Track day crashes!

[Grubber]

Grubbers first post said med-fast group. 200 clicks past that point would've been at the slow end for that group I imagine and probably lead to the decision to try and pass but it was never on; not on a trackday, not up the inside with fuck all room to play with, and not in that spot. Turn 1 is just up the road.

200 k for that group would have been fairly good i would have thought. I was in fast and probably doing around the same on a 675 so it's not slow really. Fast as my bike would carry me basically. Problem was there was this fella on a Superbike machine who didn't have control at the end of the day.
Both the crashed machines were not at the top end of the speed scale. One was a Daytona 675 and the other was an Aprillia that was ridden at less than full pace, so to have a 1000cc at full pace trying to tear past with no real ability to go with it was a recipe for disaster.

[malcy25]

Got to ask...... Why was the rider in the first half of the video always closing the throttle through the corner?


Sent from my Nokia using Tapa talk.

I saw that too, first thing I noticed....I think he was lost.

[sil3nt]

Grubbers first post said med-fast group. 200 clicks past that point would've been at the slow end for that group I imagine and probably lead to the decision to try and pass but it was never on; not on a trackday, not up the inside with fuck all room to play with, and not in that spot. Turn 1 is just up the road.

It was medium-slow. There was medium-fast and fast which half of the people in medium-slow could easily have joined.....

[SPP]

200 k for that group would have been fairly good i would have thought. I was in fast and probably doing around the same on a 675 so it's not slow really. Fast as my bike would carry me basically. Problem was there was this fella on a Superbike machine who didn't have control at the end of the day.
Both the crashed machines were not at the top end of the speed scale. One was a Daytona 675 and the other was an Aprillia that was ridden at less than full pace, so to have a 1000cc at full pace trying to tear past with no real ability to go with it was a recipe for disaster.

That explains how he climbed into them so readily.

It was medium-slow. There was medium-fast and fast which half of the people in medium-slow could easily have joined.....

med-slow, what's a trackbike thou doing in there?
(... could have been a mistake when he signed up to a group I guess)

[sil3nt]

That explains how he climbed into them so readily.



med-slow, what's a trackbike thou doing in there?
(... could have been a mistake when he signed up to a group I guess)

When signing up you could choose three groups.
Slow
Medium
Fast

Over 30 bikes chose medium. I would say around 10 ins slow and maybe 20 in Fast.

Because medium had so many bikes they split the group into two but it was down to the individual rider to decide which of the two medium groups to go into. Most of them went into medium slow so it was a busy group.

Later in the day as I was following a bike through turn one I had a thou come around the outside of me and cut to the inside of the bike in front while at the same time another thou overtook me on the inside and almost collected the other bike as he cut to the inside. Pretty sure they were race bikes as well.

[FROSTY:Me]

My thinking on this subject is simple. The trackday ORGANISERS need to take a long hard look at what went wrong leading up to this and the other crashes.
THIS time they got lucky and noone was seriously hurt. Next time they may not be so "lucky"

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying for a second the rider wasn't responsible for his own actions. I am saying though that better control by marshalls and the track day "controller" would reighn in this stuff.


There are and always will be "shit happens" senarios -thats different from a rider consistantly riding outside of his ability

[BigAl]

Maybe when guys pay for their track day they also pay a good behaviour bond. nothing like using money as a motivational tool.

As if a $15k bike isn't motivational enough

[jasonu]

As if a $15k bike isn't motivational enough

Apparently to some riders it isn't
I like the bond idea but not sure how it would be policed.

[tigertim20]

Maybe when guys pay for their track day they also pay a good behaviour bond. nothing like using money as a motivational tool.

thats not a terrible idea on the face of it, problem is, these same blokes are prepared to put their own, and others LIVES at risk at times with foolish manouvres.

When that ego and adrenaline start to mix, if these people aren't concerned at possibly wrecking their 5, 10, or 20k machines, will they give a fuck about losing a $100 bond or whatever?

[argada]

That explains how he climbed into them so readily.



med-slow, what's a trackbike thou doing in there?
(... could have been a mistake when he signed up to a group I guess)

It could be tricky to decide the right group to sign up for, the speed difference within each group is massive!
The FAQ (located @ http://www.hamptondowns.co.nz/pages/...track-days.htm) is miles away from reality.
e.g. according to this, Medium group -> Estimated lap times between 1:25- 1:45
But there are usually people in the Slow group doing something like 1:20 laps, track bikes, warmers, slicks, all sorts, depends on the day.

So lets say you are in the slow group and is significantly faster than "actual novice" people (i.e. LAMS bike, first timer, haven't been riding very long) - but you still get completely blitzed by certain race bikes in the group, so you might decide you are not ready to move up. I'm assuming this type of thing is happening in all the groups. Also I don't think you can get insurance for the fast group, so some very fast people would park in medium group and never move up.

Not sure what the solution is (to get the groups aligned better), but the guidelines given currently aren't great.

[Grubber]

It could be tricky to decide the right group to sign up for, the speed difference within each group is massive!
The FAQ (located @ http://www.hamptondowns.co.nz/pages/...track-days.htm) is miles away from reality.
e.g. according to this, Medium group -> Estimated lap times between 1:25- 1:45
But there are usually people in the Slow group doing something like 1:20 laps, track bikes, warmers, slicks, all sorts, depends on the day.

So lets say you are in the slow group and is significantly faster than "actual novice" people (i.e. LAMS bike, first timer, haven't been riding very long) - but you still get completely blitzed by certain race bikes in the group, so you might decide you are not ready to move up. I'm assuming this type of thing is happening in all the groups. Also I don't think you can get insurance for the fast group, so some very fast people would park in medium group and never move up.

Not sure what the solution is (to get the groups aligned better), but the guidelines given currently aren't great.

With some sense of logic there is plenty of does and don't s in place for everyone. They just have to stick to the said rule really. Problem is, there is some in the community that are really just trying to make a name for themselves on the day by being excruciatingly faster than someone else, anyone else on the day. If someone was to step up and have a chat they may realise they aren't that clever and pull their heads out of their arses.
Was i subtle enough?
In theory if you rode within the bounds of said rules that are clearly stated at briefing, you could basically ride in any group at all with comparative safety. Overtaking and undertaking in the right spots with the 2 metre rule applied, safe as church!

[jasonu]

, safe as church!

Except if you are a little boy and the church is catholic.

[FROSTY:Me]

Grubber-that somebody should be the person in charge on the day. His/her eyes and ears though are his marshal team.
Ive pulled guys off the track for riding outside the bounds of that speed group before and in the same situation would do so again.
Again hey not for a moment saying that a rider isn't 100% responsible for his actions
But I AM saying that the trackday company has a moral responsibility to do everything they can to ensure everyone gets home safe. If that involves pulling someone off the track to cool jets for awhile so be it.

[Reckless]

Grubber-that somebody should be the person in charge on the day. His/her eyes and ears though are his marshal team.
Ive pulled guys off the track for riding outside the bounds of that speed group before and in the same situation would do so again.
Again hey not for a moment saying that a rider is responsible for his actions
But I AM saying that the trackday company has a moral responsibility to do everything they can to ensure everyone gets home safe. If that involves pulling someone off the track to cool jets for awhile so be it.

To be fair Frosty sometimes its a one off?? and some twit makes a mistake that costs everyone and the marshals cant be blamed. Although the vid screems dum from the get go??

I was at a track day and a guy on a CBR1000 hoofed out of the sweeper we where headin up over the hill. I was lining him up for a pass then he got the shits at the brow and completely buttoned off at the top of the hill?? Full throttle 200k then nothing? I left Plenty of room but certainly gives you the shits when the gap closes that rapidly?? Medium group as related to here? Hard to understand if the guy in the vid had the skill to be that much faster round the sweeper why he did such a silly thing over the hill?? The other riders lines where constant an predictable?

[nzspokes]

To be fair Frosty sometimes its a one off?? and some twit makes a mistake that costs everyone and the marshals cant be blamed. Although the vid screems dum from the get go??

I was at a track day and a guy on a CBR1000 hoofed out of the sweeper we where headin up over the hill. I was lining him up for a pass then he got the shits at the brow and completely buttoned off at the top of the hill?? Full throttle 200k then nothing? I left Plenty of room but certainly gives you the shits when the gap closes rapidly at 200K?? Medium group as related to here? Hard to understand if the guy in the vid had the skill to be that much faster round the sweeper why he did such a silly thing over the hill?? The other riders lines where constant an predictable?

If that was the track day a week or so back I think I know whom you mean.