From a press release issued by Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca:

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is “Getting Wired”

More Than 8 Miles of Electrical and Phone Lines

Being Installed

Monterey, CA (May 1, 2002) – Eight miles of electrical, phone, television and data conduit is currently being installed as part of Phase IA of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca’s $15 million improvement project. These lines will carry power and phone service to hospitality suites and garages being built in the Paddock along pit lane.

The pre-cast concrete garages are currently being built in Antioch, California by Kie-Con, while Medford Construction is pre-fabricating the steel structures in their Bakersfield, California, yard for the new hospitality suites. The hospitality suites will sit atop ten, double car garages. Foundation work for the new garages and hospitality suites, which are part of Phase IA, is scheduled to begin next week.

Progress also continues on the sewer line that will carry waste away from the Paddock hospitality areas and restrooms. Paving over of the sewer line trenches in the Paddock should be finished this week. Work will begin next week with the extension of the sewer line down “B” Road. Construction crews previously bored under the track near turn 3 and under the perimeter road in order to run the sewer line to a new holding tank.

This is the latest in a continuing string of construction activity at Mazda Raceway since ground was broken on the project February 8. In its entirety, Phase I includes a new pit area, garages, hospitality suites, restrooms, and sewer system and is slated to cost $7.8 million.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Wall Moved Back In Turn Five, Track Surveillance System, Mini-ambulance; Plans For Revised Turn 11, Lighting System, Air Fence Bike

By David Swarts

Without fanfare or publicity, Road America has completed substantial safety improvements, with more in the works.

The biggest change seen during the April 25-28 CCS Regional at the Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin racetrack was a new closed-circuit TV surveillance system that offers a view of “about 95 percent” of the track from one seat in Race Control. The system was used throughout the CCS race weekend, starting with Thursday’s Team Hammer Advanced Riding School & Track Ride day.

“There are 16 cameras right now,” said George Bruggenthies, Road America President and General Manager. “We’ve positioned the cameras so that we have a continuous view of the track. Each corner has a stationary camera looking upstream and a pan/zoom/tilt-camera next to it that looks downstream. If we see something upstream, we can cover each of the areas with the moveable camera. So half of them are moveable. Actually, we have seven moveable cameras here.” There are two cameras in turn one, turn three, turn five, turn seven, the Carousel, turn 12 and turn 14; with single cameras in The Kink and on top of the control building at start/finish.

“It’s supported by a fiber-optics communications backbone that we installed last year. It (the fiber-optic network) has the capability to support a variety of other services, including a hard-line communications system with two channels (for cornerworkers).” Retail cost of the four-mile-long track’s system is about $2 million, but Bruggenthies said that through the track’s partners, the actual cost “wasn’t anywhere close to that, but it’s quite an investment. That’s why you don’t see it everywhere.”

Although there was only one crash on Thursday, the TV surveillance system was put through its paces during the remainder of the CCS race weekend when the weather turned very cold with rain, sleet and snow falling at various times.

Road America Safety Director Carson Wilkinson, working with with Race Control Director Bill Ritger, used the TV cameras to find and access on-track incidents and order the proper response by cornerworkers and track safety personnel.

The surveillance system was also used to dispatch security to handle crowd control situations and even by the CCS race staff to settle disputes in scoring and penalties.

The computerized system has the ability to record and play back, via computer hard drive, everything seen by every camera for up to 72 hours. Red flag crashes were played back to show who caused the incident, and the replays have been used as evidence to enforce disciplinary penalties.

“Our intent is to put in signal lighting at some point,” said Bruggenthies. “It would be at all of the flagging stations. We’re not trying to replace the cornerworkers. We still need the cornerworkers for communication and the eyes and ears on site, but it would provide safety for the cornerworkers rather than having them stand in harm’s way or even with their arm flagging.

“It would be a light, a multiple-colored light. So whether it was a yellow condition or a double-yellow condition or a red flag or whatever, it could be determined by lights that would be controlled here by race control by the operating steward. That’s already built into (the fiber-optic network). Plus the response, it would just help the cornerworkers a lot more. They’re out there trying to talk, holding the radio in one hand, flag in the other. This way we could take care of one of those tasks for them.

“(The fiber-optic network is) also for broadcast TV. The TV companies now have, essentially, plug-ins for their digital cameras, if they have digital cameras. So you can do HDTV broadcasts. Instead of dragging 8000 miles of cable here, you can just plug in. It also supports the P.A. system that goes around the facility. It’s got a lot of other capabilities that we’re still exploring.

“Nobody really sees that,” pointed out Bruggenthies, when asked about the way the track has quietly improved safety. “We’re constantly doing safety improvements. Here at (turn) five, we’ve provided some (extra) run-off. The wall (on riders’ right) used to be much closer to the track, and if you fell off the track here, a heavy passing zone, you’d be in the barrier. Now we’ve put in an asphalt recovering zone that you can recover and continue. It added a lot of safety that way.

“The wall was moved back considerably (a gradual improvement from the original wall to 40 feet further back), and it actually provides better spectating for the spectators (in the turn five grandstands). Now they can see over the barrier. It’s improved the viewing for the spectators and it’s improved safety for the riders and drivers. We’re doing stuff all the time.”

During the CCS race weekend, at least two racers lost the front end early in the braking zone for turn five and slid through the area where the old wall had been. Both racers still brushed the new wall at shallow angles, but both got up and walked away. Only one racer was transported to a local hospital all weekend, and that rider was released after 24 hours of observation for abdominal pain.

Another Road America safety improvement was the addition of a $30,000 “mini-ambulance”, built on to a modified Club Car golf cart chassis. “It’s a highly-mobile BLS (Basic Life Support),” said Bruggenthies. “So it has the same capability as an ambulance, but an ambulance weighs about 9000 pounds and has big dual wheels.”

According to Safety Director Wilkinson, the gas-engine-powered mini-ambulance’s chassis features raised ground clearance, increased suspension travel, aggressive all-terrain tires and a locking rear differential. “They (conventional ambulances) can’t get in a lot of areas,” added Bruggenthies. “This mobile ambulance is much more ambulatory. It can go up hills and get to the more rural parts of the facility or you can station it, right now we have it stationed at (turn) 11 (The Kink) and it can actually reach a potential patient right on the grass (without getting on the track surface). We can respond to an incident and do it in a safer manner that allows better safety for the continuing riders or drivers. We couldn’t do that with an ambulance. Plus you can get behind the barriers. It really makes sense for our terrain here.

“We’re constantly improving as we can afford things. We’re going to be adding a different configuration to turn 11 (The Kink) at some point in the future. Not taking away the existing configuration, but putting an option that would, essentially, make a left turn (before The Kink) and provide a chicane for 11. Some of the smaller club events, that turn’s a bit much for them. So we’re trying to provide an alternative road course for them at that point.

“They would turn left before The Kink and put a chicane in that would provide a straight entry for that. They would also have lost a lot of speed at that point with the chicane. So it would reduce their speed coming into (turn) 12. It would provide run-off, where as right now (The Kink is) a very tight, blind right turn. It’s a high-speed turn. CHAMP (CART) cars go through there at 190 mph, and I don’t know what the bikes are doing today. 130? 140?.

“Hopefully by next year, we’ll have Air Fence Bike product. We’re looking for sponsorship for the product right now. It’s an expensive product. I don’t think there’s any price for safety, but I think we’re a fairly safe course right now. We’ve got a lot of Air Fence out there and the haybales, but we would like to put more friendly products that don’t require quite the maintenance than these products that we’re currently using. The Air Fence, you’ve got to blow it up and some times it moves and some things like that. It works very well, but some time there’s a bit of down time when you have to repair or replace it. This other product would help us better stay on schedule.”

When asked why Road America, one of America’s premier road courses and the host of high-level auto racing events, like CART, would make pro-active safety improvements for motorcycles, Bruggenthies revealed, “I’m an avid motorcyclist myself. I was down at Bike Week. I just came back from a trip to Asheville, North Carolina, an eight-day trip where I put 2100 miles on my Ninja ZX-11 (equipped with hard saddlebags and a trunk). I enjoy it. It’s very athletic. It’s good for me.

“Deal’s Gap, Smokey Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains, the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway, I went up to Hot Springs and found some good roads along the way, 63 North of Asheville. I found a good map and a lot of good advice from guys who had been down there and just had a great time. I just went down there for the ride and the roads.”

Bruggenthies added that he owns two vintage Hondas and a Yamaha FZ600, in addition to his Ninja. Got your eye on any new bikes, George? “Well, Suzuki is our official motorcycle here. So I get the use of a nice Suzuki. Last year, we had a 750 GSX-R. This year I think they have a 600 model that’s a F1 replica or something. Yeah, we’re getting a Telefonica Movistar Suzuki Kenny Roberts replica. They’re a lot of fun. Sometimes, I pace the races with them.”

From a press release:

WORLD PREMIERE OF GURNEY ALLIGATOR MOTORCYCLE

Dan Gurney introduced his Alligator motorcycle at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles on April 24, 2002. Chassis No.1 is presented to Mr. Robert E. Petersen for permanent display at the museum.

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PRODUCTION OF “36 LIMITED EDITION” HAS BEGUN

It was a spectacular birth: Alligator Chassis No I cracked through an enormous Styrofoam egg to the delight of the press and many fans who gathered at the Petersen Museum on Wednesday night for a celebration. It was the first glimpse the public got of the finished Gurney ALLIGATOR motorcycle, an exclusive single cylinder niche bike for the street which has been developed over 2 decades.

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Production on a “36 LIMITED EDITION” has started. The number 36 is significant as it was the number that donned the Formula I Eagle which won the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, exactly 35 years ago, a first for an American built car and driver/constructor and an achievement that has not been duplicated yet. The first 36 Alligators will commemorate and feature the colors of the car that made F I history. With the Alligator motorcycles being designed and built in the very same facility as the F I car, Dan Gurney hopes to make history on an entirely different front.

This radically different looking motorcycle with its low center of gravity has been developed over 2 decades and has been called “revolutionary” and “representing a breakthrough” by many of the 89 riders that have logged countless test miles on the 5 prototypes preceding the final version. It is a feet-forward single cylinder (modified Honda air-cooled 650cc engine) with electric start and fuel injection delivering around 70 plus horsepower, weighing approx. 320 pounds with a top speed of approx. 140mph.

The Gurney ALLIGATOR has a look and riding feel unique and different from anything on the road. Unlike other motorcycles, the rider sits below the top of the tires with feet in a forward position. The fuel tank is mounted below the seat and behind the engine. Gurney originally moved in this design direction because he is tall and many bikes made him feel as if he were pitching forward when going downhill. The Alligator is this concept taken to its logical extreme. What works so well for tall people works equally well for people with shorter legs. They do not have any trouble getting on or off the bike, are no longer worried about falling over at a standstill and being closer to the ground, they feel much more comfortable and safe. This low CG concept has been developed and refined over the years into something quite extraordinary: a motorcycle with a confidence inspiring riding feel, obvious and significant aerodynamic benefits and most of all: a fun factor to match.

The ALLIGATOR name, which has been trademarked, came about because of the bike’s long, low appearance. The name was also chosen to reflect the American aspect of this intriguing machine, as the Alligator is a species of North America not found anywhere else in the world.

In the modern day world of design by computer, committee and consensus, this machine is the product of one man’s idea in the tradition of the great motormen of the past. “To go where no man has gone before ” has been a Gurney trademark in the motor racing world for four decades. With the introduction of this revolutionary exclusive motorcycle for the street, a new chapter has begun.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

2:00 p.m. FIM 250cc Grand Prix, Welkom, South Africa
3:00 p.m. FIM MotoGP, Welkom, South Africa
4:00 p.m. Motorcyclist

7:00 p.m. Bike Week
7:30 p.m. Motorcyclist
8:00 p.m. FIM World Suspersport, Kyalami, South Africa
9:00 p.m. FIM 125cc Grand Prix, Suzuka, Japan
10:00 p.m. AMA Formula Xtreme, Fontana, California
11:00 p.m. American Thunder
11:30 p.m. American Thunder
12:00 a.m. Bike Week
12:30 a.m. Motorcyclist
1:00 a.m. FIM World Suspersport, Kyalami, South Africa
2:00 a.m. FIM 125cc Grand Prix, Suzuka, Japan
3:00 a.m. AMA Formula Xtreme, Fontana, California

All times are Eastern Time.

From a press release from HMC Ducati:

Round three of the AMA Superbike Championship at Sears Point this weekend is the first of an almost uninterrupted series of back-to-back races right up until August 9 when the Championship ends in Virginia. After a four week race break, the teams begin a stint of races every two weeks – bar one round – for the remaining eight rounds. The HMC Ducati Team head to Sears Point confident of a good result after last round’s performance, when Doug Chandler finish just shy of the podium, and a successful test at Atlanta two weeks ago.

Sears Point Raceway has recently undergone remodeling, beginning with the resurfacing of a number of the higher speed corners, modifying the road circuit to eliminate the drag strip, fixing a water seepage problem and increasing the run-off areas in certain corners. The planned $50 million upgrade to the Californian raceway is still on-going and many of the discussed modifications will not be complete by the first of the double header races on Saturday, but Doug Chandler feels that what Sears has accomplished so far has greatly improved the safety and rider enjoyment of the racetrack.

The layout of the course is tight and twisty, featuring predominantly right hand corners with plenty of crests and elevation changes and varying degrees of negative and positive camber. It’s the left-hander called the Carousel that is going to keep riders and technicians on their toes. Not only is it the longest corner of the track, it’s the most difficult to master. But once you have worked it out, the rest of the track is smooth sailing. If the bike can handle the elevation change of the Carousel it should work well on most other corners and if the rider finds the right line, they’ve set themselves up to get on the throttle hard – probably the only chance they’ll have to open it fully.

Even though the repaved sections should improve lap times, it will cause a problem with bike set-up and tires. The varying differences between the new and older surfaces will require a well balanced bike and the ‘green’ asphalt will have sharp edges until a suitable amount of rubber is laid, by both cars and bikes, to smooth the surface. Since its repaving there have been race schools and NASCAR testing but from his time at Sears, the weekend after the Fontana race, Chandler felt it would cause additional tire wear.

To counteract these problems, HMC Ducati’s technicians will focus their attention on the forks and shock, opening up the valving and letting the oil flow more freely. Loosening the compression damping and opening the compression will make the bike work off rebound. This is a set-up they have already accomplished at the mid-April Atlanta test, under similar track conditions.

It’s hard to imagine that Sears Point is the first road-race track that Doug Chandler ever rode on. It’s a track he’s always been fond of and boasts some very good results at, but so far no win. This weekend may just change that.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

American Honda’s Nicky Hayden, the current AMA Superbike points leader, will be participating in an online chat session with fans tonight (Tuesday, April 30) at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time at www.rocketracing.com, the official website of Joe Rocket.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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This Suomy Gun Wind motorcycle helmet was donated by Gearbox International, the exclusive American importers of Suomy motorcycle helmets, to be auctioned off to benefit the Roadracingworld.com Action Fund. This Suomy helmet is a Ruben Xaus replica and has been autographed by Infostrada Ducati’s rising World Superbike star, Ruben Xaus.

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The helmet is in brand-new, never-worn condition and comes with a soft cover/carrying bag, a Fog City anti-fog face shield insert and the helmet’s original box. The helmet is labeled as “XL”, or Euro size 61-62, and appears to be the equivalent of a “Large” in U.S. sizing.

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The suggested retail price for a Suomy Gun Wind replica helmet is approximately $400. With the endless possibilities of 24-year-old Xaus’ racing career, the actual value of this helmet will only be determined by time. To place a bid on this helmet, go to the auction at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1825769039.

If you have an item or service you would like to donate for auction to benefit the Roadracingworld.com Action Fund, please call Roadracing World’s David Swarts at 909-245-6411 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday.

The Roadracingworld.com Action Fund is a non-profit corporation formed to take over the work of the informally-formed Roadracing World Air Fence* Fund, which was established in April 2001 to raise money to purchase and deploy Air Fence and Air Module soft barriers to protect crashed riders from hitting walls and other hard objects at racetracks. In less than one year, the Fund has raised over $180,000, with over $12,000 coming from the auctions of donated racing memorabilia such as this helmet. All of the money raised by the Fund is used to purchase and deploy Air Fence and Air Module soft barriers at racetracks. For more information about the Roadracingworld.com Action Fund, including a full accounting of the collections and disbursements and stories about racers being saved by soft barriers, go to the www.roadracingworld.com home page and click on the Air Fence link.

* Air Fence is a trademark of Airfence Safety Systems of Australia.

From a press release issued by Fuchs Kawasaki regarding the World Superbike race actually scheduled for May 12:

WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 5 – MONZA, ITALY
30 APRIL 2002 – RIDER ANNOUNCEMENT

ERIC BOSTROM TO SUBSTITUTE FOR INJURED IZUTSU AT MONZA

Reigning AMA Supersport 600 Champion, and AMA Superbike regular, Eric Bostrom has been drafted into the Kawasaki Racing Team for round five of the World Superbike Championship at Monza on March 5th (sic). The American will replace Fuchs Kawasaki’s regular rider, Hitoyasu Izutsu, who was injured in a qualifying crash at Sugo.

Bostrom, who made his 2002 World Superbike debut as a wild card entry at Sugo, will fly out to Europe to join the Kawasaki Racing Team early next week. Despite never having raced at Monza before, the American, known as ‘The Boss’ by fans back in the States, already has a game plan in mind for his second World Superbike appearance of the season.

‘I’m a little bit anxious about racing at Monza,’ commented Bostrom. ‘I feel that I need to kind of redeem myself over what happened at Sugo. I know I’m going to be a little behind the ball there, never having seen the track before, but I’ll go out initially and follow some of the more experienced guys, probably follow Ben for a bit. Once I know my way around, I’ll try and step it up on Saturday for Superpole and then race with the guys on Sunday. I know that the Kawasaki riders have gone well at the track in the past and I’d obviously like to keep up that tradition.’

For Izutsu, who fractured the radius bone in his left forearm after highsiding his Fuchs Kawasaki at the notorious chicane during the opening qualifying session at Sugo, the road back to full fitness is likely to be measured in months rather than weeks. The former Japanese Superbike Champion is undergoing treatment on his injured arm back home in Japan, but a date for his return to the world championship has yet to be set.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

First Person/Opinion: The Changes At Sears Point

By Ed Sorbo

(Editor’s note: Recent changes at Sears Point Raceway have proven controversial, with some racers saying that the track in Sonoma, California is safer than ever and others saying it’s worse. We sent AMA 250cc Grand Prix #6 Ed Sorbo to Sears Point to see for himself. His report follows.)

In 1996 Sears Point Raceway was bought by Speedway Motorsports Inc. After about 3-1/2 years of fighting the objections raised by neighbors and jumping through hoops for Government agencies, the track got all the various approvals and work was started on a $50 million improvement project.

Last year when I raced at Sears Point with the AMA, I liked the improvements that had been completed, which included increased run-off room for turns 1, 2, 5, 6, 8 and a new turn 11. The year before, turns 3A and 4 had received the same treatment.

In 2002, work was started on a much more ambitious level, and modifications are almost complete on every part of the track that was not touched in the previous two years, including the pits and paddock.

Roadracingworld.com sent me to Sears to check out the new changes and see about the concerns expressed after the AFM held a race April 13 and 14th.

I meet with John Cardinale of Sears Point, on Thursday, April 25th. The following are my observations:

The new front straight avoids using the VHT-coated dragstrip, is located to riders’ left of the dragstrip, is about 50 feet wide and has walls on both sides. By using the AMA turn 11 we will travel straight down the front straight between the walls, not approaching them at an angle on VHT, as in the past. The possibility exists for some congestion on the start, yet with the AMA staggered grid of four bikes across, there is 12-1/2 feet of room for each bike, leaving space between each bike to allow for a stalled bike, or other problem.

View of the front straight at Sears Point, showing walls separating drag strip from road course front straight.

View of turn one (foreground) and turn nine (background) at Sears Point.

T1 is the area of biggest concern. It is a faster turn, much more sweeping than the old AMA T1. The concern here is the old bridge that crosses the racetrack at the exit of T1. The bridge abutment on riders’ right is near the edge of the track. From the edge of the track there is about 20 feet of run-off that is level with the track and then the slope of a hill begins and about halfway up is the bridge abutment. You would have to run wide, staying on your wheels and continue up the slope to hit the abutment. A temporary wall seen in some photos of the turn will be removed for the AMA race and was not in place for the AFM race. We will need Air Fence in front of the abutment and perhaps a line of haybales in front of that to knock a bike and rider down so they go into the Air Fence and not over it. The level run-off will give riders some room to save it if they run wide but if they’re headed up the hill riders will want to get off the bike. My feeling when I first saw T1 was that I had to be smart here; I will have to wait till I get on track to see how scared I might be.

View of exit of turn one and bridge abutment.

Overview of turn one.

The wall on the outside of T2 appears to have been moved back 10 more feet, from where it had been moved last year. Either way there is a good amount of room there now.

View of turn two area.

View of turn seven area.

T7 is an area of concern, and there are walls everywhere. This area is used as the pits when work is being done on the track. A temporary wall in the middle will be removed for the AMA race, but that still leaves the end of a wall on drivers’ left of the NASCAR bridge. I can’t tell if it is in line with our braking zone, but it is a good ways away. A trailer with its wall will be there for the AMA race and will need Air Fence, and it would be much better if it could be moved.

View into esses.

Esses section.

The esses section has big improvements. On the left, the hillside has been moved back quite a bit all the way to T10 and the temporary walls will be moved back to the foot of the new hillside location. An area of particular improvement is T8A, to riders’ left. When the AFM raced here, there was a temporary cement wall about 50 feet off the edge of the track, in the middle of a big open field caused by the hillside being moved back. The old configuration had the hillside come to within a few feet of the track. The bridge across T9 has been replaced by a tunnel (both the front straight bridge and the T10 bridge are now gone), so the visibility has been increased in this area of the track. There is also a wall around the outside of T9, with haybales in front. This wall is temporary and will be moved back five to 10 feet, before the AMA weekend. Moving the wall will increase the visibility around T10, yet the wall is not being moved enough to give ample run-off room. The wall is in the same basic location as before and there was never adequate runoff for T9.

Esses section in foreground, turns four and five in background.

View of carousel in background, esses in foreground.

T10 has a slightly bigger radius, making the corner easier, with increased visibility, and faster. On the other hand, with increased speed, the run-off room–which has never been adequate–has been effectively decreased.

Using the AMA T11, there is nothing to worry about, as the run-off area is huge for falling down or braking concerns. The AFM used the old T11, which has no run-off, plus the fact that AFM uses a really tight chicane after T11, to control speed through T1. I think the AMA T11 is a lot better.

View of turn 10.

View of paddock area a huge new grandstand.

Now for the asphalt improvements: T1 has new asphalt, which actually starts at the beginning of the new front straight and continues through the finish of T1. New asphalt begins again, from the exit of T4 all the way through and up to the beginning of T6. This new asphalt ends past the crest of the hill, or very near the crest of the hill. I was not able to get on the track, as it was in use, so I cannot be exact as to where it ends. More new asphalt begins again underneath the bridge that crosses T6, which is about 3/4 of the way through the turn and continues all the way onto the straight. There was a big bump where you would merge back onto the front straight, from T11 and it looks like it is now gone. The last segment of new asphalt starts at the beginning of T9 and runs through T10.

Pits and Paddock: The predominant feature in the pits now is the huge new grandstand facing the new pits, front straight and drag strip. Underneath there are four new, large restrooms, two for men and two for women, as well as a souvenir and food concession. The old scoring building has been repainted and matches the new garages that were being built last year behind the old pit road. These garages feature windows that open into the cold pit road and offer a view of the track. The old food court is gone as is the hill that was behind it, replaced with flat asphalt pit space. There is more pit space now than there was last year. The vender area will be inside of T10, not in the paddock.

Still to come: The T1 and T6 bridges will be lengthened and the T1 bridge will be moved so that it will no longer be a concern. At the same time the water treatment pond on the outside of T6 will be moved off site, allowing more run off for T6. The Armco on rider’s right in T8A will be moved back giving more run off for T8 and a better line of sight in T8A. The tenant buildings across from the 76 gas pumps will be replaced with garages and a Medical Center. The whole track will get repaved this September.

Conclusion: Since Speedway Motorsports took over, the level of risk associated with racing at Sears Point has gone down by a large amount. That risk will be less next year after the remaining changes are completed. However, there will still be parts of the track that will be dangerous during the AMA National next weekend, namely, turns 9, 10 and old 11. The need for Air Fence will not go away.

I bet the pits were nasty for the AFM race, and crowded for the Vintage race the weekend before the AMA race. The pits will be larger this year than last for the AMA race and even larger next year.

Track safety is a tough issue. On one hand safety is the only thing that matters. On the other hand it costs money, and to get the money you need a profitable track. Where do you spend your limited funds first? If you spend it all on a safe track that no one can get to with no good places to spectate from, who will pay to see your show? If you make a track that is great for the fans, but dangerous for the racers, the racers will still race and you will make money from both. Many of us have raced at Sears for years back in the day when it was a death trap; and now that it is being improved we need to include a thank you in our criticism.

We have no formula that we can give to a track builder that prescribes how much room is needed for a given corner and speed. We give confusing signals to track owners by racing at dangerous places time and again, voting with our dollars for dangerous tracks. If we make it to the time when the turn one bridge moves without killing, maiming or badly hurting anyone we will be lucky, but if someone dies we will wish that moving the bridge was put higher on the list; and we will wonder why we raced when we could all see that it was dangerous.

On the other hand, racers have crashed, and will crash in places that have been improved, and they and their bikes were hurt less than they could have been.

The conclusion: It’s better, it looks like it will get better still, and we need to make it through 2002.