Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Michael Hannas

A record number of Alpina and Air Fence soft barrier sections are being used at Road Atlanta for the WERA Grand National Finals and Suzuki Cup Finals. Thanks to a collaboration coordinated by Alpina’s Dan Lance and involving WERA, AMA Pro Racing, Formula USA and the Roadracing World Action Fund, WERA GNF and Suzuki Cup competitors are better protected than any racers to ever take to the track at Road Atlanta, including AMA Pro competitors.

With WERA directly contracting Lance to supply 20 rental sections of Alpina Air Module, AMA Pro Racing bringing 30 Air Fence and Alpina Air Module sections, and the Roadracing World Action Fund paying for the transport and set-up of 18 additional Air Fence sections used by Clear Channel Entertainment’s Formula USA and CCS series in 2002, there are 68 pieces of Air Fence and Alpina Air Module available for use at Road Atlanta. There are so many sections, in fact, that all the available pieces are not in use, with each party keeping a few pieces in reserve to replace any crash-damaged sections.

The Roadracing World Action Fund originally contributed $104,000 toward the purchase and deployment of soft barriers used by AMA Pro Racing, and originally contributed $40,000 for the soft barrier sections used by F-USA.

According to Lance, approximately 48 of the 68 available sections are being used currently at Road Atlanta. For comparison, there were 30 pieces available and in use during the Big Kahuna AMA National in May, according to AMA Pro Racing’s Hugh Fleming.

Both WERA and Suzuki Cup officials were excited to have the cooperation of all three sanctioning bodies in the project. WERA President Evelyne Clarke commented, “I think it’s great, we’re providing the best coverage we can, and that makes me feel really good.”

American Suzuki’s Pat Alexander was also pleased with the amount of protection offered to the Suzuki Cup Final participants, saying “It’s the best thing we can have. If we can protect those guys on the track at all times, the more fence the better. I just hope it carries on further down the road and everyone sees this.”

Many people were surprised to see all the parties working together on the deployment. AMA Pro Racing’s Hugh Fleming brought the most sections of Air Fence and Alpina Air Module–30–but sounded a cautionary note regarding possible future cooperation. “We are working together, it’s a joint effort, we’ve worked together very well,” said Fleming. “I don’t know if we will have the opportunity to do it again. Generally I’m at AMA races, so it’d have to be when AMA’s not racing, I can’t think of any other opportunities. I would suspect we’ll come back here next year because of the AMA/WERA affiliation.”

Lance seemed to hope that the cooperation could continue. Said Lance, “It’s great to see everyone working together for the riders, it’s what American road racing needs, to have the major sanctioning bodies come together in a safety effort.”

Contacted by phone Saturday, Roadracing World Action Fund founder and former WERA Champion John Ulrich said he was happy to contribute to the safety effort for GNF competitors. “Our goal has always been to provide air barrier protection for all riders, and this goes to show that it isn’t just for AMA Pro riders,” said Ulrich from his home in California. “We’re doing everything we can to educate people on the effectiveness of air barriers as opposed to haybales or tire walls or bare walls in preventing rider injuries.”

The Roadracing World Action Fund also paid for deployment of Lance’s rental fleet at Daytona for the F-USA/CCS Race of Champions last weekend, doubling the number of available soft barriers.

Alpina Air Modules were on display for public inspection at Daytona and are also on display at Road Atlanta as part of an educational program run by the Roadracing World Action Fund.