Watching the AMA Superbike races at Barber Motorsports Park over the weekend brings up the question of how best to fill the starting grid. There were 34 bikes at the start of Saturday’s race and just a few less on Sunday, so it didn’t take a great deal of predictive skill to know there would be a lot of lapped traffic showing up fairly quickly. The difference in performance, both rider and bike, is often quite large between those at the front of the grid and those towards the rear. The riders at the back can be as dedicated and passionate about motorcycle racing as anyone else on the track but the lap time differential means it won’t be long before they’re overtaken by many of the leaders. Once that begins, the outcome of the race can be affected by how well the faster bikes get through the “traffic” instead of how well they compete against similar bikes, riders and teams. Beyond affecting outcomes, it can also be a safety issue as the slower riders hesitate when moving over to allow the faster riders by or when they do so in an unpredictable manner. Is this necessary or is there a better way?
The last race of this season will be at Mid Ohio and they’ll be running a series of sprint races to qualify for the feature race. Top finishers in the individual heats will fill the 20 spots in the grid for the main event. The shorter sprint races can have a wide variety of racers but the sprint distances will make lapping unlikely. Once you sort through the field and group the faster riders together for the final race, you’ll get less of the traffic you see in most races through the season.
Whether this shootout format is an experiment by the AMA to deal with this issue or just something to add a little variety, I just don’t know, but it might be a good plan for all of the races if they’re going to have this many racers showing up. Thoughts?
Andy Smith says
I recognise that getting through the back markers is part of the game plan for top riders in the AMA. Seeing Mladin, Hayden, Spies already having to deal with this after lap 8 of a 20+ lap race seems bordering on the riduclous. I’m also not entirely sure a series of sprint races is the way to solve it either, but has the potential to be quite a bit of fun. What harm in saying during qualifying practice only the top 20 times get to make the grid?
Cheers for a good post that echoes my own thoughts watching the races this weekend.
/Andy
aaron says
this seems to be a problem with most american based racing series. the daytona 200 had what, 40-50 people? nascar packs as many cars on the track as it can, and indy/cart seems to be the same. quantity or quality? a few backmarkers will spice up the race, but what to do? maybe throw a black flag to anyone lapped more than 2 or three times in the same race, or by the top 20. after this happens X times in a season, you can no longer field an entry without special approval. or a variation of the 107%rule, but more like 102-105%….
todd says
maybe they should start adding rear view mirrors on the bikes so you can see you’re being overtaken. I know when I’m concentrating hard on my riding I don’t notice the other bikes nipping at my rear wheel – not to say that I’m a backmarker…
I think organizers like crowded tracks, it raises the likelihood of a spectacular pile-up. Something that keeps the spectators coming back for more; sensless carnage.
-todd
JoeKing says
Todd
“(o)rganizers like crowded tracks… it raises the likelihood of a spectacular pile-up.” … (comment edited by kneeslider) … Name “1” organizer who you know of, who wants to see m/c crashs…that’s outrageous.
Have YOU ever met ANYONE (besides yourself) who goes to a motorcycle race ..HOPING..to see a “spectacular pile-up”?
So let me understand your logic.. you’ll malign backmarkers as not only “rolling chicanes” for the leaders but now the cause of “senseless carnage”. So, if were up to you..ONLY Valentino Rossi would be “ALLOWED” on the track & EVERYONE else in his way causes carnage.
No, you are not a backmarker..you’ve probably NEVER been to a race.
kneeslider says
Easy guys, … debate, yes, … attack, no.
aaron says
I didn’t want to say that, but could it be possible? the “pack ’em in” mentality of oval track organizers has made nascar a monsterous success, and a big part of this is the wrecks. I’ve heard people say motorcycle racing isn’t that exciting, even after sitting them down in front of motogp. the afterthought was, would he have thought it more exciting if he saw more than 2 lowsides?
the reality is, stacking the track lowers the chances of a runaway leader like F1 often sees. every so often a yellow flag bunches up the pack, and the racing at the front gets more exciting in lapped traffic.