Why the "safety" car needs to go from the Daytona 200

[Charlesbusa]

No other motorcycle race has a "safety" car, its a stupid Daytona thing that needs to be fixed or tossed away. The only fix I can think of is to keep track of rider's positions the way they do in Nascar. Right now they go back 2 laps to figure out the order and here's why its broke;

2006 winner Jake Zemke had a rough race in the 68th Daytona 200. Erion Honda's Zemke (and M4 Suzuki's Martin Cardenas) were front runners caught out by the red flag situation Friday night.

"The first pit stop went awesome and we were sitting in a pretty good position," said Zemke, who had a clutch issue early in the race but had adjusted his riding style to turn competitive lap times. "I know how this race works and we were trying to get to the last pit stop in good shape and then make a race of it. I was right with (Josh) Herrin and (Jason) DiSalvo before the caution came out and we know where they finished."

Before the last round of stops, the pace car entered the fray. Some riders pitted almost immediately. Zemke chose to wait until his "fuel window" opened up, but then the red flag came out before he could make his final stop in the 200 mile race.

When the AMA decided to go back a couple of laps to determine the running order after the red flag, other riders had their pit stops essentially disappear. They pitted for fuel and tires, but were returned to the front when the order was determined by the positions before they made their stops. Meanwhile, Zemke had yet to make his pit stop -- and 2009 regulations prevent servicing the bikes during the red flag.

"I was gridded fifth after the red flag, but I had to pit, unlike some of the other guys in front of me that already had stopped. So I ended up at the back," Zemke tod SuperbikePlanet.com.

His shot at winning the Daytona 200 for a second time was essentially over at that point. "If you look at most of the guys that finished in the top ten on the lap chart, there's only one "P" listed for them," said Jake. "I'm not trying take away anything from Ben (Bostrom) or any other riders because they did a great job and put on a good show. I think it's a bummer for Cardenas and me because it would have been good to maybe have a couple more guys up there, too."

Zemke lost out on some championship points, but it could have been worse. The AMA moved him back up to 11th after showing him a lap down in 22nd on Friday night.

Soup :: Zemke's Tale Of Daytona Woe :: 03-10-2009

 

[dadofthree]

Talk about getting the shaft ???

 

[shawnski]

how about safety motorcycle and i will be the pilot on my busa!

 

[Mellow77]

It was a goofy deal. On one of the yellow's they also waved by the first place rider and then had the waive the rest of the field past the pace car to correct it. It basically chewed up three laps of racing.

 

[afterhours]

but isn't this part of racing.....knowing the rules.

if he knew they would have gone back to the position 2 laps prior....why didn't they pit?

Russell did it years ago...the car came out and he started tellign the group he was with to speed up, basically making up almost a lap.....getting him back in the lead lap after a crash.

you gotta know the rules, do they allow radios?

 

[BA BUSA]

This time they worked against Jake, but they benefited someone else...

 

[Charlesbusa]

Yeah, except this is the only race with the funky "safety" car. Its not the racing norm

I think its better for the fans, riders, everybody to just have caution yellows and race stoppage for red flags. Maybe its because of the walls the use the "safety" car, but there are other tracks with walls as well and no "safety" car.

 

[wardie]

I was there in the pits and it looked like a NASCAR race. There was no less than 13 laps run under caution. The pace car came out mid way through the pack yellow lights flashing and actually waved the bikes to go past the pace car which anyone knows is a big no-no. Bostrom was told to make an entire lap ahead of the pack? All it did was make a madd dash to the finish which was crowd appealing but not fair to some.

All the bikes have a transponder which records their laps, speed and noise into the pits. ALL bikes have to come into the pits at a certain dB level and there's a limiter on the speed now too. Pit crews readiness was a key but Lady Luck also plays a huge role in who wins. Wardie