in the rulebook it states that 4strokes must have bellypans but says nothing about 2 strokes, last time through tech there was some confusion about this. anyone know for sure one way or another??? thanks
Last I heard, 2 strokes never were required since their oil is mixed with the fuel. Only oil I know of thats not part of the fuel system is the gearbox and I doubt theres enough there to warrant a catch.
Now on the other hand are they a good idea? Yep. We had a 250 2 smoke had a fuel leak and the belly caught it at the last BHF event.
I've seen the same thing with 125's where it caught a fuel leak (both stuck carbs) and a 250 where it caught a water leak.
Once as a corner worker at an AMA race, I had to deal with a 2-stroke gasoline spill. The Road America safety team had cleaned up a first-lap red flag crash in the kink with lots of scattered hay. They'd been using 2-stroke leaf blowers. A gas can was left uncapped, and it spilled in a pickup bed. As the truck accelerated out of turn 12 to clear the track after the incident had been cleaned up, the spilled mixed fuel sloshed to the back of the bed, over the bumper and onto the track. We didn't even see it on the track because the fuel evaporated so fast, but the oil was still there!
For some unknown reason I walked the track surface one last time before the restart, and I nearly fell down. That was pure dumb luck, because we'd have lost the whole field on the sighting lap if I hadn't blundered into the slick spot.... :ahhh:
Yep, as a corner worker, I always walked the racing line between races. You can catch a lot of stuff doing that. I would even pick up tear offs that other workers would have left. Why? You can never be too careful. That said, corners workers rock.
Carry on...
Yes, but this was PURE DUMB LUCK. Or something like that. Call it a premonition. The red flag crash had been in the kink. I was in 12. We'd thoroughly checked the track at 12 while the cleanup at the kink was in progress, but for some reason I walked it again after the safety crew drove through. MAN, WAS AMA PISSED when I told them they couldn't restart the Superbike race after a 1/2 hour of downtime had already elapsed!
BTW, it was three years before someone was willing to admit to me where that 2-stroke gas had come from!