RATE the Track Addix GP weekend at MAM

[Burt Munro]

Couple of things that could use some explanation......

I'll take some of the blame for the delay in getting you on the track after the 3rd call.... but some of it was unavoidable.

I had set up with the announcer to give 3rd call after the Checker went up - making it about 3 min for everyone to get the Checker and get back to the Pit In entrance.

Sounded OK in theory until we had somebody run out of gas on the cool down lap and in another race someone broke down on the cool down.

The ones I'll take the blame for were the couple of times where I didn't see that we had a bike to pick up because it was sitting beside a cornerworker stand.  I should have held the 3rd call on those till we were closer to having the bikes heading in.

On the last 3 races we had riders request a short break due to back to back races.  On those we started a 3 min clock when the last rider was off the track and then made the 3rd call.  

I was trying to take the heat into consideration as much as possible and the last thing I wanted was for you guys to be sitting out there too long.  

After all, you guys pay your money to race and expect things to go right - no excuse!

You also need to realize that nearly everybody involved in key positions this weekend had never actually been in the hot seat of doing their job before at a race event.  Registration, Grids, Timing/Scoring, Control, Announcer, Race Director and Asst Starter - this was their first shot at doing this LIVE!   They had observed at races before but this was for real and they were expected to do it right.   On top of that they were using new software for Registration and Scoring tied into the AMB transponders that none of us had seen before.

Big thanks need to go out to Bill and Claudia Ritger who came in to help out in Control and Pit Out.  And also to Amy and Sara in scoring and Bill Feuhrman to help oversee everything.

After all is said and done...... was it perfect? NO WAY!   Did it go pretty well, all things considered?  DAMN STRAIGHT IT DID!  And no reason to think it won't be better next time!

[tstruyk]

hey Rick!

Cool to hear some behind the scenes impressions!  that sounds about how I figured things went... a little wet behind the ears but all in all pretty smooth!!

2 things for you personally... your supposed to wink right before you drop the green... for that I am keeping your scanner. and second... I am still waiting for the beer!!   

Nice job this weekend, always a pleasure to see you out there!  You really do give a sheet how you do your job... its appreciated!

[Burt Munro]

It was on really tight, but I proceded to duct tape it in place so it wouldn't move again... 

Hey Mike.....  was it on so tight that it might still be on your bike?
As of late Sunday night I heard that it hadn't been turned in yet.

[Burt Munro]

Guess I need to work on my beer for return of scanner hostage protocol. 

But I came back with the beer and you guys had already headed out to your $250 a night hotel room

I was so upset that I ended up drinking it all myself!

[Burt Munro]

I watched a race where a guy lowsided coming out of turn 15, he tooe a second to gather himself and then got to his bike, picked it up and pushed it off before anybody yellow flagged it... soon after it was red flagged for another crash in turn 3....   

and during the riders meeting Dean had asked if we needed to go over the flags (I didn't need to until I saw a waiving white for rolling the paramedics??????

Good point on both issues.

I saw the bike go down just before he came onto the front straight too and couldn't believe how long it took to get a waving yellow out,  It was addressed with the cornerworkers - apparently they had heard the call go out for the bike down in #3 that caused the red flag and weren't giving 100% attention to their corner.  No excuse!

The fact that the track has white flags on the corners for an ambulance flag instead of white with a red cross was a problem.  I also heard at least one corner being corrected not to wave the white flag - hold it stationary. (I didn't have a standard ambulance flag on the starter stand either, so it made it fun when it was time for the white flag lap!)

[251am]

 Overall, I'd say it was excellent for their first shot. This is considering the weather situation, how the staff went out on carts to get all to batten down the hatches BEFORE it hit, and the quick resolution found at the Sat rider's meeting as to how the schedule situation could be handled, and a general consensus taken as well. The 3rd calls when the pick up truck was still en-route was a little frustrating, but hey, as was stated when is it perfect. I love that track. The different wind factor was quite a fun variable to try and gauge going into T1.      or        I liked it. Even with sleep deprivation and heat stroke!        

[extrakt0r]

Hey Mike.....  was it on so tight that it might still be on your bike?
As of late Sunday night I heard that it hadn't been turned in yet.

No, I turned it in as I left the track  8)

[LMsports]

I agree that the weekend went very well for an inaugural event for this organization. Their staff pulled together well and made things happen that kept the machine rolling all weekend long.

I noticed most of the same little things that were previously mentioned. If the results are randomly posted as they were this weekend it made it very hard to check them and file a protest if needed. I would check back regularly and not find results posted, then when they were and I saw them there they were already final. I think tech needs to be a little more organized. A set place that is not a race pit with someone working the tech station all the time to take care of supersport tech requirements etc. I did like that it was next to my pit though when I had to get tools to take my bike apart for them! And finally as was mentioned before, and I'm sure will get more polished as they go is the calls to grid.

On a positive note, the announcing was better than at most CCS events and I think a good announcer does a lot to add interest for participants and spectators alike. We had quite a few customers, friends, and family out this weekend and it was nice that an announcer helped them follow along with what was happening on track. Hopefully as the series progresses and the announcer gets to know the racers better there will be some entertaining commentary to go with calling the action. Some of my favorite aspects of watching Moto GP and World SBK on TV is the commentary, those guys really enjoy the racing and it shows. 

The registration was the smoothest I've had all year.

[Burt Munro]

Mike Simone

I sent you a PM.

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

Something minor I thought could be changed is the grid sheets, I like to be able to see the NAMES of those on the grid along with their plate number. Unless you have everybodies plate number memorized you look at a grid sheet with a bunch of numbers on it and have little idea who you are racing against and where they are in relationship to you on the grid. Again, a very minor thing, but something I always liked about CCS grid sheets.

***The following is meant as an opinion and critique, not criticism***

As far as the announcing goes I somewhat disagree with the "entertaining commentary" as being a wanted addition. If the PA systems were set-up so the speakers near spectator areas broadcast the commentary, that would be great, but that's not the case at the majority of tracks. Instead what you have is the entire PA system broadcasting the announcements AND the commentary, this leads me personally to trying to 'tune out' the endless chatter while in the pits at SOME events - which also leads to not hearing calls for races occasionally. MAM has one of the worst PA systems, you are either getting blasted by one of the few speakers that are set to nose bleed level, or your not close enough to a speaker to hear the calls for anything (and yes the FM transmitter is REALLY cool). For me, when I'm at my pit, I only want to hear something from the PA when there's calls for races and such - the rest just gets annoying. I like to be at my pit with my freinds and be able to bench race, talk, or work on stuff without having to listen to every word coming out of the PA. I think what would be cool is to have the "commentary" broadcast on an FM transmitter or on a channel the scanners can pick-up, that way if you want to listen to it you can by choice, but it won't be annoying those that are not interested in listening to it AT THAT TIME.

This isn't aimed at the announcing at MAM this event, it's generalizations which I think would help make a more enjoyable experience/atmosphere at the track for all.

[PJ]

I'm with Mike on the commentary thing at MAM. While I agree, it's great to have a good announcer explaining what's happening on the track, it was so hard to hear in the MAM paddock that every time I heard the announcer say Ryan Hall, I thought he was saying 3rd Call! 

Congrats to the Track Addix team and the MAM safety crew. A fine job done by all. Yes, there will always be room for improvement (who among us has ridden the perfect race?) but it was a great overall effort. Keep it up.

[LMsports]

I can see your point, and it would definitely be nice to be able to have someone that announces over a seperate bandwidth that would be broadcast to the stands etc. The main reason for having more commentary though is to make the racing more entertaining for fans. The more entertaining it is, the more fans will attend. With more fans comes more sponsor support and cheaper racing for you and me. It has to start somewhere.