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I’d rather hit a stationary object at a lower speed than a higher speed if I had the choice. What kind of question is that?
The type of question that is necessary when they build shit like this. And your best defense seems to be that certain other tracks also have inadequate runout. Yes, those are dangerously designed, too. But this one is even worse.
SX isn't held in a wide open field. There's always going to be stationary shit you can crash into.
This is mostly stationary shit. The odds get worse.
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Well generally speaking higher gear=higher speed and lower gear=lower speed and since I would rather hit the wall at a lower speed I would like to be in first gear.
We're just gonna have to agree to disagree. I'm all about saftey but I personally don't see how them going over those barriers like this is the most dangerous aspect of SX.I'm not entirely sure where the super scary head on collision could happen here vs any other SX round that is run right up next to the sidelines/stands.
Let me present a different scenario: build the track where there aren't walls.
You picked the one 180 in the whole pic. There's multiple places to get pushed while on the gas.
Reality: Riders will think this thing is sketch as shit (and so would you if you raced it). But, they will race it, and hopefully the odds will play out in their favor. If this was every week, there would be an issue at some point.
I didn't cherry pick but you are starting to see my point in how they designed the track and how/where they cross those barriers. If you look at the sections, you can see the odds of a high speed head on collision is pretty slim, even in the early stages of the track being built.
OP's post shows five or more crossings over multiple lanes perpendicular to walls, while you are only posting the 180s parallel.
Anytime they ever say hybrid, they just mean a longer SX track with higher speeds. Similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway SX races. 0 MX ever involved. Not really even sure why they try to say that.
I was hoping to see something exciting and new in the SMX tracks. I don’t see it here, although round 3 looks more promising.
Either way, let’s just hope it delivers good racing. We won’t care if it does.
Looks like a piss poor version of the monster cup
Still hopeful for good racing, I'm sure it'll be good to watch, but I stand by the previous sketchy statement.
I wasn't thinking so much head on more as in general impact or getting spat off the side of a jump or landing in a g out and getting wonky and firing yourself into a concrete barrier. The same happens with tuff blocks or hay bales, but at least those have some give and movement.
Either way, I just hope the racing is good, and these folks get a good pay day, and the barriers get the previously-mentioned thin layer of monster energy vinyl padding, rather than one of the barriers getting thinly padded with a splattered monster energy athlete.
I'm hoping for the best and no issues, but the walls run parallel to the lanes along rhythm sections. How often do riders land on tough blocks or get pushed off line and have to bail into the gap between lanes? Inserting a concrete barrier into that space doesn't seem like a safe idea.
The corners indicate to me that the track designer considered the walls, and their solution to the problem was "slower speed crossovers." Beyond that they can claim they tried their best to work with what they were given, which is crap (like Ricky's Daytona sprinkler excuses).
We will see where the netting and extra padding wind up, but you really can't see someone getting launched off that berm and hitting their head on a concrete barrier? There is a picture of a triple running between two concrete barriers. You can't see someone getting messed up on the launch and smacking their head (or body) on the concrete? As someone else said it is about where tuff blocks usually are and those get hit all the time. I can totally see someone landing on a tough block and getting high sided right onto the concrete barriers.
What if ….. someone say like top in points Sexton after putting in a great hot lap messes up and runs off the side of the track and nails one of these barriers and trashes the bikes frame?
Sorry Chase since the registered bike can not compete … your out .
The USGP was supposed to be built just like this. Could it be that the FIM looked at this and said no? Thats why it was built on the dirt track?
RacerX has a list but where’s the cut off?
https://racerxonline.com/smx/2023/points/450smx
Its more about it lining the sides of the track, most crashes involve a rider flying off the side. The track looks really narrow and going to be one line.
Pit Row
I'm more worried about ruts going down to the top of the barriers and developing a nasty kicker than someone running into the barrier.
Steps to mitigate the danger and building jumps over all the walls doesn't change the fact that it's just a bad idea to begin with.
Get ready for constant red flags as well. There's no access to most of the track without crossing the track.
Positive, way less chance of a head on collision with someone going the other way in the lane next to you. Also, less chance of riders going off track and gaining an advantage. 🤷♀️
Seems like a very odd location. I would’ve preferred the dirt track like MXGP did but I’m trying to reserve too much judgement until seeing how this track races.
There's a bunch of ouchie stuff on all portions off-track. It is easy to imagine many dangerous scenarios. Other motorsports have spent decades increasing runoff in high traffic zones and removing unintentional targets. Example: this facility has those lanes purely to increase the safety of its events in an off-track situation.
Obviously, a track designer would try to mitigate those issues, and hope the probabilities hold up such that nothing unfortunate occurs this time, but clearly this location places much of its weight on that hope.
I honestly can't believe they're going to Chicago for the 2nd round. And the south side for that matter... facepalm. No one but Wheelie Boyz live there.
The barriers didn't seem like a big problem back in the day
There was a local race here at a dirt track facility that had a couple ponds. When I saw the initial pics, I thought "yep someone is going to end up in the drink". I took a close look at the track layout and decided "enh, looks like it'd be pretty hard to end up there. They obviously designed the layout to minimize the risk."
Sure enough, on race day, someone had to fish a bike out of the pond. A nice one too. And it entered from a straight that had those same concrete barriers up between the track and the pond.
It's real difficult to predict where a bike or rider is going to end up in the case of an accident. These barriers seem like a real bad idea.
They tech multiple frames. Seth had to have one replaced at Ironman after the first moto. I have pics of the first frame and the culprit LOL.
Joliet is not exactly "south side of Chicago"
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