Hampton Downs: is there an issue?

[Kickaha]

So hows this corner different to the "dangerous" corner at Puke that so many say is a death trap?

The entry speed is faster

How's that sound to you guys?

Pretty accurate

Although on the sidecar for some reason Puke gives me the shits while Hampton Downs doesn't bother me

[cowboyz]

Well then the same argument applies to the IOM, Irish road racing, Wanganui and Paeroa to name a few.

did I miss something or is HD (the purpose built racetrack) now liken to street circuits?

[slowpoke]

Edit: shoulda kept my gob shut.

[BoristheBiter]

As just a part of the equation of track safety how about having the bike setup so that its chassis is only minimally disturbed by that hump? Plenty of Superbikes have traversed that hump without too much chassis aggravation.
Im not justifying the hump or any intrasigence to either remove it etc but it seems to be overlooked that chassis setup may have been a mitigating factor of no insignificance.
Just last night at HD I readjusted the rear suspension of a trackday bike that had been maladjusted by a former racer who should have known better. Had it been ridden at race pace over that hump it too would have got into a tankslapper.
How many accidents are caused or majorly contributed to by badly setup bikes?

All talk of racing and bike set up is all well and good but what you all fail to see is that this and other tracks are used by road riders on road bikes learning to better there skill and therefore will push themselves and their bikes past what they are able to responed to when something goes wrong.

Yes it is good to get your bike set up correctly, mine was set up at puky and handles so much better even on the road but at full noise (well my full noise) the bike still comes up at HD so because of that i am never flat out.

in light of what happened i am glad that i have a new bike that can handle these sorts of things without to much input from myself as the first time i put the front wheel up i crapped myself and dropped the throttle, wrong i know but as i am new and have never had my front come up like that it and it was the natural thing for me to do.

If they are not going to fix the hump/walll/fence then a safer solution will have to be found and until then i will not be back at HD and yes i know some of you like this track and i can see why but our safety is praramount and there is only one way they will listen.

[FROSTY:Me]

So hows this corner different to the "dangerous" corner at Puke that so many say is a death trap? Or is it just a newer version of the same?

Just curious

I think the difference is that pukie is a very old track and I must say in its defence that the wall you hit at Pukie is not trackside and as Death said you are going slower. I have seen on several occassions riders stuff it up and run onto the grass trackside there. One guy that stuck in my memory "rode" alongside the track on his 600 as far as the track crossing before he was able to get the bike off the grass.
I suspect the brown marks he left in the dirt trackside were mirrored in his jockeys.
The point?? There is a margin for error at pukie--not big (about 2.4m) but it is there.
However on the S/ fin line its armco and you will recall that someone died as a result of getting pinned between his sidecar and that wall.
HD is a new facility. If compareing it to any track in NZ the most current one is Taupo.

[Robert Taylor]

did I miss something or is HD (the purpose built racetrack) now liken to street circuits?

No I was in no way drawing a comparison in those terms. I just found an irony in a suggestion that the track should be shut pending any possible alterations etc when the street circuits that I made mention of have over the years created an awful number of injuries and fatalities.

[woodyracer]

key-board cowboys....

Hamptons is safe, puke is not.........

if you want every track in NZ to be as bland as manfeild i suggest you make the winter series your own little safe haven, and leave us to enjoy the interesting world class race circuit...

[Quasievil]

and leave us to enjoy the interesting world class race circuit...

Oh, so you havent travelled then

[FROSTY:Me]

key-board cowboys....

Hamptons is safe, puke is not.........

if you want every track in NZ to be as bland as manfeild i suggest you make the winter series your own little safe haven, and leave us to enjoy the interesting world class race circuit...

I'd suggest you look CLOSELY at those who are showing concern.Billy for example has been DIRECTLY involved in the racing scene for about three times as long as you have been alive. When somebody with that experience level shows concern then I'd suggest its time to pay attention.
Or Shaun --I guess he wouldn't have a clue either.
I myself have been racing and involved in organising trackdays/race meetings since I was your age.
Thats three people Who are concerned and are/have been involed in the scene for many years --so not keyboard cowboys at all.
Incidenty would YOU want to be COC at a meeeting where there was a DEADLY issue with part of the track ? I believe someone narrowly avoided jail in a situation similar (the bicycling event organiiser)
Nobody wants a bland /boring track. Show me one place where anyone is suggesting it become so,

[MSTRS:Me]

...
Nobody wants a bland /boring track....

Fuck no. We want excitement. We want crashes. We want the illusion of real danger.
We don't want deaths tho...

[cowboyz]

Fuck no. We want excitement. We want crashes. We want the illusion of real danger.
We don't want deaths tho...

exactly.. did he miss my post on what I think makes a superb racetrack.. You need the appearance of danger while maintaining a safety margin for when it all goes wrong. there are basically 2 pinanicle scenerios that everyone loves to see.

1. a group racers going hell for leather and positions changing on the last lap
2. a group of racers going nuts on it till someone screws it up and goes sliding down the track (without getting injured)

Having an obsticle where thoughts in racers heads are diverted from going as fast they can.. to going as fast as they can without killing themselves is a shift that the sport can do without

[cowboyz]

No I was in no way drawing a comparison in those terms. I just found an irony in a suggestion that the track should be shut pending any possible alterations etc when the street circuits that I made mention of have over the years created an awful number of injuries and fatalities.

TBH.. I kinda surprised IOM is still running. but it has a special flavour about it. Something that cant.. and shouldnt be recreated in a purpose built racetrack.

I take your point though.. I dont think it needs to be a throw the baby out with the bath water scenario... I just think it needs to not be ignored.

[woodyracer]

I'd suggest you look CLOSELY at those who are showing concern.Billy for example has been DIRECTLY involved in the racing scene for about three times as long as you have been alive. When somebody with that experience level shows concern then I'd suggest its time to pay attention.
Or Shaun --I guess he wouldn't have a clue either.
I myself have been racing and involved in organising trackdays/race meetings since I was your age.
Thats three people Who are concerned and are/have been involed in the scene for many years --so not keyboard cowboys at all.
Incidenty would YOU want to be COC at a meeeting where there was a DEADLY issue with part of the track ? I believe someone narrowly avoided jail in a situation similar (the bicycling event organiiser)
Nobody wants a bland /boring track. Show me one place where anyone is suggesting it become so,

i think you have miss read what i have said, i have alot to to do with billy and i know he knows what hes talking about... i wasnt directing those comments at them but to people saying hampton is as dangerous as puke!..because my opinion is its not.

Im not simply saying that Shaun and billy dont know what their talking about buddy......im just putting in what i think. So dont jump around using my age as a disadvantage because that is just too easy!

[gixerracer]

i think you have miss read what i have said, i have alot to to do with billy and i know he knows what hes talking about... i wasnt directing those comments at them but to people saying hampton is as dangerous as puke!..because my opinion is its not.

Im not simply saying that Shaun and billy dont know what their talking about buddy......im just putting in what i think. So dont jump around using my age as a disadvantage because that is just too easy!

Try racing a 200hp superbike round there at nearly 300kph you may change your mind pretty fast, it does not have as many dangerous parts as puke but the main straight at Hampton is every bit as dangerous as anything pukekohe has to offer

[BoristheBiter]

key-board cowboys....

Hamptons is safe, puke is not.........

if you want every track in NZ to be as bland as manfeild i suggest you make the winter series your own little safe haven, and leave us to enjoy the interesting world class race circuit...

you need a faster bike by the sounds of it.