do so. From what I read on many other boards, the same reactions are widly expressed by Brits, Continentals, Aussies etc.



I believe that rather than assessing blame, the organizers should reasses all the procedures in such cases, along with track safety issues. This is pretty much the same process that occurred in F1 following Senna's death, or in NASCAR following Earnhart's death, or by NASA following the shuttle tragedy. Finding things that could be improved to reduce the risk in the future is a positive response, while finding someone to blame is a negative response that is likely to get in the way of finding the truth of what happened.



The best legacy for Kato would be for motorcycle road racing to improve track safety and improve the processes for dealing with serious accidents that do occur.

 

[rsheidler]

I agree completely. That is one event that I really want to experience before I die, as is running with the bulls at Pamplona. I seriously had intended to do both while I lived in Europe, but somehow kept putting it off, and now I suspect I will be able to do neither. There is a lesson in there someplace, I believe.



When I saw this article on Crash.net, I couldn't help but be struck with the irony of the situation -- juxtoposed with numerous articles about Kato's death, tributes from riders and others, and discussions of possible Suzuka bocotts, here is this post about Triumph returning to the TT!