Artificial Whoops??

Curious what it's made of. If it doesn't break down, could be a reliable way to keep it safe? I almost wonder if it's got that mushy playground surface? Probably not....

Stupidest idea ever....they are called DIRT bikes...want the same perfect conditions lap after lap?  Go street bike racing....

nah i dont like this. They are pro's, they can maneuver beat up whoops. 

Cue the 80s vid of RJ crushing concrete whoops on an HRC 500

Could be great for practice tracks. Presumably less maintenance and lower risk.

The first thing that crossed my mind...No metal ramps? Where's the starting grate? How about a holeshot device on your forks? Maybe some new technology that helps level out the bike when you jump? Yeah, let's leave some skill in dirt bike racing.

Then the next thought...If you had an entire indoor track made of this stuff, preferably made of recycled material. And the jumps, rhythm sections, etc are re-configurable. All electric bikes. I'd go for it to be able to ride arena cross all year round and not clean air filters. Track maintenance goes way down, no massive venting system needed for the building. 

I'd rather it be one way or the other, not a hybrid.

That's what I was thinking of. Maybe just  a training tool to teach kids how to blitz whoops.

I see what they are trying to do. Good business model. But a deteriorating track is part of our sport. I'd rather see the 450cc displacement standard be reduced. 

Yeah, no. Pass!

Webb just had a panic attack 

Well that’s false, JA. 

As a fan i can see it both ways.

On one hand, its fun watching pro's navigating a track that changes lap after lap, having to adjust their technique and line choice.

On the other hand, its boring AF to watch all 22 riders rip through a goal trail carved in the whoops and not venture anywhere else, so it would be cool if only the whoops didn't break down in that sense. 

Maybe its not a bad idea to do for the whoops but nowhere else? 

How slippery do these things get when wet? 

Besides that, there's no way DeCoster approves of it and releases his stranglehold on track design....

I mean, I get it for practice tracks, less maintenance, lower costs as I'm sure rebuilding this section all the time is the most expensive and time consuming aspect of practice tracks. I have an open mind here. Would sure like to see someone blitz these things-calling DV to the courtesy phone.

The holy grail: riding a Stark on fake whoops.

Dang,

I am late to this thread and can't believe no old timers have mentioned when they used phone poles in the whoops for Daytona for many years. 

One of my local tracks started using them too after they heard about them.

I bet you could still find them in the old Rome cycle ranch track near Shannon, Georgia.

I don't know how they could come up with a soft surface with traction that a knobby on a 450 is not going to destroy.

When you hear ev bikes like stark putting out up to 80 hp and unbelievable torque I don't see it getting anymore realistic that they would have a soft durable material.

I guess if the entire track was made of it then they could go to a street tire.

Yaayyyyyy...... future........

Something you’d find on a bmx track. 

To me it almost looks like they just put some carpet (or something) over the dirt whoops...my eyes suck, and it could be the angle of photo, but it looks like they only covered half the whoop, at that. 

I don’t like the idea. What’s the logistics of this anyway? Buy them for every round and store them near the facility or truck the same set all across the country? Dirt seems so much simpler. You’re already spreading it on the track, just gotta form it into whoops. 

That’s pretty common for dirt jump lines 

They don't make sense to me unless it was at an actual race track and a practice track. What good would a perfectly maintained whoop section be for practice, just to have to face chwed out whoops in a race

Or Feld could spend just a little more money to have two additional operators and their equipment on hand to freshen up the whoops quickly between heats and mains. I know it’s never a “quick” process with whoop building, but with two operators tackling a whoop section from each end, I really think it’s possible to get it done in a timely manner  

The whoops would still get pretty nasty by the main event anyway, but would almost certainly be less dangerous (and help ensure they aren’t jumpers). 

Let’s see some video of how it went. 

I can already see Forkner wadding up...

That's what it looks like. Maybe a heavy rubber like a horse stall mat but formed in the shape of a whoop.

That worked better than I imagined 😂

I snorted.

And sadly, I've sorta thought this would happen over time. the track jumps/spacing are universal...so it would make sense for Feld to basically create track "pieces" they could just drag around the country and put together in whatever configuration. Will destroy the SX sport and make MX even that much more special. man I hate modern sx tracks and THIS shit (fake whoops) is an ominous sign.

I bet when they are teaching kids to skim them, you wouldn't want to toss them immediately on a chewed up set, and it would be tough to always have a perfect set available.