Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

FIRST PERSON/OPINION:

Via e-mail

Being a former Loudon regular, I am very familiar with walls and racetracks. It would seem to me that a simple procedure would be easy to initiate that might save lives and and prevent injuries.

Get a layout of each track on the schedule before the season starts, with the position & distance of each fixed barrier to the track surface for reference. Have a team of riders/ promoters do a lap on paper looking at the potential impact zones and likely possible angles from running off, bumping of bikes, sliding & hooking, etc.

This could all be done without visiting the track for the most part. You would cover pretty much every conceivable situation with some simple guessing by guys who have had just about every type of get-off there is.

Naturally, when a wall is parallel to the race surface, it is less likely to become an impact zone without a freak situation. There will no doubt be isolated instances where every precaution is still not enough, but a better effort would no doubt make a difference.

I agree with Mr. Lunde’s outcry for looking at the situations in advance. I was at Road Atlanta right after his son’s tragic accident, and boy, did it wake us up to that impact zone. Why do we have to be reactive instead of proactive?

A good guy to ask for help would be Dave Sadowski. He was the victim of an impact to a badly-positioned Armco section at high speed at Grattan Raceway that I believe helped him decide to give it up.

A few more gravel traps couldn’t hurt either. Everybody bitches that you always crash when you go in one or it makes a mess of the bike, but I’d choose that over hitting a wall or barrier every time.

Bob Robbins
CCS MA #46 & Proud Has-been
Riegelsville, Pennsylvania