Flat Track Racing Mega Thread - INCLUDES SPOILERS!

[Map8]

Anyone going to the Night Before the Mile or the Sacramento Mile or the Amateur Mile? I'll be at the Sacramento Mile for sure and will try to make it to Lodi.

Weather looks fantastic with a high of 85 predicted for Saturday. Expecting a beautiful evening at Cal Expo.

 

[flying_hun]

The performance of Chad Cose' Suzuki last night was pretty impressive - at least to me. It seemed like that bike was really good at getting its power to the ground coming off the turns. Maybe that's what all the development time went into. Thoughts?

 

[firstbuell]

Anyone going to the Night Before the Mile or the Sacramento Mile or the Amateur Mile? I'll be at the Sacramento Mile for sure and will try to make it to Lodi.

Weather looks fantastic with a high of 85 predicted for Saturday. Expecting a beautiful evening at Cal Expo.

my bro, Eddie, has flown in from Indy & we’ll be there Fri & Sat + Sears Point MA on Sun

pls PM me for cell so we can text & gather

 

[firstbuell]

The performance of Chad Cose' Suzuki last night was pretty impressive - at least to me. It seemed like that bike was really good at getting its power to the ground coming off the turns. Maybe that's what all the development time went into. Thoughts?

his pal from Fremont, Bill Keys, said exactly that

 

[Lagwagonlead]

Anyone going to the Night Before the Mile or the Sacramento Mile or the Amateur Mile? I'll be at the Sacramento Mile for sure and will try to make it to Lodi.

Weather looks fantastic with a high of 85 predicted for Saturday. Expecting a beautiful evening at Cal Expo.

I have never followed or attended a flat track race, but I'd like to give it a try. Lodi is clearly cheaper and much closer to my house, but until just now I had never even heard of this venue. Am I better off attending the bigger Sacramento event or would Lodi provide just as much entertainment to someone who has never seen flat track racing before?

 

[Map8]

I have never followed or attended a flat track race, but I'd like to give it a try. Lodi is clearly cheaper and much closer to my house, but until just now I had never even heard of this venue. Am I better off attending the bigger Sacramento event or would Lodi provide just as much entertainment to someone who has never seen flat track racing before?

Lodi is fun but you can go there anytime. They have races nearly every weekend. The Friday night event has a large purse so it draws a big crowd which makes parking and leaving difficult as there is only a narrow residential street for access to the track. There will be a lot of classes and races which means lots of action but it can confusing for a first timer to understand all the class structures and who is racing when.

The Sacramento Mile is the only Northern California stop for American Flat Track this year. Its a really fun event with lots of action and plenty to do. You can see the whole track from one seating or standing location. AFT also places a jumbo video screen at start/finish to give fans an even better view of the action.

There will be three classes: AFT Singles (450cc Motocross-based), AFT Production Twins (production engines in custom chassis) and the premier class, AFT Twins (specially built race engines and heavily modified production engines in custom chassis). Each class has two semi-final races and one Main event. The Singles will have some heat races to determine who transfers to the Semi-finals.

There will be an hour break during the evening so fans can visit the paddock and meet riders and teams, get autographed posters and see the race bikes up close.

There is reserved seating and standing room only. I believe motorcycles get free parking. Cars are $10, IIRC. There are food stands and beverages sold at the track. Its not great food and its overpriced. There are several restaurants just a block away near Arden Fair Mall which offer much better dinner choices.

What to watch for: Drafting battles on each of the long straights, how incredibly late the top class Twins riders will shut off the throttle entering the turns as they pitch the bike sideways at over 100mph to set their speed for the turns.

Hope you can make it.

 

[Lagwagonlead]

Thanks for the reply, it sounds like a fun way to spend a Saturday evening!

 

[bikeama]

Got up at 5:00 am Sunday in Switzerland to watch the main. Got to see the end of the production twins and the mains.

Shyna from fifth on the white flag to first. Skills

 

[budman]

She was awesome fast last night.... that was a great race.

I fricking fell asleep before the Twins main rolled.. woke up to the podium ceremony.

 

[flying_hun]

Surely a great weekend for Shayna. Actually, a great few weeks for Shayna showing that when she and her machinery are on their game that she is a battler. That was my impression of her the first time I saw her race, and it continues to be her defining characteristic. In the words of the bard, "Though she is but little, she is fierce". That's Shayna.

Hard weekend for Jeffrey Carver Jr..

Also a disappointing weekend for Brandon Robinson. Binning at the end of the back straight in his heat, I was pleased to see him running in the semi, and transferring to the main. I can hardly imagine coming off a bike at 100+, going away in the ambulance, then getting back out to run.

Here's a question for those of you more savvy about FT than me. Brandon had a wicked headshake during the main. I've seen this before in FT (I'm thinking of Shayna's season on the Triumph). What I don't understand is why this seems sort of common. Are FT frames that flexy, or is something else causing it? Thoughts?

Mees was impressive. Again. Or should I say, still?

 

[Map8]

Got up at 5:00 am Sunday in Switzerland to watch the main. Got to see the end of the production twins and the mains.

Dedication.




Just a really good evening of perfect weather, great racing and a big, enthusiastic crowd at the Mile. Some highlights.

- Caught up with a bunch of people I hadn't seen in a while.
- Got to spend some time with flying_hun
- Crowd went crazy whenever Shayna made a pass and then completely exploded when she won the Main.
- Got to spend some time hanging out in Dalton Gauthier's pit and cheered extra loud for him all night. Thrilled to see him win the Production Twins Main.
- Watched most of the races from down by Turn 1 at the end of the paved apron under the grandstands. So awesome seeing how late and how hard they charge that turn.
- Watching Briar Bauman throw everything at Mees during those last few laps.
- Davis Fisher getting his first Twins class podium.


Gauthier's win the on the XG750 was a big hit with the fans. Dalton was definitely making that bike look better than it is. No one has made it go that fast. His lap times were mighty impressive with some fast laps comparable to the fast guys in the Twins class even though his XG is a lower state of tune.

Shayna Texter is the complete racer package. Personable, approachable, witty, great podium interview, excellent with the media and serious as a heart attack when the flag drops. And the fans absolutely love her.

Had to wait almost three months to see the Mile this year but it was more than worth it.

 

[budman]

Glad you had a great time.

 

[OldGuy]

What Map8 said. The singles main was killer... SO many lead changes. Shayna was definitely on her game.

Sat with Jim Rice for part of the night. I haven't been to a mile since San Jose (am I dating myself?), and I couldn't pinpoint what was different about the experience. Jim said, "Look at the turns. There's only one line, so you don't have riders two or three up like we used to." He added that if the promoters moved the tires out bit-by-bit during practice (like the "old days"), it'd make for a wider groove, and you'd see passing in the corners, not just on the straights.

Briar and Jared were miles ahead of the rest of the pack by the end of the twins main. I wasn't sure, but I thought I heard Briar bouncing off the rev limiter at the end of the straight, while Jared didn't. I pinged Dave Zanotti yesterday and asked him if he was a tooth too big on the rear, which would be very unlike him, because he calculates everything to the nth degree. He said Briar was having a lot of trouble shifting into 4th, so they geared it for him to run in 3rd, and the one less gear might have been a disadvantage. No excuses, though

 

[Map8]

Surely a great weekend for Shayna. Actually, a great few weeks for Shayna showing that when she and her machinery are on their game that she is a battler. That was my impression of her the first time I saw her race, and it continues to be her defining characteristic. In the words of the bard, "Though she is but little, she is fierce". That's Shayna.

Hard weekend for Jeffrey Carver Jr..

Also a disappointing weekend for Brandon Robinson. Binning at the end of the back straight in his heat, I was pleased to see him running in the semi, and transferring to the main. I can hardly imagine coming off a bike at 100+, going away in the ambulance, then getting back out to run.

Here's a question for those of you more savvy about FT than me. Brandon had a wicked headshake during the main. I've seen this before in FT (I'm thinking of Shayna's season on the Triumph). What I don't understand is why this seems sort of common. Are FT frames that flexy, or is something else causing it? Thoughts?

Mees was impressive. Again. Or should I say, still?

I wish I had an answer to this but I don't know for sure. The bikes run a very steep rake to stay nimble with that huge front wheel/tire combination. If you watch from really close to either straight on a Mile, you can see they all weave a bit so it must be knife-edge setup issue that separates a predictable bike from a "its-trying-to-kill-me" bike.

 

[flying_hun]

I wish I had an answer to this but I don't know for sure. The bikes run a very steep rake to stay nimble with that huge front wheel/tire combination. If you watch from really close to either straight on a Mile, you can see they all weave a bit so it must be knife-edge setup issue that separates a predictable bike from a "its-trying-to-kill-me" bike.

That seems plausible. I can quickly get out of my depth with motorcycle chassis dynamics, so I'll save my speculation for another time.

 

[Map8]

Peoria TT this Saturday!

Henry Wiles had a fracture in his left leg as a result of tight pass when battling with Sammy Halbert at the Black Hills Half Mile last week. After surgery this week, Wiles posted that his doctor has cleared him to race on Saturday but whether or not he races remains to be seen. Will his super human win streak be broken? If he doesn't race, does that break the streak. How can he lose a race he doesn't enter?

Without Wiles, who is the favorite? Mees? Bauman? Beach? Johnson? PJ Jacobsen is riding great and has made huge progress in the last two rounds so he could be the dark horse.

Jesse Janisch has won three of the last four TTs in the Singles class at Peoria. Janisch also won both the Daytona TT and Arizona TT this year but was out of contention at the Buffalo Chip. Gauthier finished second at Daytona, Arizona and the Buffalo Chip. Two-time Buffalo Chip TT winner Ryan Sipes is taking his first crack at Peoria so he has to be considered a favorite as well.

Its going to be an exciting day in Thunder Valley.


FREE live streaming on FansChoice.TV, Facebook and the AFT YouTube channel.




All times Pacific:

8:30am Twins Practice
8:50am Singles Practice

9:10 Qualifying sessions for both Twins and Singles

11:40am Singles Heats

12:15pm Singles Semis

12:40pm Twins Semis

1:20pm Singles Main Event

1:50pm Twins Main Event

 

[CDONA]

Steep rake to get that front tire to bite and steer, not push(understeer).
Add more steering angle before the stops, way more range of motion during a tank slapper.
Close to the edge of control.
My TW200 has this steep rake too, love the feel pitching it in. It will swap ends quickly when it lets go.

Fuji Park Flat track, Carson City, gearing up for practice this weekend 17-22, race following weekend.
As I'm living across the street from this, updates, pix, will be coming.

 

[CDONA]

About 4m today,

Standing water on track for a good soak.

 

[Map8]

Looking forward to the pics from Carson City.

 

[Map8]

The AFT website has a new post about how the jump at Peoria has been redesigned again this year to better accommodate the Twins. They've gone back to a single jump (rather that the two-stage from last year) and its lower but allows for more air time.