One day of each!! I like without, but the chicane is fun too!! New T12 that'll mean we're pitting inside??? Blah!!!!!! (And wish vote for old 12, new 12 sucks! Thats why I hate riding with the other guys -New T12/pitting in the hole).
All of these sections were great fun as part of the original layout, but they have been outgrown. Back in 1997, a full AMA superbike made 160 horsepower and couldn't put it to the ground effectively. That bike was not easily available to a novice or intermediate rider. Today, anyone can go out and buy a bike with 190 horsepower (and the tires and suspension to take advantage of it). As bikes, tires, and suspension evolve, so must the tracks.......nostalgia is great, but only when safety is not compromised. Again just my $.02......well maybe $.08:woot:[/QUOTE] THIS.
Here is a lap around Road Atlanta from 1970. The fences were almost on top of the track and there were plenty of places where you could end up in the trees. Not bikes, but a good view of what it once was. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3NhmB0PBY0
Damn T.. I had to drive all the way back there... But here is the Evidence... Now just cancel this Vote OK!!
Without getting all nostalgic and crap, no chicane. I long for the day when a track comes along that simulates the gravity cavity. Nothing else like it. Safety wise, chicane. For originality and tradition, no chicane. Does that count as two votes?
They ruined all the fun! Cars going airborne over the hill on the back straight or tumbling out of gravity cavity! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxpnqL8-0_w http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKYMueGWnGQ Here is a 1986 WERA race at RA. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEm4pmnpyZ8 Ben Spies crashing in the evil T4 chicane. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAgPKa4hgbs
Although i'm not going to get to be there with yall this time, i would vote for the chicane, both for saftey concerns and racer practice.Even though many track day riders may never race,i can see where being proud of watching an AMA race on tv or such with friends and saying "nah our track days dont run the same in that turn" would make my buddies have comments like " what,they neuter the track for you slow trackday riders ? " .lol a loving bunch they are ! Also , some of STT riders will race or do race and it was a real challenge recently for my first RACE there recently with wera,to get up to speed thru the chicane.Some of us racers proudly represent STT at the races and it would look a little better if we showed up at a track with enough practice of the RACE layout of the track to put on a good showing of how fast STT has made us lol.With that said nostalgia is one thing but saftey is another,and the chicane does reduce speed thru a dangerous area. for those that will miss the old track layout ,you can always use the line "you should have seen us in the old days"anyway have fun everyone and i will see yall sometime soon .
isn't the lack of curbing at exit of the chicane a safety concern? The 2x I've been there w/NESBA they ran no chicane. http://tracktalk.nesba.com/showthread.php?t=24726&page=2 their reasoning for not running it.
I say we have a throw down between Cantrell and Perrone Personally, I would strongly prefer no chicane, but I'll deal with whatever, however grudgingly
if you so much as get off a hair in that chicane you're gonna bite the dust!! there is ZERO curbing, and ZERO room for error. it would be like running up on a curb if you go offline there. I HATE IT!
Would you guys like some cheese with your w(h)ine?:cry: Marc..., don't you know who I am..imp:...Cantrell takes care of my light work..lol
Safety vs Flow......for a TRACKDAY? REALLY?!?!?? I also ran Road A with Gravity Cavity. Words will never be able to describe the sheer terror EVERYTIME down into Gravity Cavity! Then add rain into the mix, with a very prominent puddle at the bottom.....while being passed by Kurt hall/Michael Martin/Stevie Patterson/Dave Stanton/et al. I was even lucky enough to crash into the bridge abutment on riders left, on the fly, due to bike/mechanic error (me). Although I don't remember it (or the ambulance ride to track medical), witnesses said I took no mercy on any of the hay bales there. And that was on a Suzuki 400 Bandit! Yes I did race it and yes I did qualify for the GNF. Anyway, this being a TRACKDAY (or even if it was racing) there is no "flow" that is worth someone's life or limbs...for a TRACKDAY!!!!! I love Road A, especially the few lefthanders, and hate that 4 would be taken out of the mix, but doesn't everyone want to hug their wife/husband/kid/parent/grandparent/dog just one more time AFTER crashing going into the esses??? BTW, those pits in the hole suck also, but that suffering is worth the non suffering after a lowside into the wall on riders left coming out of old turn 12. Maybe the best (only) thing to come out of advanced aged, wiseness out-weighing bravado. Mr. Moto4Play
Maybe we could run the chicane on Saturday and if it becomes a "crashfest" like John Allen of Nesba seems to think, we could have the option to not run it on Sunday.
I've only run the new setup, but the chicane is fun to me. Not too many chances you get to flip your bike back and forth so quickly. It definitely adds more fun to the course for me for sure. You'll get your speed fix on the long straight-away, might as well enjoy some slow speed turns while you're at it. After first racing out there only a couple weeks ago, my little experience says that most of your crashes will be 6, 10, and 12...in that order.