Never say that roadracingworld.com won’t try to correct a factual error, as in this case, when OMRRA’s Jeff Lind says we were full of (what Mat Mladin said at Loudon) when we reported on the track being oiled by an OMRRA local without an oil-catching bellypan, and webmaster Sam Fleming crashing in that oil at Portland. It actually was a local, but he was riding an AMA-legal Buell fitted with a bellypan, through which he had ground a hole. Jeff’s report follows:
“I learned of the oiling incident involving AMA Buell Pro Thunder racer Willie Jordan and AOD rider Sam Fleming from racer Briggs Willoughby and racer/OMRRA Vice President Bill Cismar. Below are their comments (speaking of Willie Jordan):
“Quoting Briggs – ‘This came from Willie. Call him up, he’s the service manager at Latus. But, he told me yesterday that on Friday he oiled himself, and almost crashed, and then the AOD bike went down in his oil. He said he had a bellypan, but had ground a hole in it.’
“Quoting Bill – ‘It was Willie. He came to me after the incident concerned that I, standing there in my OMRRA OFFICIAL shirt, was coming to see him to tell him he was done racing for the weekend. There were other red-flag incidents related to oil, but this specific incident, resulting in the AOD bike crashing, was Willie on an AMA-prepared Buell.”
“I would also like to correct another part of the Roadracingworld.com post that stated that ‘There are, however, several sections of Air Fence, owned by the racetrack, deployed for the event.’
“In actuality, the sections of Air Fence at the Portland race event(s) are not owned by the racetrack (PIR) but instead provided by OMRRA who rents them from an outside vender for all OMRRA motorcycle racing events.
“We (OMRRA) appreciate the press coverage, but feel the above details more accurately describe the facts of the reported matter.
“Other than the Friday practice oilings, the Saturday WERA 6-hour and Sunday combined OMRRA/WERA/AMA Pro Thunder sprint races went off beautifully and finished ahead of schedule. This is no small feat giving that normal OMRRA race Sundays are jam-packed with classes, then combine them with the WERA classes and visiting riders and throw in an AMA class as well. It’s a testament to the great volunteers who keep OMRRA running.
“Jeff Lind
“OMRRA Secretary, Board of Directors”
The Air Fence referred to is actually Kurt Sager’s Air Bale, which he rents to West Coast racetracks.
We still think every bike on every track should have a fluid-catching bellypan, AMA Pro Racing’s finest innovation, though.