The Ring and mad bikers
Discussion
as both a rider and driver at the ring, i love being on track with both, its one more thing that makes it unique. its awesome to follow a really fast bike and see the skill and balls involved, but i concede slow bikers are a serious pain in the ar$e. that said, that was me 4 years ago so i cant complain.
i dont see it changing because a) in my, admitedly limited, experience the vast majority of crashes dont involve a second party b) because its a public toll road, to lose this status would be disasterous imo.
i dont see it changing because a) in my, admitedly limited, experience the vast majority of crashes dont involve a second party b) because its a public toll road, to lose this status would be disasterous imo.
Agree with Francis here. As both a (former) rider and driver of the ring, I think the mix of both is sometimes very hazardous. As Flemke has indicated, the percieved lack of peripheral awareness from some bikes does make it frustrating (especially considering his fleet(!))
I would say that unless people haved ridden/raced bikes then they need to be aware of any potential bias they have in their responses.
Although the 'ring is a toll road, due to it's free for all approach, I think everyone should be fully aware of this when using the 'circuit'. If you want an 'uncluttered' lap, then stick to pure tracks, (or RMA days). I have seen a lot of car drivers become frustrated with the bikes, and subsequently drive right up their exhausts in the (mis) belief that this is the equivalent of driving behind someone on the road, i.e. get out of my way.
This is why I no longer ride on the ring (also since the sad death of Jorund - highlighting the vulnerability of bikes with respect to spilled antifreeze/oil, etc) - At least cars can spin and hit the armco and stand a good chance of the passenger cell remaining intact...
All this does is increase the *potential* of a MASSIVE accident if the bike slides or rolls off the throttle suddenly (for whatever reason) - the car driver could run the rider over. I suspect the car driver would be at fault under German law?
Anyway, to all the slow bikers out there, get out of the way!!
It would be helpful if the 'ring were able to allocate a 15/30 min slot say once a month where they ran a 'novice' session with only cars and another one purely for bikes. Not sure how they would police this though. Also not sure how much the lack of familiarisation makes people slow, or their lack of ability/courage generally?!
I would say that unless people haved ridden/raced bikes then they need to be aware of any potential bias they have in their responses.
Although the 'ring is a toll road, due to it's free for all approach, I think everyone should be fully aware of this when using the 'circuit'. If you want an 'uncluttered' lap, then stick to pure tracks, (or RMA days). I have seen a lot of car drivers become frustrated with the bikes, and subsequently drive right up their exhausts in the (mis) belief that this is the equivalent of driving behind someone on the road, i.e. get out of my way.
This is why I no longer ride on the ring (also since the sad death of Jorund - highlighting the vulnerability of bikes with respect to spilled antifreeze/oil, etc) - At least cars can spin and hit the armco and stand a good chance of the passenger cell remaining intact...
All this does is increase the *potential* of a MASSIVE accident if the bike slides or rolls off the throttle suddenly (for whatever reason) - the car driver could run the rider over. I suspect the car driver would be at fault under German law?
Anyway, to all the slow bikers out there, get out of the way!!
It would be helpful if the 'ring were able to allocate a 15/30 min slot say once a month where they ran a 'novice' session with only cars and another one purely for bikes. Not sure how they would police this though. Also not sure how much the lack of familiarisation makes people slow, or their lack of ability/courage generally?!
fergus said:
It would be helpful if the 'ring were able to allocate a 15/30 min slot say once a month where they ran a 'novice' session with only cars and another one purely for bikes. Not sure how they would police this though. Also not sure how much the lack of familiarisation makes people slow, or their lack of ability/courage generally?!
I agree with the sentiment - but the people who most need that session wouldn't attend! I would guess that so many of the accidents (or poor driving/riding) are among the unfamiliar - on a single visit. If that's the case then they're not going to fit in a training session.
Maybe the gatekeepers could actively (and proactively) hand out the safety brochures - I bet most people don't even know they exist!
Would be good if the excellent (volunteer) rolling marshalls could look out and help out even more than they do already, somehow - in a preventative role as well as an accident management role.
flemke said:Wish you hadn't posted that
lali said:
The bikes I'm fine with its the toursit who's 7 up in his Galaxy with a roof box that worries me!
Apparently there's a TopGear feature on the way this series with Sabine trying to beat JC's 10 minute time in a transit van!
She nearly did - **:**.
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