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Someone ran into the 300 at the track...

10K views 39 replies 14 participants last post by  Zaph 
#1 ·
Turkey day trackday at Chuckwalla this past Saturday... Last session.
Some dude over cooked his corner and took out Juliet in the Apex...
Sucks when someone else destroys all your hard work in an instant...
Just modified the front suspension too... Also this is how Hotbodies fairings hold up in a lowside... Which kinda surprised me how well they did hold up... the Yosh frame slider took the brunt of a 50mph lowside... Yes it is bent too hell but the important parts are safe... The stock rearsets shattered... Juliet was fine, rode her 600 the next day... video to follow as soon as I edit it.
 

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#5 ·
TrackXperience? What group was that?
 
#12 ·
That's very quick for a 300! 2:15 is faster than half the A group guys? I run B group and just always thought A was a lot faster than that.
Actually 2:15 is slowish... Josh, Shane and Ari do sub-2's on theirs...
There were a lot of Duc's out there... I don't think they were even doing a 2:30
A group is for ppl who are consistant with their lines and are skilled experienced riders... Don't have to be on a litre bike, just good at what you do...
 
#7 ·
OK, that makes sense. That was way too aggressive for Level 1 or 2 groups.
 
#13 ·
That sucks. Not bad for hot bodies
 
#16 ·
I don't know the rules for the Level 3 group there but that looked like a legit pass to me. The inside line was open and he came in and took it. He showed her a wheel and she had plenty of time to see him and stand the bike up and adjust her line. If he over cooked it in the corner then he would have gone wide and had to slow down leaving the inside line open for her to cut back under and pass him right back or it would have been a nice block pass. Either way, without more video it looked legit for level 3. Pulling that stunt in level 1 or 2 should be an automatic end of your day and I personally think you should have the stuffing beat out of you before you're forced to leave the track. But, in level 3 I fully expect that stuff to happen.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Glad she's ok.

Couple comments - in my local track day orgs, any pass that causes someone to change their line is considered a bad pass. Do it more than once and get kicked out. There is a 6 foot passing rule. That goes for advanced group too. The passer has to stay 6 feet away from the passee at all times, before during and after the pass. This guy definitely was in the wrong.

Now in the racing class I took back in early 2014, a good portion of the class is spent discussing race ethics. You don't show someone a wheel when you are trying to pass them, you show them an engine. This is because just showing a wheel still leaves the passer out of the passee's peripheral vision and the chance for contact and/or crash is higher.

My personal goal for 2016 is to race more and do fewer track days. Track days are filled with idiots that make it a more dangerous place. It was an idiot at a track day that caused me to crash earlier this year. I didn't get up and walk away from that one and it ended my year.
 
#19 ·
I'm also trying to figure out how liability works out in a situation like this as well. This crash wasn't the original riders fault and from her losing control. It came about as the result of another rider using her as a springboard and you can actually see the front get leveraged up a bit in which she loses it. The dude should be paying for damages he caused by ramming her off the track by taking a line he should have known was quite overzealous for his speed carried into the corner. It's also very possible for her to not have seen him as he was quite a bit faster than her at corner entry. I assumed most track day organizations frown heavily on highly aggressive passing for a track day event, especially at corners. This wasn't a race with millions on the line. To ride like that is just being an ass hole and should at least result in this guy paying for damages.
 
#20 · (Edited)
That guy is definitely at fault and should never have attempted that pass in ANY group. However, when you sign that form you agree to enter the track at your own risk and are giving up any right to claim liability payments from the track org or any other riders. Sure, the decent thing to do would have been for the rider to offer to pay the damages or at least part of the repairs, but he is in no way obliged to do so no matter if he was 100% at fault in this situation.
 
#22 ·
You really need to give everyone a lot more space at track days, everyone has varying levels of skill and experience (even in the fastest groups). I'm all for close overtaking but let's not forget that it's a track day, not a race day and there should definitely be no touching and riders shouldn't need to adjust their lines (completely different during a race).
100% avoidable, 100% the other riders fault and 100% ruined her day
 
#26 ·
It looks to me that he straight up runs in to her based on their different lines, and yes this was a track day, not a hotly-contentious Champsion race or something. Inside-passer appears to be clearly at-fault here. He should definitely volunteer to help cover the damages (along with an apology) and have been given some kind of disciplinary action from the track day organizers. Even if you're not sure about the pass, it's probably better not to to make that pass at a track-day event.
 
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#33 ·
Smaller bikes like the 300 use completely different lines than bigger bikes. Smaller bikes can take a wider entrance and shaper turn in which can close the door (not intentionally, just their natural line) on a rider that is attempting to overtake. Unfortunately a lot of the riders on bigger bikes do not realize, can be really impatient and not paying appropriate attention to the other rider. I often see riders on smaller bikes at the track needing to adjust their lines or take evasive actions to avoid a collision.
I don't think the rider intentionally took out Juliets tire, I also don't think he was in to the corner hot. I think he just didn't allow for the different lines and wasn't paying attention.
 
#40 ·
Due to closing speed differentials, lightweight class bikes are not allowed in L3-Advanced group, irrespective of lap times.
A couple of my local orgs are like that, in different ways. One just says no 250/300's in advanced, and the other sets minumum lap times in advanced that no 250 or 300 could ever meet.
 
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