Tires are setting there waiting on final placement, that won't be their final spot I'm sure. Also not sure what config they may have been on. I don't believe all configs will be motorcycle usable, only a couple and I'll reserve final judgement until everything is in place.
Walt, on my local KY forum, works at NCM, and he says Motorcycles will be using the Grand Full course. That front straight is 2600 ft. And here is his comment.
There's a awful lot of concrete/steel barrier within sliding distance in some of those curves...I sure hope we will see some air fence on them.... I guess we'll find out in October, eh Trey?
Hard to say but some things to consider. The tires were on the pavement so obviously not where they go. There is a lot of little stakes that looked like sod holders that will be gone. A lot of areas have break pads rather than traps or runoff. It distorts the appearance of runoff IMO. The camera as always adds a TON of distortion as helmet cam lenses do. For instance watch on a straight and the runoff looks narrow but compare it to track width and it is larger than the impression it gives (is it enough :decision Personally I will trust people that have been there to evaluate more than a video. ALL tracks have some dodgy areas while some are like AMP . My impression is this one will be pretty good and with some air fence could be really nice (like the chicane, maybe) Also remember that distance only matters in the direction of crash vectors. for instance when you ran old 12 at Road Atlanta if you tucked the front at the top of the hill and were fast you could make the wall. However if you tucked it on exit you tend to run parallel to the wall so it mattered less. Anticipation is killing though isn't it op:
All that Armco has me worried that we have another Watkins Glen.:crutch: I hope SoB is correct that the video makes it look worse than it is.
It's not the tuck and slide I would be as worried about. It's having to stand the bike up at speed with no where to go.
Yep can't wait. Lot of great observations, and we will soon be able to give our hands-on opinions and updates. October can't get here soon enough.
Also look at the full course map. I can see three places that I would want to investigate or be careful. The first is the chicane on the straight near the interstate. I see no traps so what is the runoff and how 'straight' can you run through. The other is also a kink area. In the middle there looks to be a vary soft left followed by a very soft right, same as the other area for concern. Interesting the 3 turn in the middle which is also pretty gradual has a trap on the drawing. The final and probably the only one of concern (which could be fixed is the entry onto the straight. There is a cutout for runoff but a trap would be a nice addition there. Now I am not sure the status of the traps so some might not have been apparent in the video. However I have to give them credit as they did everything claimed so far AND on schedule. I cannot recall a track that has done this recently. Add in the fact Barber which I consider one of the safest in the south has made improvement from their base (notably moving a wall in #1). Road Atlanta which I still consider sketchy has also made changes over the years. TGP how safe is the drop in #1 and #2? Nashville how many rode that horror into the infield? So my point is give these guys a chance and I bet they shine. Will it be perfect? No. Will it be like AMP? No.
Damn it! What kind of an asshole designs a track with tons of great paved runoff but then decides that for the finish of the turn that leads on to the main straight, arguably the corner that has the biggest payoff for getting on the gas the soonest, needs a f@ckin WALL right there to kill you if it doesn't quite hook up the right way. (4:30 in the video). Turn 10 at Putnam is the same way. Stupid to the point of negligence. Was looking forward to riding it, but no longer.
Yep it is a horrible place all the northern folks need to stay away :getdown: Oh and borgnsr the video was not the entire track and somewhere somebody in officialdom remarked that not all configurations were bike friendly. But hey more pavement for me :rawk:
There will be plenty of bike gopro video after the first October weekend and everyone will have the winter to chew on it before STT does it in 2015!
STT will be running the "Grand Max" configuration... which eliminates the close wall while turning on to the front straight issue. A lot pf people (including myself) have been in communication with the track during it's construction and development. This includes people from multiple trackday orgs, racing orgs, as well as motorsports safety professionals. We have all weighed in with our concerns over time, and we are also all confident the track will be safe for motorcycle trackdays, as well as competition. The folks at NCM have been absolutely top notch to work with and are a highly professional bunch. I for one, am excited to go to this track. t