Jeff's hot...

[Jeff]

I think there's always more risk loosing traction on rough surfaces vs smoother ones.

Agreed.  But I would state that there's more risk of losing traction on a smoother surface with debris on it than there is of a clean rough surface.  Such was the case this weekend.

I couldn't make Friday or Saturday, myself, but my times on a very used race tire Sunday were fine.

If you could consistently put a wheel exactly where it needed to be in the race line of the corners, you would do fine.  Most people cannot do that.  Hell, most people can't do it within 12" of variance.

The top ULGP qualifying this weekend was all in the 12's.  Had the pavement not been replaced, I would bet they would have been low 11's or high 10's.

The track surface temperature was 140.  Should traction be the same at that temperature vs something that is a bit more regular?  Obviously, it's not going to be as good as it would be had the temperature been less.

I don't know that the track temp would have been significantly higher than any other summertime race.

Crashes?  Most are still caused by rider errors. 

Absolutely.  However, the variables a rider faces changed dramatically this weekend. 

If a rider leaves the track and throws debris all over the exit of that corner, you come through it, hit the debris and fall down is this your error?

A repave that isn't during the summer would require weeks and weeks of inactivity. 

When Blackhawk was repaved in 2002, it was done in November.  It was able to remain idle for months.

As for a good time?  Yeah, but what do you want? 

So if a repave not in the summer requires weeks of inactivity (during periods where events likely aren't even scheduled), how would a repave in the SUMMER with heat and constant traffic on the pavement be more acceptable?  I don't understand how that would work.

I was already working around the bumps and stuff as it was.  Most tracks seldom do fixes.  I'm sure that the bump that bent Jeff's wheel while ON the track at Autobahn is still there.  I'm uneasy about blaming work to make something better when there are some things that are ridiculous.

Sure.  We all work around things.  And perhaps it's just me being hyper-sensitive because now I have to adapt to a new change at a track I knew very well.  It set me back.  Consequently it frustrated me.  My question though remains one of was this the best thing to do?  I cannot say with certainty, but from my perspective, it was not.

Scheduling?  The staff and ownership of Blackhawk Farms set up two things to be done by a company very early in the year, March.  They didn't show up.  Track was shut down two other times this year.  Scheduling conflicts and weather caused those opportunities to be missed.

Polymer asphalts, which are used at Blackhawk, are not the same mixes used in parking lots, etc.  It's special stuff.  And a contractor that can properly put the stuff down is actually going to have other work too.

So does it make more sense to put it down when the track may become less safe and the pavement may end up in a far worse condition than it was before the repave?  Or would it make more sense to wait until there would be adequate time to cure so that the pavement did not rip up and accrue pavement debris on the racing surface?

I think it's funny that there's apparently no way to win.  It's bumpy, it's slick, it's everything. 

Just stating my opinion.  As mentioned, I don't own any tracks.  I understand the challenges they face in balancing safety/health of the track/customer service...