There's a surprise...

Well, to be fair, there are plenty of fans at Superbike Races who
don;t know who Yvon Du Hamel is, who Kenny Roberts is, who Eddie
Lawson or Mick Doohan, or Scott Russell, or Wayne Rainey, or Fredde
Spencer is. Many think that Freddie is just "some announcer."

Heck, I personally know rabid Formula One fans who don't know who
Ayrton Senna was (until I explained it to them). How long will be be
before someone who is totally keen on F1 will be asking "Michael Schu-
WHO???"

When I go to the local flat track (dirt) races up in Hagerstown, MD,
or Wincheser, VA, I don't know who ANY of the racers are. Know
what? I still have a GREAT, ENTERTAINING, time.

Maybe I'm just not discriminating enough!

Tim

 

Like, say, the Daytona 200. And I'm sure you can guess my feelings about
the TV coverage of that.

 

Precisely. It's an amateur series. Racers who race either because a)
they're up and coming to try and become professionals, or, b) racers who
race for the same reason guys play golf, because they find racing more
interesting than track days, but it's basically competing with
themselves. It's a hobby. I can go see that at Willow once a month.

If it's the only game in town, perhaps, but it's still amateur hour on 3
classes of bikes: slow, slower, and slowest.

I don't WANT to watch it on TV. The only reason I DO watch it on TV is
because I'm not independently wealthy and able to travel to all the
tracks. I want to see the bikes diving off the banking in to turn one at
Fontana, chirping, hopping, skipping, and jumping as the brake in to the
chicane at Sonoma, seeing them spit out from underneath the bridge as if
from nowhere over the rise and in to turn 2 at Laguna, only to shift
over and watch them drop several stories in the Corkscrew.

I have no problem following the sprint races. I enjoy being caught up in
the entire race from start to finish barely catching my breath. And, I
don't see that happening with an endurance race. I don't see it happen
with NASCAR races, Indy car races or anything else with pit stops and
pace cars. A sprint racer has the race on his shoulders. It's no longer
a team sport at that point. The team got him on the grid, now it's his
job to finish it.

I've seen enough racing to not be wowed by lean angle and wheelies. I
like the visceral aspects of the game as much as anybody, but that's not
why I'm there. I'm there to watch these guys to amazing things, and to
see them compete.

I appreciate team strategy, championship posturing, bike setup, tire
choices, etc. But the key component of motorcycle racing is the man in
the seat. Endurance racing lessens that mans input into the result. I'm
there to see Eric Bostrom or Mat Mladin or Ben Spies. I don't go for
Honda, Yamaha, or whatever.

I want them challenged, and challenging each other. I want them to push
the envelope on the bike, and the bike to push back, because that all
comes out on the track.


Regards,

Will Hartung