http://www.roadracingworld.com...22878

It ******* pisses me off that the AMA, track owners and the manufactures are so money hungry they they put countless other useless things before rider safety. Vincent was a star who was growing brighter by the day and now it might all be taken away from him due to some ******** who don't give a **** about rider safety.

Info about the RRW Action Fund can be found here for those who are interested or even want to donate a few bucks:
http://actionfund.roadracingworld.com

 

So basically instead of having soft, crash-friendly barriers, they were using the tirewalls as billboards? And now this rider is seriously injured because of it?

 

Yeah, i saw that race today on Speed Channel. It was scarey and nasty. In the end of the crash his bike hit him pretty hard. My prayers and hopes goes out to him and his family.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jlacoy82 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So basically instead of having soft, crash-friendly barriers, they were using the tirewalls as billboards? And now this rider is seriously injured because of it?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not as billboards.

Instead of installing the soft airfence barriers everywhere they just put it where riders are most likely to crash, not where riders can crash. It's even worse in the amateur series because they draw little to no fan attention and they need the tracks way more then the tracks need them. As Vincent proved this weekend there are still tire barriers that are installed in areas where a rider can strike them. THIS WAS FOR AN AMA EVENT! They are supposedly the greatest motorcycling organization in the United States and they can't even buck up to cover a ******* tire wall?

 

Air fence
Tire walls
AMA asshats

 

saw it in person and it was horrible. I've never seen the helicopter land directly on the track before.

everyone should follow that link and contribute to the Roadracing World Action Fund.

Unfortunately the wall was not uncovered due to a shortage of airfence, in fact they put out airfence in that section AFTER Vincent crashed.

You guys can send Vincent an email getwellvincent@gmail.com

He is reading these...

 

If you think gravel pits are your friend, you are sadly mistaken... they almost killed 3 time world champion Wayne Raney as he was on his way to winning his fourth title

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MSchu &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you think gravel pits are your friend, you are sadly mistaken... they almost killed 3 time world champion Wayne Raney as he was on his way to winning his fourth title </TD></TR></TABLE>

IIRC correctly the reason Rainey got kicked into a somersault is that the gravel had been groomed to have grooves in it which launched him when he hit it. As a result they don't do that anymore (see: Faster). However I will agree that having more runoff room is much better than having less and a gravel pit. Of the cars I've seen roll, all of them were the result of a car hitting a gravel pit while sideways.

I hope this leads to more support for the Airfence fund, as well as more track improvements. Unfortunately road racing as a whole is weak in the U.S. so there's not so much money to go around to improve things which leads to the track owners, AMA, and race promoters short changing the riders (and drivers) on safety. Ultimately I think the sanctioning bodies are the ones that are going to have to get tougher on safety. Most of the tracks are just not being proactive.

For example, look at Laguna. Those changes would not have gone through had FIM not been steadfast on their safety requirements. Of course the value of Moto GP is much greater than AMA SBK so in the end its still about money and the viability of the sport in the US.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MSchu &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you think gravel pits are your friend, you are sadly mistaken... they almost killed 3 time world champion Wayne Raney as he was on his way to winning his fourth title </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah but they did paralyze him which is probably just as bad. changed motorcycle racing forever, with the effect it had on Schwantz and others.

 

One of my friends works for his sponsor, this is what he emailed me:

I don't know if Vincent is going to be O.K. Or not. He had a
broken clavicle, punctured lung and some broken ribs that I'm sure will heal
fine. However the also suffered a shattered T6 vertebra. His spinal cord is
NOT severed. On Monday he underwent surgery to stabilize the T6 vertebra and
remove the bone splinters from the spinal cord. He still has no feeling or
movement from the mid chest down. At this point the doctors are not saying
too much about the future, so obviously we are all hoping for the best.
Vincent is only 31 and is really a super nice guy. Keep your fingers
crossed.

 

He's back in the hospital

http://www.roadracingworld.com...24214

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Haskovec Hospitalized With Serious Wound Infection
Oct 10, 2005

From a press release issued by Team M4 EMGO Suzuki:

Motorcycle racer Vincent Haskovec was admitted Friday to Long Beach Memorial Hospital in Long Beach, California with a serious infection in his back, at the site of the original surgery he underwent to insert two titanium rods and 10 screws in his spine.

Haskovec crashed during the AMA Formula Xtreme race at Infineon Raceway and suffered spinal injuries May 14; he originally underwent surgery May 16 in San Jose, California.

Haskovec is scheduled to undergo surgery Tuesday to address the problem, including removal of infected tissue and bone and possible replacement of removed bone with bone grafts.

If the hardware is also involved with the infection, the hardware will have to be removed and Haskovec will be facing several months in the hospital, basically starting over in terms of spinal stabilization.

"I was complaining about having seizures at night and a lot of pain," said Haskovec today. "I thought it was part of the deal, but in my therapy I was talking to some guys I was exercising with and they didn't have the problems. So I went to a wound doctor Friday and ended up in the hospital. It was shocking to me, I thought I was long enough in the hospital."

Haskovec lives in Lake Elsinore, California.

Well wishes can be directed to Haskovec at getwellvincent@gmail.com or c/o Team Hammer, Inc., Team M4 EMGO Suzuki, PO Box 183, Wildomar, CA 92595-0183</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

When people support, gather, and frenzy over races held at the Isle of Man, does that feed fuel to the fire? That's why I don't condone that race. It's awesome what they do but I can't condone it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ScareyH22A &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">When people support, gather, and frenzy over races held at the Isle of Man, does that feed fuel to the fire? That's why I don't condone that race. It's awesome what they do but I can't condone it. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I think that's an entirely different beast all together. The riders know that there are little if any safety precautions taken and they agree to that. Some of them even ride the Isle because of that.

In Vincent's case it's just simply a matter of tracks and the organizations that run the events not caring enough about safety. But that is also a fine line to walk.

Some new tracks are so safety conscious they make the track as easy to ride as possible. This leads to boring tracks and boring racing, the riders and the fans want heart pumping racing where you can actually feel the danger. That's what good tracks are and that's what gives them character. A tough grit it out fast corner where you can pass close on the inside at over a 100mph. The ones where you clamp down your teeth and just let it all hang, ***** to the wall make it stick or crash passes. But when the time comes that they do crash, it shouldn't be into a tire wall. You can make an interesting, fun, dangerous track all while leaving the Armco, jersey barriers and tire walls at home.

 

So how much do the airfences cost? Maybe someone can pitch the idea of "Adopt-A-Track" to companies/corporations or even famous celebs/athletes/racers to advertise etc.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ScareyH22A &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So how much do the airfences cost? Maybe someone can pitch the idea of "Adopt-A-Track" to companies/corporations or even famous celebs/athletes/racers to advertise etc.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I just read on RRW.com that a section costs $2900, that was from the first article ever written about it and I know that there are other kinds now and the prices may have changed so I'm not sure how current or correct that is.

 

My brother's bike actually hit some this weekend at Pocono instead of the guard rail behind it. Only damage was a bent frame slider, left clip on, and some rashed face fairings. He would have been able to keep riding if he had a spare helmet, his bike fired right up. They inflated the bag back up with a leaf blower and he has $200 in repairs instead of a totaled bike. if he would have low sided 5 feet earlier he would have also hit the bag and I'd be thanking them for possibly saving his life instead of his bike.

The real solution is for the tracks themselves to stop charging a "haybale" fee to the motorcycle orgs that rent them for the day. They should purchase all the necessary air fence needed and then charge each group that rents the track an fee to pay off the purchase of the sections needed. Once that's done if a section is damaged then the org that rented the track for that day is billed and they can handle how they wish to charge either the individual rider or the entire group the amount necessary to fix it.

 

This came out on SOUP yesterday:

Here is a press release from Vincent's team:

Haskovec Hospitalized With Serious Wound Infection

Motorcycle racer Vincent Haskovec was admitted Friday to Long Beach Memorial Hospital in Long Beach, California with a serious infection in his back, at the site of the original surgery he underwent to insert two titanium rods and 10 screws in his spine.

Haskovec crashed during the AMA Formula Xtreme race at Infineon Raceway and suffered spinal injuries May 14; he originally underwent surgery May 16 in San Jose, California.

Haskovec is scheduled to undergo surgery Tuesday to address the problem, including removal of infected tissue and bone and possible placement of removed bone with bone grafts.

If the hardware is also involved with the infection, the hardware will have to be removed and Haskovec will be facing several months in the hospital, basically starting over in terms of spinal stabilization.

"I was complaining about having seizures at night and a lot of pain," said Haskovec today. "I thought it was part of the deal, but in my therapy I was talking to some guys I was exercising with and they didn't have the problems. So I went to a wound doctor Friday and ended up in the hospital. It was shocking to me, I thought I was long enough in the hospital."

Haskovec lives in Lake Elsinore, California.

Well wishes can be directed to Haskovec at getwellvincent@gmail.com or c/o Team Hammer, Inc., Team M4 EMGO Suzuki, PO Box 183, Wildomar, CA 92595-0183.


Here is the direct link:

http://www.superbikeplanet.com...a.htm

 

This is seriously really sad, I can't imagine being in the prime of your career, and having everything taken away because of a money hungry organization.

How many people crash each race in Moto GP? But you don't hear of cases like this because they take the necessary precautions.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RebornGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">http://www.roadracingworld.com...22878</TD></TR></TABLE>

It is no coincidence that the AMA is considered second rate amongst riders.