Results from Daytona 200

Whoops on the Yamaha thing, I meant Suzuki. So, I'll restate, Suzuki may have made a mistake with Hacking. Remember, he was the guy who caused last year's 600cc pileup as well.



As for what racing org I learned in, try the CMRA. You know, the guys who produced such medicrities as Freddie Spencer, KevinSchwantz, Doug Polen, Jamie James and Colin Edwards. Bunch of clueless amateurs, really.



I'll restate for those too old and crusty to think straight: On the start, you never change your line when the bike quits. If you stay predictable (as in stationary with arms waving), the guys behind you have a fighting chance to miss you. Russell screwed up by trying to move right and thereby caused the accident.



Thankfully, he is in better shape than I feared (although a broken femur is no party). Nobody said anything about the other two riders who were involved. I hope they are OK.

Not sure....

Maybe Daytona 200 is bigger than Suzuka, I don't know. But I'm guessing maybe this guys world is just a little small, like the US only, so he didn't think of Suzuka.

He is right, the Daytona 200 is huge, a fixture in American motorcycle racing. It probably never will go away (I'm not sure that it should). It is different for other reasons (the length, requiring pit stops and such). But you should notice that more and more of the AMA races are moving away from the Oval/infield type circuits. (Whether that be because of safety or other factors like schuduling.) They no longer race at Las Vegas as they did a few years ago. And when they tried to hold a round at the new oval/infield track at Raceway 66 in Joilet IL (back in 99 I believe) the racers said it was unsafe and they would not race their anymore. I can only think of a few place where they still race on an oval/infield type track, those being Daytona, Pike's Peak, and Loudon. Maybe I'm forgetting one, like possibly Brainerd, that might be an oval/infield track too.

Still I agree they are unsafe, and would like to see most of them gone. But Daytona is a legendary thing. It would be like suggesting they no longer race at the Isle of Mann (definitely a very dangerous place to race). I know, the "professional road racers" that are on regular series (WSC, AMA, 500GP) teams don't participate there.

Scott Russell injuries

For anybody that hasn't heard yet, and is curious, I read on some other sites that Russell suffered a broken arm and leg. He was the only rider mentioned of those that crashed that has any serious injury. Aaron Yates was taken to the hospital with leg, arm and head injuries. He was given a CT scan, and treated for some minor injuries. He was seen that evening walking around the paddock, without any obvious injuries.

All the riders that were involved in some of these incidents were really lucky that there were no more serious injuries.

I still wonder about Russell's decision to try to get off the track. I've seen conflicting information in these comments as to whether a stalled rider should attempt to get off the grid. I am not a racer and have never been on the track. But I do follow racing a lot. I can see trying to get off the track if you are all the way on the outside/inside of the grid. But Russell was in one of the middle slots, and had to cross a slot to get off the track. That just doesn't seem wise. It seems that trying to move out of the way (at a crawl, walking the bike) while other bikes are trying to launch past you is more dangerous than just standing still.

Oh well at least he wasn't hurt too bad. Of course our condolences go out to the rider that died in Pro Thunder (read here in somebody else's comments, but haven't read any news story about it yet).

It's a scary thing to be on the grid and stall. Frightenting in fact. Sometimes it's scary just being in the 2nd wave. I've seen guys not pay attention and start when the green flags drops for the first wave. I had a guy next to me once that jumped and then almost flipped over he hit the brakes so hard. We were in the 2nd wave and the flagged dropped for the first wave and he took off.



He ddin't hit anyone thank god!



I don't know what happened but maybe his bike stalled before the flag dropped and he thought he had enough time to push off to the side. It's hard to say what happened.



The TV coverage didn't show enough to being passing judgement. All I know is if it were me I would have tried to get off the grid with all those guys behind me if my bike stalled before the flag dropped. Simply waving your hand up isn't enough. You want to get the hell out of the way!

Rooting for Nicky

I started watching sometime between the second and third red flag. Nicky was out of contention by that time, and the commentators didn't say a word about him until near the end of the race. I was yelling at the TV: "What about Nicky?!!" through the whole race, because they never said anything about what happened in the earlier crashes.

They kept promising to show a replay of the Duhamel crash but they never did. Did you see Miguel's broken clutch lever? How in the world did he ride that thing back to the pit?

What a wild, and disappointing race. I certainly hope the next one is a little more about racing and less about crashes and red flags. I also was hoping to see Mladin, Roberts, Hayden, Bostrom, etc. in a tight race.

One more comment, Picotte must be a glutton for punishment or else he would have ditched Harley by now.

I agree. ESPN coverage SUCKED! When they weren't cutting to a commercial break, they had graphics all over the place advertising their next stock car event. I'd much rather listen to that annoying brit annoucer on speedvision...at least you see the race!!!



Also the AMA and Daytona Speedway SUCK for raising the price of admission and cutting back on what you get for it. What is it with Day. Int'l Spwy anyway. They treat stock car fans like golden but bikers $$$ isn't worth *^#%.



Used to get access to infield and grandstands for about $35. that's when the 600cc and superbike races were the same day. Now you have to fork out $40 for the same access (not including paddock area) plus $5 if you're in a cage (bikes still free...wow) on friday to catch the 600cc SS and then another $80 on sunday to catch the superbike race. give me a break. What if you want to take your family? Is this the NBA??? In addition, every year for the last 6 years, less and less of the track is accessible for the admission fee.



As far a boring races though, you should have been at the 600 SS. One of the most exciting races I've ever seen!! Eight riders so close, as the annoucer said, "you could cover them with a band aid!".

I dunno what the rules are in other racing leagues, but in the CMRA, it is clear:



1) Second wave must have their clutch hands in the air whilst the first wave is going. It is literally impossible for a second wave guy to go during the first wave.



2) If you stall at the start, raise your hands and wave them. DON'T try to move, as the guys behind you will then have to guess what you are going to do. It is dangerous any way you slice it, but staying put is the best rule.



Starts can be scary (I once had a guy wheelie and then virtually land on my throttle hand), but Russell is an experienced pro. My guess is he thought everyone was already by him and he wanted to get out of the way for the second wave.



He was probably in mid-expletive about Ducati reliability when he got hit.