Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

While rain during this weekend’s AMA Superbike event at Virginia International Raceway, in Danville, Virginia, looks to be a certainty, according to weather forecasts for the area, remnants of Hurricane Ivan could cause serious problems for the event.

“Oh, yeah. I think we can count on some rain,” VIR spokesman John Gardner told Roadracingworld.com Tuesday. “According to the weather people, by the time it gets here it will be down to tropical depression size, so there won’t be that much wind. The question is going to be how much rain we get and how big the storm is and how much it will deteriorate once it gets over land.”

According to meteorologist Jeff Haniewich, in the Tuesday, September 14, online edition of the Danville Register Bee daily newspaper, “The current track from the National Hurriance Center has (Hurricane Ivan) making landfall Thursday morning near the Mobile (Alabama) or Biloxi (Mississippi) area and then coming towards southwest Virginia by Saturday. If this track comes true, then we should see lots of heavy rain, but there are still computer models that have the remnants pushing a little further west and that would take the torrential downpours towards Kentucky and Tennessee.”

Traditionally, hurricanes gradually lose their strength, dropping to “Tropical Storm,” “Tropical Depression” and finally thunderstorm strengths, according to measured wind speeds, after making landfall. These storms are still dangerous, however, producing extraordinary amounts of rain, which can cause flooding, the most dangerous part of a hurricane.

Tropical Storm Allison made landfall near Houston, Texas in 2001, skirted the Gulf Coast and traveled up the Eastern Seaboard, causing heavy flooding which killed 41 people over the 12-day life of the storm after it made landfall, according to the National Hurricane Center.

VIR is located within a few hundred yards of the Dan River, which, according to the National Weather Service’s Significant River Flood Outlook, is currently categorized in “occurring/imminent” flood status.

“We’re watching it close. Every weather report we get seems to be a little bit better. It has it arriving a little bit later and further west. But even so, you know how these things work,” said Gardner.

Asked if the track had any contingency plans, Gardner said, “I’m not sure. We have another race scheduled two weeks after that, a big race (VIR 400 Grand Am auto race), and I imagine the track is booked the weekend in between (CCS Regional event). I really don’t know. That’s between the track and the AMA. I haven’t been privy to any such conversations.”

Phone calls to VIR General Manager Cal Frye and AMA Pro Racing Superbike Series Manager Ron Barrick had not been returned at post time.

Of all of the racetracks on the AMA Superbike series, VIR is one of the most compatible with racing motorcycles in the rain. Heavy rain, however, could cause standing water in the corners too deep to ride through or visibility problems for riders and safety workers.