GL8 Parade lap crash

Edited Date/Time 1/21/2012 1:25pm
For a slow crash that sure was scary! He's lucky he wasn't seriously injured, reminded me of the J. Button crash that ended his career.
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Lightning78
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6/21/2010 9:40pm
I was just about to start a thread about this!!!!!! I said last year those bannered drop off's were a IMO stupid ass idea that could be potentially very dangerous for a rider that might have a problem right before the jump because you CANNOT cruise off of it and that crash (as I am watching the race right now) just proved my point!!

He could've gotten seriously injured by that thing but everyone said it wouldn't be a problem.....Those bannered drop off's are a dumb ass idea even in sx a rider can roll the entire track....how would MXsports feel if that had caused some serious permanent damage to Grant?

I still don't know why they are in there.....I understand sponsorship dollars they get with it but c'mon there have to be better ways than that the backside of that drop off don't need to be shear cliffs ...Im sorry for my rant guys but I said it last year they were dangerous and unecessary and that was ascary thing that luckily Grant didn't get hurt on....now about that riders union, how about making those things go away.....if you really stop to think about it there are a lot of things that could go seriously bad if a rider got out of sorts right before that things and couldn't roll it. Again IMO a stupid f**king obstacle.

When Barcia slid out in the forst 250 moto he had to get on his bike and take off right in front of one of those and could've done the same exact thing!!!!!!
Fat Fingers
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6/21/2010 10:40pm
I didn't see GLs crash but don't think theres anything wrong with those drop off's, they have been on motocross tracks since forever. There are far more dangerous parts of an mx track than those things.

If you fall before one, maybe you should back up a few bike lengths.
jmx411
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6/21/2010 10:46pm
I love the banner drop offs. They are great for sponsors and makes the track look great. The GL incident was an accident. This is motocross, accidents happen all the time, Sometimes they cause bad injuries and sometimes you walk away from them.
lostboy819
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6/21/2010 11:08pm
I think they are great also, we had them back in the 70s and I am glad to see they are making a comeback. Totally cool

The Shop

FIREfish148
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6/21/2010 11:13pm Edited Date/Time 6/21/2010 11:14pm
DC put it well while broadcasting. He said something along the lines of it being a embarassment to the rider AS WELL AS THE PROMOTERS. Barcia fell right before the drop off too which looked to be pretty damn tall when Langston stood blindly next to it. 5 1/2' maybe?
It was good to see Langston being optimistic about the day though. Dude could have easily been in a shitty ass mood, and pissed off. Gnarly slow speed endo. Maybe the drop offs should have more of a quarter pipe type landing so you could drop in a little if needed at low speed?
Old Mate
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6/21/2010 11:47pm
Grant forgot it was there, silly mistake and he handled the media well for how silly he felt
Lightning78
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6/22/2010 12:03am
Indeed firefish and for the rest of you that didn't see it, maybe try watching the archive webcast it's between the 22 and 23 minute mark of the moto not the video but the moto....here I even provided you the link

http://www.allisports.com/motocross/news/budds-creek-race-archive

The drop off was at least 5-6' tall and if you idle a bike off it you will have a bad endo, how in the hell are you supposed to pick your bike back up and walk it backwards in a race when there are other riders coming from behind you at full speed weather it is out of a corner or at full tilt boogie........ not to mention it is against the rules to go the opposite direction on the track during a race correct?

I'll bet that before this season is over there will be another incident because of that thing and a rider not being able to roll off it without another endo, I'm not hoping for an accident or injury but that could've easily been avoided by putting a little more thought into the design of the drop off and the safety of the riders. The way GL landed could've easily broken his neck .....and the bike barely missed landing directly on his body

Go watch the 1st moto then pass judgement. The drop off's look cool and provide extra sponsorship dollars, I don't disagree with that. Even if my previous post came off that way but like firefish put it, add a little more of a quarter pipe design to it so the riders can roll it in the case they have a problem which could be just as easy as an engine that fails or dies, clutch goes out, broken chain rider smacks his melon and forgets about it but is still coherent and tries to ride or takes a hard hit and it just getting going again etc. ..... the bike is still rolling but you cannot give it gas to lift the front end.

Adding a little dirt to the bottom and shaping it to be rollable would've prevented what happened to GL and hopefully it doesn't happen again......and god forbid if it HAD caused an injury to GL this place would've melted down and there would've been a witch hunt for DC in the event GL wasn't as lucky as he was.
Fat Fingers
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6/22/2010 12:31am
Lets ban hills. If a rider falls off on a steep hill in a wet race, what is he supposed to do? race over.... I think not.

He couldn't possibly wait until its safe to head back down to have another go at it. Try watching this years French GP, there quite a few riders who had to do this.

JB 19
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6/22/2010 12:59am
I'm not really sure how I feel about it, but I wonder if they were removed years ago because of similar incidents?

The Langston accident looked like it could have been a bad deal.
africanMX
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6/22/2010 3:46am
Indeed firefish and for the rest of you that didn't see it, maybe try watching the archive webcast it's between the 22 and 23 minute mark...
Indeed firefish and for the rest of you that didn't see it, maybe try watching the archive webcast it's between the 22 and 23 minute mark of the moto not the video but the moto....here I even provided you the link

http://www.allisports.com/motocross/news/budds-creek-race-archive

The drop off was at least 5-6' tall and if you idle a bike off it you will have a bad endo, how in the hell are you supposed to pick your bike back up and walk it backwards in a race when there are other riders coming from behind you at full speed weather it is out of a corner or at full tilt boogie........ not to mention it is against the rules to go the opposite direction on the track during a race correct?

I'll bet that before this season is over there will be another incident because of that thing and a rider not being able to roll off it without another endo, I'm not hoping for an accident or injury but that could've easily been avoided by putting a little more thought into the design of the drop off and the safety of the riders. The way GL landed could've easily broken his neck .....and the bike barely missed landing directly on his body

Go watch the 1st moto then pass judgement. The drop off's look cool and provide extra sponsorship dollars, I don't disagree with that. Even if my previous post came off that way but like firefish put it, add a little more of a quarter pipe design to it so the riders can roll it in the case they have a problem which could be just as easy as an engine that fails or dies, clutch goes out, broken chain rider smacks his melon and forgets about it but is still coherent and tries to ride or takes a hard hit and it just getting going again etc. ..... the bike is still rolling but you cannot give it gas to lift the front end.

Adding a little dirt to the bottom and shaping it to be rollable would've prevented what happened to GL and hopefully it doesn't happen again......and god forbid if it HAD caused an injury to GL this place would've melted down and there would've been a witch hunt for DC in the event GL wasn't as lucky as he was.
Hey Lightning - what about just allowing enough space on either side to roll around the drop-off? This would allow riders to ride around it if they are experiencing technical difficulties. The fact that GL8 forgot about it and could still be so candid about his mistake speaks volumes about his character.
Lightning78
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6/22/2010 4:04am
africanMX wrote:
Hey Lightning - what about just allowing enough space on either side to roll around the drop-off? This would allow riders to ride around it if...
Hey Lightning - what about just allowing enough space on either side to roll around the drop-off? This would allow riders to ride around it if they are experiencing technical difficulties. The fact that GL8 forgot about it and could still be so candid about his mistake speaks volumes about his character.
Im all for sides to roll off and some like fat fingers dont get it and give a smartass remark (I doubt your dumbass even saw the clip or you'd likely change your tune) if he had gotten hurt because of the fact that he forgot about it and it ended his season or career there would be a 25 plus page thread of everyone crying foul about it because GL is such a hero among mx fans and I think he is a badass but that could've been very bad ....and just like the jump that ended RV's season got a HUGE response on here of all kinds of nasty, and that drop off isn't safe if something simply happened like it did.....fat fingers you don't get it and I really don't care

Had Langston landed wrong or the bike landed on him he could've been seriously injured sure its an easy jump to go off even if you were blindfolded but it cannot be rolled at all and that is the problem here. A rider has anything happen where the bike cuts out or what if someone highsides off the edge.....there isn't a SX track that cannot be rolled over and the national tracks used to be like that, those drop off's are MAN made and they were never part of the track so no rider can roll the track on those things and Ill say it again the jump is easy to do but could have a very bad consequence if something like what happened to GL happened again....

Whatever I really dont care if some dont get it once something happens as a result of that jump because it cannot be rolled then there will be a 25 page thread especially if it happens to a top rider so carry on with calling me ignorant in so many ways I dont care I just see a potential danger that could easily be avoided with a little thought about the riders ....all other obsticles are just as dangerous if not more but a rider if he falls can get going w/o having to launch the bike while getting going they can roll over it.
Lightning78
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6/22/2010 4:08am
Im glad GL had a good attitude about it and im sure he was embarassed but that isn't what I am getting at....notice how he hits his head and it almost collapses his neck and how the bike almost landed on him, slow speed crashes can be in some cases far worse than high speed ones.
6/22/2010 4:13am
If a guy like Ivan Tedesco can crash 10' before a triple, get up, and still clear it then I'm sure popping the front wheel up enough not to endo isn't a problem. It was a simple mistake that Grant admitted, and he even mentioned that they were warned several times in the morning about rolling them. It's NOT an issue.
jemcee
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6/22/2010 6:22am Edited Date/Time 6/22/2010 6:23am
I wonder how easy they'd be to handle if it was pissing down rain with no grip on the up ramp?

I just think they're kinda unnecessary and that langston deal could've ended very differently.



how much do you pay for a simple mistake motocross is dangerous enough the guys have enough to think about

I'm with ya lightning keep strong brother!!
raddad
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6/22/2010 6:43am
not sure how i feel either like some of you. do they mark it at all with chalk or flags or ? maybe there is no way he would not have crashed because he was looking backwards? Overall i like them and when we have had them at our local tracks i loved it and jumped it with no problem.
DC
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6/22/2010 7:01am Edited Date/Time 6/22/2010 7:01am
I think Lightning has a point. The drop off was too close to a corner and too tall. I spoke to Grant about it as well as BT101 and we are going to make them smaller. Grant said it was his fault, but it's our fault too. They should be on faster ski jumps and not the exits of corners. We will do our best to put them in the smartest spots.



They remind the riders all the time about them, and they will also be waving a green flag on them on each parade lap.



And they never went away due to any incidents that I recall, they just went away. But one of my favorite MXA covers of all time was a photo by Geoff Fox, I believe, of Adolf Weil going off a dropaway in '74 at either Sittendrof or Gaildorf.... That's what resurrected the idea.



DC

MX Sports
6/22/2010 7:19am
it looks like even at the slow speed he could have rode it out if there was a tiny little bit of transition but it looks like there was a short but dead flat ridge created by the dozer or bucket that hung up his front wheel....so yeah it needs tweaking and putting it in a bit faster section as dc mentions....will prolly make 'em even that much safer.

Myke
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6/22/2010 7:33am
Can they make them so you could roll them if you had too?

Maybe the advertisements should be painted or glued to boards and put at a slight angle with a transition at the bottom?
6/22/2010 7:47am
that's what happens when you don't pay attention for just a split second.
could have been way worse...he's lucky.
Yaya
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6/22/2010 7:49am
Just glad he wasnt hurt. I would love to see Grant get inside the top ten this summer!

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