Whilst I'm solving the world's problems, I thought I should share this here. I emailed this to my contact at the ARDC on Tuesday. Receipt acknowledged but no other reply yet.
Hi ...,
Hope you're well!! We had a pretty shit day on Friday, and another shocking start-line crash on Saturday. I was hoping to ask for your assistance in these matters; specifically about who at ARDC I could speak to to try and resolve these issues.
Firstly, the most important thing: The motorcycle starting grid. Start-line incidents are becoming commonplace at St George race events, and whilst there are many causes, it is exacerbated by the 4x4x4 grid structure. All FIM approved tracks have long ago moved to 3x3x3 for rider safety. In 2014 Motorcycling Australia recommended (but decided they couldn't make mandatory) that tracks move towards 3x3x3. Phillip Island has long been 3x3x3, with very large spacing between rows, and start line incidents are rare. Even the little Broadford circuit has since implemented the 3x3x3 layout.
The problem is the rows are too full, and too close together, and if a competitor stalls on the grid, other riders don't have time to see or avoid the stationary rider. Horrendous injuries ensue. A rider died on the grid at SMSP a couple of years ago (I was there), and I have also witnessed significant critical injuries including on Saturday. I haven't heard for sure, but one rider from this weekend was not expected to survive.
At ASBK at SMSP this year, ASBK marked up their own 3x3x3 grid, separate to the painted 4x4x4 grid that ARDC supply. So it's an easy change to make, and it has the potential to save lives and reduce the instances of serious and critical injury. It's a no-brainer. How do we make this happen?
Secondly, the ARDC PP days are a joke for bikes. Apparently we had 90 bikes on Friday, yet we were treated like second-class citizens. By 4pm, we had only completed 7 laps. Our first session was stopped due to an accident (unavoidable, of course) after only one flying lap, and the session was declared. Yet in a later closed car session in which a car dropped a massive amount of oil at turn 2, causing nearly an hour delay, the session was restarted, FOR ONE CAR! Only one car circulated for the next 15 minutes.
The car that dropped an engine-worth of oil travelled the length of the main straight with massive amounts of white oil smoke billowing from behind the car, but instead of pulling off into the old drag strip, it continued all the way to turn 2, where it then deposited the entire oil contents on the racing line in the middle of the corner. Not only did it delay the day by an hour whilst the oil was cleaned up, it also meant many ours of work for the ARDC cleanup crew after hours to get the track ready for motorcycle racing on the weekend, and it meant that the motorcycles were disadvantaged by the sight of clearly visible oil marks and white cleanup dust for the rest of the weekend. There should be mandatory minimum scrutineering for non-professional racecars at ARDC PP days. Just having bought a LS2 licence and rocking up in a shitty old road car does not automatically give you the right to destroy everyone else's day by having a poorly maintained car that drops oil all over the circuit. There should also be significant punishment for anyone that ignores a black flag and stays on the track, dropping oil all around the circuit. Currently there's no punishment at all, and therefore no incentive for people to do the right thing.
Additionally, I understood that open cars were given the same conditions as bikes, that there had to be 10 pre-paid participants before a session was allocated, and yet on Friday there were only 4 open cars. We had 90 bikes sitting around doing nothing for most of the day, whilst 4 open cars had the track to themselves for an hour. Why was the pre-register condition for open cars changed?
Thirdly (whilst I'm on a roll), ride days next year are increasing by an unprecedented $50 per day. The upshot of this is to punish the regulars whilst discouraging the casual track day attendee, who will then go and endanger themselves and others by getting their need for speed satisfied on a public road rather than in the safe confines of a motor raceway. The track is a government asset, and should be made as easily available for the public to 'speed off the streets' as possible. Why has the ARDC raised track day prices so significantly, when the costs of providing the service have not risen by the same amount?
I look forward to your reply.
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