They are putting a tunnel under the track between 13 and 14 and making the area teh BM bridge was at a spectator area.Tunnel is supposed to be 16.5' tall, 2 lanes and has a pedetrian walkway. Grand opening at the AMA Superbike races.
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2006/Dec/061214a.htm
glad to hear, i thought that was the most dangerous spot on the track. hopefully when they get rid of the bridge they move the wall way back.
One step closer to WSB or MOTOGP.......... :cheers: :cheers:
Quote from: weggieman on December 14, 2006, 06:17:39 PM
One step closer to WSB or MOTOGP.......... :cheers: :cheers:
Exactly what I was thinking. I always thought that it was big enough for those machines to stretch their legs, and with the recent surface upgrades I figured it was just a few run off issues that was keeping them from hosting a premier event.
I'm sad to see it go.
I wish they'd have just extended it....
Funny thing is that bridge isn't that old........
What I hated to see go was the old scoring tower. Now that baby had some character!! I wish they would have found a way to move that or save it somehow.
I highsided myself silly coming out from under that bridge! Maybe it had something to do with the moss growing under it. Needless to say, I am OK with it being gone!
Quote from: Numbskullz-113 on December 14, 2006, 10:14:58 PM
I highsided myself silly coming out from under that bridge! Maybe it had something to do with the moss growing under it. Needless to say, I am OK with it being gone!
Me too! I'm leaving for Elkhart tomorrow morning, chainsaw in hand. Well with the bridge gone we can look forward to a big bump in the braking zone for 14 thanks to the tunnel.
I would have to say that turn 13 is one of my favorite turns on the track. It's just the knowing when to turn and the feeling of the wall on the inside flying past. The exit was great and hopefully it will be the same as it used to be. I love spinning the rear up through there.
The hardest transition on the whole track for me was coming out of 12 and having to throw the bike back to the right side to get through 13 with a nice line. It was always impossible for me to crash in 13 or through it. I would just stay on the gas through there.
All in all if the turn stays the same, which it sounds like it will I will get to enjoy that yet. I sure does make it safer with it being gone though. I had a nasty highside/tankslapper/ lowside flip coming up the hill inbetween both 12 & 13. I held on for as long as I could to try to save it and I'm glad the crash worked out the way it did. It could have been really bad! I flipped and all I was thinking was damn that wall is coming up fast. I ended up right next to the haybales on the outside against the wall and my bike started on fire from the impact on the wall just prior to the bayles. It broke the oil pan and lit the bike on fire.
I couldn't imagine riding a Superbike or Moto GP bike through there. Before World Superbike & Moto GP get there they still have a lot of work to do to that track. Like turn 6 runoff needs to get pushed back. Possibly more runoff in 7. I have gone all the way to the wall in turn 8 after lowsiding. The kettle bottoms can get really dangerous in a draft situation with a few riders swerving next to the ping pong walls through there. Plus the runoff in Canada Corner Turn 12 needs to get pushed back further.
It is my favorite track I go to for sure but there are still some safety issues that need to get dealt with before Moto GP even thinks about going there. Moto GP Bikes are going to be going much faster than the Superbikes especially on such a fast long track like that. More runoff room will be needed for sure.
I liked the bridge too, but it was one of the most dangerous spots on the track from my perspective. It always seemed cold/wet, and ultimately had less traction than the immediate surrounding pavement. Too many NASTY crashes there.
I was wondering how they were going to address the problem. Hopefully the new section will be just as challenging, but safer. I've corner-worked 13 in the past, and we didn't want anyone crashing there, even with airfence in place.
Photo I found this morning on www.2wf.com
(https://www.ccsforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.2wf.com%2Fimages%2Fstories%2FBike%2520Test%2520images%2Fratunnel.jpg&hash=8377866a9d6d3210e79e60589f31c3e83b77c25e)
Time to get out our Tonka Trucks and play in the dirt! :biggrin:
As I said, one more step. Every improvement they make at RA is aimed at getting world class racing there. Sure there is more to be done but, it can't all be done at once.
This alone is like $1.5 mil. It takes some time to regroup from every change they make.
The races at RA are not the mega crowd drawing races like NASCAR. The open wheel car races don't get the crowds they used to and we know the bike races don't grab the numbers they should.
Once they get this track approved by FIM for some world class bike stuff they'll finally see a return on their investment. I applaud them for their efforts! :thumb:
Can't say I'm sad to see it go although I did enjoy the sound my R6 make under the bridge. Feel sorry that several riders had to die there before it was changed. Anybody ever have problems with the kink to regular track transition? My buddy Chuck went splat there when his GXR750 spun up. I really like the track on the R6 although it did freak me out when while riding up the hill the front end came up and the bike started moving towards the grass on the left side at 150 mph +. It's real challenging steering the bike on one wheel. Wondering how to ride that track on my slow SV....
I'm all for the new tunnel, it's about time! Blattently unsafe conditions at major racing facilities in this country is something that has been sadly ignored for WAY too long! I personally believe a racers success at a race track should be based on their personal ability and set-up of there equipment, not who's willing to unneccesarily risk there life more than the other guys in dangerous sections of the track. What's that prove anyways, that they are more willing to die than the next guy?
As far as WSBK or MotoGP coming to Road America I have read in the past one issue they didn't like was the lap times there, they felt more laps were better in supplying better entertainment. I remember reading in the past about proposals to shorten the lap times/track by putting a new turn between 3 and 4 that would turn left and cut across to turn 7 and maintain higher average speeds per lap and ultimately add more laps. Not really something I would like, but I guess they gotta do what they gotta do.
I recall watching Ed Key plow into the bridge years ago. I'm glad I won't ever have to see anyone do that again.
The Billy Mitchell bridge did add "Character" to RA, but it's a bad kind of character.
I think they make things a little safer every year and I am glad I won't have to put out Jason's bike there
ever again. It's creepy running outside an airfence, under a bridge, with a fire bottle to a guy
who is HOLDING UP his burning bike! Were you about to scale a fence for your B bike or something?
July will certainly be more fun then April this year, construction should be finished and hopefully no bumps over tunnel.
Thanks to Mr. Bruggenthies, Mr. Wilkinson and
Bill and Claudia Ritger's influence on track safety related to motorcycles.
Midwest Safety Crew has kept the track safe for bikes and it is nice to see the Track step up the safety improvements.
I doubt this was an easy decision to eliminate a bridge that has been there in one form or another a long time, but as long as the layout is the same, the track stays true to it's history.
Say goodbye to one of the coolest feeling turns in America. The layout will be the same but the bridge will be gone! This turn separated the good riders from the boys. I'm +1 for safety but it will take any advantage that I used to gain there.
Here is a pic for last memories.
(https://www.ccsforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi5.pbase.com%2Fo6%2F94%2F589394%2F1%2F70306658.PgPTFJ5Y.AMA20060604_014.jpg&hash=28c2c89489c2826b6379d22f56e3447c43d3eb00)
Photo by Alan James Berg
When did you race with boys? I think going down the hill at Road Atlanta is the best feeling. Stomach up in your throat type of excitement. However getting turn 6 at Road America correct then blasting down to 7 is a good feeling. Now to add something challenging to Road America, make that little bump under the bridge coming up to start/finish a little more pronounced would make this track more european.
Quote from: TTR174 on December 22, 2006, 04:25:11 PM
I think going down the hill at Road Atlanta is the best feeling. Stomach up in your throat type of excitement.
I miss Gravity Cavity there. :( Was almost as fun as teh Corkscrew at Laguna.
My photo gallery sucks when trying to link photos. If you get a red x, hitting refresh might help those trying to view it, but otherwise here is a direct link to the photo:
http://www.pbase.com/alanjames/image/70306658
Quote from: aberg12012 on December 22, 2006, 05:20:50 PM
My photo gallery sucks when trying to link photos. If you get a red x, hitting refresh might help those trying to view it, but otherwise here is a direct link to the photo:
http://www.pbase.com/alanjames/image/70306658
Dont use the address in teh address bar to link. Right click the picture, select properties and use the address url in teh properties box. Should end in .jpg, .bmp or .gif depending on how it was saved.
Quote from: Woofentino Pugrossi on December 22, 2006, 05:35:26 PM
Dont use the address in teh address bar to link. Right click the picture, select properties and use the address url in teh properties box. Should end in .jpg, .bmp or .gif depending on how it was saved.
Yep, trust me... it's an issue with my pbase account. I've been dealing with that for about 3 months now. Although I'm a total newb to this forum, I'm pretty familiar with html'ing in forums. :biggrin: And a quick right click of Jason's post and I see he did it as you described. It's my photo gallery thats retarded... not Jason. :-)
Apparently I'm still smart! :banghead:
Damn I haven't crashed enought yet! :wah: :ahhh:
Well I might not go that far... "not retarded" and "smart" are two very different things. lol
:cheers:
Alan,
You should put the aftermath of the fire extinguisher on J's bike from the Billy Mitchell. J, wasn't that number 53 for you. So all know, he did try to pick his flaming bike up to finish qualifying. We all were screaming at him as he did not know it was on fire, but he figured it out when the rockin corner workers were running toward him with fire extinguishers. :lmao:
i loved going under that bridge. Immediately before, there was always the late-braking battle flying into the bumpy and treacherous Canada Corner, at the end of the THIRD high -speed section of that crazy track. Getting under that bridge so close on your left side was the reward for not getting spit off your bike as you exited Canada hard on the gas up the hill. I'm not saying the change won't be safer. It's just that nothing charges memory like emotion. And my images of being leaned over hard on the gas at the apex under the Billy Mitchel bridge is beautifully and inexorably burned into my memory. Goodbye Billy, I'll miss you in July!
Quote from: HensenCR on December 23, 2006, 12:28:46 AM
:cheers:
Alan,
You should put the aftermath of the fire extinguisher on J's bike from the Billy Mitchell.
Ok, you asked for it...
(https://www.ccsforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv496%2Faberg12012%2F59329338_RA01_DSC0193.jpg&hash=1b66c89869cead987d7416b4887165cf78c0f150)
Hey is that Jeremy Bentz holding the bike up?
Damn bridge.
(https://www.ccsforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg142.imageshack.us%2Fimg142%2F7599%2F0904jq1.jpg&hash=cbd958f4811518937b2700fde65cdc7676e77cb4)