I was there!!!!! I'll give you the whole report.
Arrived with on and off rain on Friday which turned to steady rain all through the night and to about 10am on Saturday. Only one person doing tech. It was under a tent, but getting muddier and muddier as the morning when on. Still raining for the rider meeting. I thought Sandy was kidding when she said to be careful because the only flags they brought were yellow and green.
Rain stopped right before practice. Track was wet for practice sessions. Overcast but the track was drying out by race time.
Last race of the day was Sidecar Race 2. A sidecar lost the cap to it's oil tank (it was safety wired). Oil got all over the deck and passender, but not on track. Rig pulled onto the grass in front of the area where they removed the concrete wall all the end of the chicane. Instead of waiting for the pickup vehicle, the rig proceeded up a dirt bank and back to the pit area.
The driver was gone when the track manager came around and gave the passenger (my son) an earful about the dirt area the rig drove across having been recently seeded and demanded that he send the driver to see him.
Sunday morning was foggy, but clearing quickly. First thing in the morning, the track manager had the driver out seeding and raking the damaged area. At the rider meeting they asked for more volunteers to flag because they were short handed. Almost all the flaggers were inexperienced. The also moved sidecar 1 to race 2 because they are the last practice group and it would give them a chance to make any necessary changes before the race.
Practice sessions when fine. First race was masters/supermasters. It went off without a hitch. 2nd race was sidecars.
Sidecar race was about halfway done when the same rig lost it's oil containment bottle. It must have been pretty full and it left a large amount of oil on the track. None of the corner workers saw it or signaled that there was any problem. The rest of the sidecars rode through it and spread oil over the track. The sidecars tried to signal the corner workers but race went to completion. In addition to the large area covered with oil, there was a line of oil around most of the track. I suspect the rig continued to lose oil through it's hose and caused the line around the track.
There was oil left all over the race line.
The track only had a couple of push brooms and some sort of oil dry. The club asked that anyone had brooms please bring them. After a few hours, the decided to let us walk the track and decide if we felt safe continuing.
The oil crossed and stayed right in the race line. There was a definite lack of traction where they attempted to clean up. After much deliberation it was decided that it just too dangerous to continue.
They mentioned trying to make the 2nd Canaan event a 3 day event to make up the missed day.
A couple of things to take away:
People need to be responsible for running a safely prepped bike.
They only had one person for tech inspection. He was overwhelmed.
Need experienced or better instructed corner workers.
The track needs to have proper preparation and supplies.
I ended up 4th in 200GP and 3rd in Super Vintage 50. I was in contention for SV50 and thought I could pass my son on the off camber curve leading into the main straighaway. I was wrong and went onto the grass. Kept it up and made it back onto the track but lost around 3 seconds.
Arrived with on and off rain on Friday which turned to steady rain all through the night and to about 10am on Saturday. Only one person doing tech. It was under a tent, but getting muddier and muddier as the morning when on. Still raining for the rider meeting. I thought Sandy was kidding when she said to be careful because the only flags they brought were yellow and green.
Rain stopped right before practice. Track was wet for practice sessions. Overcast but the track was drying out by race time.
Last race of the day was Sidecar Race 2. A sidecar lost the cap to it's oil tank (it was safety wired). Oil got all over the deck and passender, but not on track. Rig pulled onto the grass in front of the area where they removed the concrete wall all the end of the chicane. Instead of waiting for the pickup vehicle, the rig proceeded up a dirt bank and back to the pit area.
The driver was gone when the track manager came around and gave the passenger (my son) an earful about the dirt area the rig drove across having been recently seeded and demanded that he send the driver to see him.
Sunday morning was foggy, but clearing quickly. First thing in the morning, the track manager had the driver out seeding and raking the damaged area. At the rider meeting they asked for more volunteers to flag because they were short handed. Almost all the flaggers were inexperienced. The also moved sidecar 1 to race 2 because they are the last practice group and it would give them a chance to make any necessary changes before the race.
Practice sessions when fine. First race was masters/supermasters. It went off without a hitch. 2nd race was sidecars.
Sidecar race was about halfway done when the same rig lost it's oil containment bottle. It must have been pretty full and it left a large amount of oil on the track. None of the corner workers saw it or signaled that there was any problem. The rest of the sidecars rode through it and spread oil over the track. The sidecars tried to signal the corner workers but race went to completion. In addition to the large area covered with oil, there was a line of oil around most of the track. I suspect the rig continued to lose oil through it's hose and caused the line around the track.
There was oil left all over the race line.
The track only had a couple of push brooms and some sort of oil dry. The club asked that anyone had brooms please bring them. After a few hours, the decided to let us walk the track and decide if we felt safe continuing.
The oil crossed and stayed right in the race line. There was a definite lack of traction where they attempted to clean up. After much deliberation it was decided that it just too dangerous to continue.
They mentioned trying to make the 2nd Canaan event a 3 day event to make up the missed day.
A couple of things to take away:
People need to be responsible for running a safely prepped bike.
They only had one person for tech inspection. He was overwhelmed.
Need experienced or better instructed corner workers.
The track needs to have proper preparation and supplies.
I ended up 4th in 200GP and 3rd in Super Vintage 50. I was in contention for SV50 and thought I could pass my son on the off camber curve leading into the main straighaway. I was wrong and went onto the grass. Kept it up and made it back onto the track but lost around 3 seconds.
