Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Syracuse Mile A No-Go The Syracuse Mile, round cwo of rhe I aMA ford Quali(y Checked Ftat Track Championship at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, New York, turned into a complete debacle on Saturday night. June 17, with various rea- sons causinS the race to be scrapped completely. OvemiSht rains moved through the area, leavin8 behind hiSh humidity. lnitially, this appeared to be a good thing, a5 rhe track seemed to come around. but the surface became inconsistert and slick. And it was made worse q/ the fact that they used magnesium chloride rnstead of calci- um chloride on the surface. What resulted was a tlack that was unsafe for racing. When the sun llnally went down, the rid- ers were hit with a double whammy: Most of the track was very dark, with tums one and three almost pitch black. The Syracuse lYile hcetrack is unique in tiat lhere is a cinder racetrack on the inside of the mile. The .inder rack is ele- vated approximately three to four feet, and this causes problems. \ryhen night fell, the few lights in use were shining from the inside out, creating dark shadows across the narrow, slick groove. The heats and semis were run. setting the field for the National. Poftable lithting was brought in, but by then the moisture was reappearing on the track. After sever- al aborted warm-up laps were attempted. it was decided that it was unsafe, and the National was scuttled. All qualilied riders were paid one point and paid accordint to like ice. We had nine guys fall down in the first turn, "When we did realize it,'' he continued, "we tried diluting i! as much as we could durinS the break [between qualirying and the heat races], ius( by dumping water on it. Once the humadity and moisture came out at ni8ht, it was just too slick, and corn- bined with the poor ligh(ing and dark spots, it creatd an unsafe si(uation for the riders. l'm not going to risk somebody s life. We talked about an option wirh rhe pTomoter to race tomorrow, and he felt that wasn'r good. He wouldn't be able to provide a crew to work. He also felt the fans wouldn't be able to come track," Althouth the situation disappoinled everyone involved, most felt it was the proper aall at the time. Harle),,-Davidson Motor Company/Screamin' Eatle's Kenny Coolbeth was the pole sifter, as he had posted lhe lastest heat-race performance. "lt sucks lor the fans - that's the thing l'm bummed out about.' said Coolbeth "We also have rhe safety issue: ir's so slip- pery Chris [Car] had problems with the lighting, and I have problems with the track beinS so slippery I don't know. lt was just a bad deal. lt sucks rhar i( has to end this way, but l'd rather walk out of here rhan wake up in a hospilal lomorrow k was sli.k everywhere, and it iusr happened just like that. Mostt the front end would iust 8o awa),. lt was,ust like ice, like somebody dropped oil on the track. The lighring was definitely poor. Down in turn three, the wall was blocking the whole groove. k was you've got people that wanr co see flat- track racing at its llnest. and unfortunateb/ it wasn't presenled at its linest tonitht. I could have lived with the racerrack. I had a problem with rhe lighring. Other guys had no problem with lhe lithtins and had a problem with the raaelmck. I know how hard my guys work !o prepare these bikes. I know how hard everybody in this pit area works to put on a presentable. profession- al show, not only with their trucks but also with rheir bikes. "You have a lot of young guys workinS hard !o make names for themselves." Carr continued. "Thq,, are punrnS their hearts and souls into this. I'm de€pry disappointed that the ligh(ing for this place was not checked prior !o thB race. I was here at I o'clock on Friday nitht. There wasn't a liSht turned on in the place - it was pitch- black dark, and frankly, wfien you are doing 125 mph, it wasn't lit up much ber- ter than lhat tonithr. I think it's disappoint- in8 that the last time thq/ had a night race here was 13 years ago, and nobody took the initiative to come her€ and make sure the lighting was up to standards. "The slickness was terting worse," he added. "The cars they took around were just a band-aid while they rned to reposi- tion some lighting tha! was insufficient to help. The longer you si!. rhe slicker it s tornt to ger. lfyou come out here ar mid- niSht or 2 o'clock in lhe morning, this thinS is Boing to be really slippery The lonSer we waited, the worse it was going to 8et. That's just the nature of them [track personnel] using the wrong chemi- cal. There's another i5sue. They ordered the wrong chemical and they put it on the racetrack. The people that put ir on prob- ably didn't know that it was the wrong chemrcal. We've had problems with that magnesium chloride in the past on other racetmcks thar have clay in them. This track is part clay and pan cinders, and magnesium chloride is not a conducive chemical for a safe motorcycle race- They should have known that before it tot put on the racetrack. The ll4DA almost made that mistake atrour five years 4go, and I brought it to their attentioh. They were having a hard time gettint calcium." D@e Hoenig "l think it's disappointing that the last time they had a night race here yyas 13 years ago, and nobody took the initiative to come here and make sure the lighting was uP to standards." -chriscarr their starting positions- "There were two serious issues that we had." said AMA flat-rrack series man- ager Bruce Bober. "One was lithtinS. The other issue was an excessively slippery racetmck. Some of the reason for the racetrack's slipperiness was that they inadvertently used maSnesium chloride instead of calcium chloride. Our experi- ence in the past, when they did that ar San Jose, was that it was so slippery that ir was jusr a shadow. and we couldn't see any- thing. I was fast qualifie[ but l'd rarher have won fair and square." \ryhen timed practice w?s over. it was defending Grand Natioml Champion Chris Carrwith fast time on his Qualiq/ Checked Cenified Pre-Owned Ford back€d Harley- Davidson on top. Carl then easily won the frst heat. "l'm very disappointed," said Carr. "Nobody wants to walk out on a race, but Suzuki Castrol Wins Zolder 6-Hour Suzuki Cestrol's Keichi Kjtagawa, Vincenr Philippe and l4atthieu Latrive won the Zolder 6-Hour round of the FIM World Endurance Championship in Belgium on June 18, rhe team's third race win in four 5tart5 this season. Suzuki Castrol beat Yamaha Austria, with Kawasaki Bolliger finishing third. Suzuki Castrol led from the start, chased by Kawasaki Bolliger. Kawasaki Diablo and Yamaha Endurance Moto38. Van Zon Honda made a poor start but quickly worked its way up to second place, and Yamaha Austria wes up to third before the first round of pit stops. The Yamaha Phase One team had been closing on Endurance MotolS until they ran off the track, droppinS back to l5th place. Yamaha Austria moved up to second place in lhe second hour, splittint Suzuki Casrrol and Van Zon Honda. Behind them, Yamaha Acropolis Zone Route 99 was challenging the Bolliger and Djablo Kawasakis, after Endurance Moto38 was forced to abandon the ra.e due to a broken tearbox. Disaster stnrck the Van Zon Honda in the third hout when a crash eventually ruled them out ofthe race. By mid-distance, Suzuki Fagersjo-el.se and Yamaha Phase One were both fight- ing for a place in the rop six. Acropolis Zone Rouge 99's clur.h failed in the fourth hour, dropping the team out of the race, and Kawasaki Diablo briefly moved up to third place before a highside ended the team's race. Suzuki Castrol and Yamaha Austria appeared to have settled into first and secoad place with a comfortable martin, but the battle for third, founh and tlfth amohg Kewasaki Bolliger, Suzuki Fagersio-el.se and Yamaha Phase One went to the end of the race. "l crashed last week in lapan, so I have been having prob- lems with my body," said Kitigawa. "lt was difilcult to race, but my teammates did a good job," CYCLE NEWS . JUNE 28, 2006 7 0l,flll \ I IEEI. The riders tolk with AltA dirt- rock moDoger Bruce Bobar ot thc oborted Syrocuse Mile. L U T 8r ,} i I I 7 ,t I ( I

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