Posts
441
Joined
12/12/2016
Location
Warner Springs, CA
US
Edited Date/Time
2/25/2021 7:13am
I've been biting my tongue on this for YEARS but after what I just watched... I'm over it. Why does SX/MX still treat on-track safety like a couple of good ol' boys ripping around the dirt field? It is NOT an elite level motorsport not matter how much they like to use that hyperbole.
Just this season, on broadcast, I've seen the following
- A few races ago someone crossed a hot racetrack near a triple and almost got plowed into. People DIE that way.
- A few races ago an Alpinestars medical worker was running to a downed rider in the whoops and almost got plowed into. People DIE that way.
- Tonight we have a rider plow into an Alpinestars medical worker, who then falls down, and the bike/rider then run into a downed rider. What if Alex Martin had a spine/neck injury and then here comes Macadoo bowling balling into everyone?
This is fucking absurd. Why is there a red flag flying at Start Finish and then 10-15 seconds later riders are still racing? Yeah they had a medical flag out but that just means roll the jumps. THE TRACK IS HOT, people are still racing, and we have medical people running around willy nilly. THIS IS HOW PEOPLE DIE. This is just what I've caught on broadcast, I'm sure there are countless more issues we don't see.
Why don't all of the flaggers also have a red flag to go with their yellow flags. In roadracing, even in amateur club racing, every single flag station has all of the flags and everyone is in radio comms. When the red flag call is made, every single flagger pulls out the red immediately. Hell we even have this at trackdays!
Why are people running around on a live racetrack without helmets on? Without some sort of body protection? WHY ARE THEY ALLOWED ON A HOT TRACK!
I've worked in the paddock, I've been responsible for millions of dollars of sponsorship money in the paddock, and let me tell you, I'd be FURIOUS if I was spending money in this barnyard paddock. I've also got way too many stickers on my toolbox in memory of fallen riders and friends who've died on the track. It doesn't take much....
You can't keep people safe from all things, but this is easily avoidable shit. Come on guys, get it together, this is inexcusable.
Just this season, on broadcast, I've seen the following
- A few races ago someone crossed a hot racetrack near a triple and almost got plowed into. People DIE that way.
- A few races ago an Alpinestars medical worker was running to a downed rider in the whoops and almost got plowed into. People DIE that way.
- Tonight we have a rider plow into an Alpinestars medical worker, who then falls down, and the bike/rider then run into a downed rider. What if Alex Martin had a spine/neck injury and then here comes Macadoo bowling balling into everyone?
This is fucking absurd. Why is there a red flag flying at Start Finish and then 10-15 seconds later riders are still racing? Yeah they had a medical flag out but that just means roll the jumps. THE TRACK IS HOT, people are still racing, and we have medical people running around willy nilly. THIS IS HOW PEOPLE DIE. This is just what I've caught on broadcast, I'm sure there are countless more issues we don't see.
Why don't all of the flaggers also have a red flag to go with their yellow flags. In roadracing, even in amateur club racing, every single flag station has all of the flags and everyone is in radio comms. When the red flag call is made, every single flagger pulls out the red immediately. Hell we even have this at trackdays!
Why are people running around on a live racetrack without helmets on? Without some sort of body protection? WHY ARE THEY ALLOWED ON A HOT TRACK!
I've worked in the paddock, I've been responsible for millions of dollars of sponsorship money in the paddock, and let me tell you, I'd be FURIOUS if I was spending money in this barnyard paddock. I've also got way too many stickers on my toolbox in memory of fallen riders and friends who've died on the track. It doesn't take much....
You can't keep people safe from all things, but this is easily avoidable shit. Come on guys, get it together, this is inexcusable.
Honestly, who the fuck is running this clown show?
The Shop
However, it seems like the teams and riders doesn't care about these things. The flagging rules and penalty system has groomed a field of riders that doesn't respect riders on the ground.
Waving yellows have zero impact on the riders racing the track, they're basically just a sign that someone is down but none of the riders are taking it easy in these sections.
If the red cross flag is out, the first instinct is to stop jumping but keep going as fast as possible whilst not jumping. That was the case with McAdoo, he (and Cooper too) was going way too fast after the triple.
The AMA/FIM and Feld needs to sit down and do something to all of this. There are so many things that are just wrong or just amateur level at best. From broadcasting issues to actual rider safety.
And all the while, the teams STILL don’t have a union or leadership group. They still bare the main costs, take the main risks and don’t get any of the profits whilst the promoters and officiating crew laugh and do what the fuck they want.
Pit Row
I think the marshalling in general is not of a sufficient standard, and this is mainly from a organizational POV. I remember Roczen's penalty. I complained about a flagger running across a live track as being stupid.
It all seems a bit haphazard. I think part o the issue is that there's an unwillingness to throw red flags. In my karting realm a drive laid out on a track is a red flag no matter what. SX is more complex due to the number of accidents rendering constant red flags as unduly prohibitive to the spectacle and competition but the flagging seems weak to me, chaotic.
I'd bet that by the time they were pretty far into that straight, they were likely thinking...WTF was that flag for? Where is the downed rider? It was faaar too early. So they started speeding up. I'm confident they didn't see AMart....on TV, yeah, it was obvious, but I'm sure they didn't know he was down where he was.
There clearly needs to be more flaggers....and trained ones, and as OP stated, they should all have the various flags and a headset with someone instructing them which to wave and when. I don't see why lights at the end of straights and maybe after big turns couldn't be used too, but they'd possibly be harder for riders to see, hence still need the flaggers.
Imagine, a bright red light mounted kinda at eye level at the end of that straight that AMart was down after. THEN they could penalize someone who hit the medical worker and AMart. Have one after every straight and yellows too. Flaggers could then focus on corners.
I yellow flagged all 3 rounds in Houston this year, and there is a LOT of training and supervision with people that already have been around the sport their whole life. I also flagged MotoGP at Austin for 3 days and there was far more people (huge track) and far less instruction and no radios for flaggers.
Every part of the safety team in SX is on radio, each group has their own channel. You can't have every flagger with a full set of flags unless you want chaos, it isn't up to a flagger to decide the rules. It is only up to the Race Director to call for a red flag, and that is from the AMA in the tower.
Perhaps the Medical team should consider helmets. No track worker wants to go onto a hot track without knowing that someone up track has their back, either by tuff blocks or flags. In this case it appears that the red flag should have been shown as the 1st lap was nearing completion, and it was not.
It's easy for Vital couchtards to complain without having any idea how much effort and professionalism goes into putting on these races, but I can tell you 1st hand it is highly organized and managed by outstanding people who care for this sport as much as anyone here.
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