Spoiler: Mladin wins Fontana Race 1

(I'm going to Hell... ;-) )

We went to Fontana, as we're wont to do. The weather was really quite
good, a bit cool, and a little windy, but overall not too bad.

We got there a bit late, didn't seem like a lot of sense to get there early.

The event was smaller than it's been before -- a definite lower turnout.
This can be because of all sorts of things (economy, it's a Saturday,
upset fans). I know one person who was certainly not there. Can't give
numbers, just that the parking lot was emptier, and the crowds were just
thinner overall.

The vendor area was small, and not a lot there. Basically some of the
manufacturers and bunch of T-Shirt places. Noticeably missing were Honda
and Yamaha. Kawi, Suzuki, Buell, Ducati and Aprilla were there.

We saw 2 1/4 races: ASB, DSB and the start of the SS race at the end,
that was moved up from being scheduled on Sunday. Sunday is forecast to
have 50% chance of rain, so moving up the SS race I think was a smart
move for all involved.

ASB was a good race, save for the very start. First lap, Turn 3/4
chicane, Larry Pegram lost his bike hard and we were hit with an
immediate red flag. He was later up and there was chat of him possibly
restarting from the back on the restart, but he never made it back.

The most notable effect of the restart was a) the race was reduced 2
laps to 19, and b) Tommy Hayden got a better start.

As I said the race was a good race, but it was overall eerily familiar.

Hayden and Mladin fighting it out for the win, a gap, Yates in 3rd, a
gap, Geoff May, a gap, and then the Honda and Yamahas fighting it out
for 5th. Same as the old boss.

Tommy got the hole shot, but was soon passed by Mladin. He led for a
couple of laps until Tommy drafted past him in to turn 1.

Tommy held on for several laps, sometimes gaining, sometimes losing. Mat
eventually passed him, only to be draft passed again. Finally, Mladin
took Tommy under breaking at the end of the back straight on the final
lap and took the checkered flag (waving far above the track). It took me
by surprise because it was the 19th lap, and I was expecting 2 more
(they dropped 2 due to the red flag). I can easily see that if Mladin
actually had passed Tommy with 2 to go, Tommy would have had a chance to
get back. I have to assume Mat knew he was on the last lap when he
passed Tommy and wasn't surprised by the checker as I was.

The race between Mat and Tommy was great from start to end.

Yates had a solid, lonely, third most of the race until he slid out in
the turn 5 horseshoe (a favorite of his) late in the race, giving the
last spot on the podium to Geoff May. The crowd and May were pretty
damned excited to see him there.

The rest of the action I was paying attention too was the mixup with
Holden and the 2 Yamahas, which basically stuck together in 5-8th for
the entire race. There was a bit of passing back and forth, with all 3
of them leading their pack at one time, but finally I think it ended up
Bostrom, Holden, and Hayes. These guys were never in the hunt for the lead.

I was quite surprised by the times Mat put down in qualifying. When I
saw the times posted, I thought it was a typo. I couldn't believe he was
1.3s faster than Yates. I thought they screwed up the 24 for a 23.

These times were impressive because they were similar to his Superbike
times last year. The rest of the field was a bit off from last year, as
was expected, but not Mats times. I don't know if he got anywhere close
to those times during the race, and he certainly wasn't dominant over
his teammate Tommy.

With Suzukis at the front and the rest scrambling for 5th, at a glance
the race looked like it did last year, save for the finish. The program
has a great shot of the finish line from last year. Damn, that was
close. I will say that the grid was bigger, definitely more bikes, which
basically provided more traffic opportunities. Traffic definitely helped
Mladin here, but I don't think it was game changing.

After the ASB race, I would say there was a noticeable surge of people
that left the track. 10-15% maybe. Just up and left and didn't wait for DSB.

The DSB was a good race, a classic SuperSport style race. Well, there
was one off detail.

I didn't care for the rolling start, and they were "5 wide" in to turn
1, and 2 bikes in the back of the pack went down. Still trying to figure
out the benefit here.

The field was huge. Bigger than SS was last year, tho I can't say by how
many. I may have been confused since they run in twos on the rolling
start rather than 4, so it looked like more bikes that perhaps there
were. It all turned in to a blur of a parade nonetheless.

The detail that separated this race from a typical Supersport race was
Danny Eslick and his Buell. He got the hole shot, and never looked back.
I don't think I've ever seen that kind of dominant lead in Supersport.
I've seen that kind of lead in FX, but it was typically the two Hondas
or Yamahas.

Everyone was excited for Eslicks win, as they should be, but the
dominance at this track of the Buell over the 4's is notable.

Other than Eslick the 2-6 crowd were Cartenas (hope I have that right),
DiSalvo, Hacking, Zemke, and Herrin trailing.

This group was a pretty classic SSport race we're used to in the past. I
believe they finished Cartenas, Hacking, DiSalvo, Zemke. Good ride by
Cartenas.

The rest of the field was a blur, I don't know who else was in there.
The other Buell didn't do anywhere near as well as Eslicks.

Eslicks victory margin would have been greater, save that he pulled a
wheelie from the start of the front straight all the way across the
line, so that cost him some time. It's allright, it looked great, and he
had time to burn.

We'll see how he does in Hotlanta, but it would not surprise me to see
them penalize the Buell.

The SuperSport race consisted of 7 kids on 600s. We watched the start,
saw one guy take off, the rest settle and not move for 3 laps, and left.
I don't think they ever changed. I don't know what this series is doing
at the national level. It's great the kids are there and can play and
that they're getting track time, but they can be getting that in DSB
with these bike (they qualified < 3 secs off of the leader in DSB, so
these bikes could "qualify" for that grid, I dunno if the riders are
actually allowed tho), or even ST/GT/whatever it is.

Obviously, the crowd vanished after DSB and before the SuperSport race.
The place was abandoned.

Overall, the event ran smoothly. I think it was smart for them to move
up the SS race to Sat with the good chance that nothing will happen
tomorrow. I enjoyed the ASB race, good solid race, I wish Pegram had a
chance to play.

I didn't care for the Program, of all things. There were no riders
lists, and everything from last year was phrased in terms of this year
(Spies winning "American Superbike" last year, and the rest in "DSB").
It was basically blurbage about the rule changes and class changes. I
must say, tho, the finish line photo from last year was very good.

Tomorrow, we're not going back, hadn't planned too, stuff to do here.
The weather I think will have a lot to say about what happens tomorrow.
If things stay as they are, Mat has a fight on his hands with Tommy
Hayden, other than that I don't see much difference than from last year.

The fact that Mat and Tommy are doing this on last years bike doesn't
make things look too good for the rest of the field when they get the
'09s prepped and running.

I don't care for the propaganda being slipped in the commentary. Again,
they were rallying around all the manufacturers, but this was in DSB,
and it was just the Japanese bikes and the lone, rogue Buell. Looks like
last year to me here too.

I also didn't enjoy the fact that the races are shorter. I think the
parts that separate the wheat from the chaff in racing are when
exhausted riders are trying to make nick of time moves on snotty tires
with no fuel in the tank. I don't know why they knocked the race down to
21 laps vs 28. I also don't understand why they penalize the race 2 laps
for red flags. Maybe if they were trying to hit some TV window, but
that's obviously not the case. Also, the ASB race started at 2:30, and
DSB started at 4. That's a lot of wiggle room for a normally 30m race. I
can see them perhaps wanting the discretion to reduce the race time for
scheduling in case of a red flag, but there was clearly no need for that
today.

It's a tough year because of the economy. I don't plan on hitting any
more races this year, I don't even know what I'll watch on the telly
since I'll already know the results (just impossible not to). It was
interesting that there was a very nice, printed sign that the Satellite
TV feed would not be available to folks at the track (I guess they're
normally available, perhaps to the crews, etc.), but a notice to "catch
the action" next week on Speeds show. It will be interesting to see if
"the week after" will be a single hour or two, depending on if they race
at all tomorrow, and whether they plan on showing all 5 races during the
broadcast if they do go off.

Overall, it was a good time, but very confusing with all the changes,
and number changes and team changes, etc. Hard to get excited about DSB
this year, more interested in ASB.

Depending on what happens the rest of this year, and in the off season,
I will likely go next year as well.

Regards,

Will Hartung

 

Yes, I think you probably are! But then with no live TV, a week delayed
in the US and nothing anywhere else, it clearly doesn't matter.

 

Yes, precisely. Just having a little fun with the group. Meeting the
"letter of the law", if not the spirit!

Regards,

Will Hartung

 

Yea, I would like to think this is the case. To be honest, I want Mat to
win this year just to rub their noses in the fiasco that was last year.
But I think Tommy should be able to take some wins as well and come out
to be the man to beat next year.

Mat is obviously still bitter if you read that interview snippet from
the post qualifying interview yesterday.

I was surprised this year because Tommy is wearing all black leathers.
They were talking all about Tommy have the lead and then being passed,
and I was watching the track and saw someone on a Suzuki farther back
with some real color on his leathers, and I thought hey had made a
mistake and the Blake Young had manage to get the hole shot etc. But, I
guess Young is wearing the pretty colors this year.

I think it's simply that ASB is the only liter class in the game. I
don't know if the ASB qualification margin is the same or more generous
than last year, but I don't see why last years SuperStock bike can't
qualify for this grid, and they simply have nowhere else to go.

I wasn't able to compare the times to last year, I would imagine they
would be comparable, they're the same tires at least. As I said, I
thought it was surprising the Mats times were as good as they were
compared to last year, especially since Fontana is an HP track and
comparing the bikes from this year to last. Of course, everyone else was
a bit off.

Yea, it really is.

Is there a Ducati that can run DSB? I thought the 848s were out.

I don't know why Eslicks Buell did so much better than the other two,
unless its simply all Danny there.

Then, what, DSB is going to turn in to 750 Superstock? Everyone on the
same thing? Buell Cup? Whee!

Bringing club racing to the national level.

The comment from Pegram at Daytona, who we didn't get to see run here,
having his full factory prepped bike with all the bells and whistles etc
already being done, and he still wasn't running up there at the front
speaks volumes.

If they're true to their word, they will tweak something somewhere,
probably after another couple races. If they're honest, they'll tweak
the Buell as well. What they do, either way, will also speak volumes.

Well, they are "co-headlining" as they said in the program. ASB is
underserved with a short race, basically. I think originally Supersport
was shorter both for the tires sake, as well as the riders sake as
neither was expected to be the top drawer uberest bestest at what they
do. Having a shorter race levels the playing field on rider preparation
and with the tires, especially today, basically being in their "sweet spot".

I made a big stink to Ulrich on RRW about his headlines, and he gave me
a call back (though I wasn't there). He literally wants headlines like
"Mladin wins", but he's sensitive enough to not do them, even tho I
think ANY information is too much. I whined that knowing how close the
two racers finished (this was Phillip Island between Neukirchner and
Haga), tells you that when Max bobbled, it wasn't as disasterous as it
could have been. Green, the announcer, was bellowing "He's done for,
it's over!". If he knew that eventually there would be a close finish,
it would be pretty clear that it wasn't "over".

John overruled me on that, and I basically agree, it is a bit nit picky
on my part, but racing is filled with moments such as those, and I know
that's part of the entertainment value I get out it, not knowing what's
going to happen at any one corner.

But it's simply impossible to not find out the results of a given meet
when the broadcast is as horribly delayed as the AMA broadcasts will be.
So, I don't know how much of it I'll watch at all. Get more timely
coverage in the monthly print RRW than the TV.

I think that's a big mistake. I know the GP has the volume, but Miller
last year was (and Laguna years before) the top event on the calender.
If you were to go to only ONE race last year, IMHO, Miller was the place
to be. With Ben Spies in the series, Miller will be even bigger. And the
AMA won't be there. All we'll have is questions wondering WTF.

Man, I hope nothing comes of that. I don't know what they're thinking
out there. I noticed (haven't checked recently) that Mat either didn't
run, or wasn't in the top 11 of the morning ASB warmup. I'm guessing he
didn't run.

As for being "same as it ever was", it just goes back to my basic
disgust that these guys are supposed to have some clue about how this
game works. DMG is supposed to have some experience in the matter and
be, at least, astute observers. But NASCAR is a hardware dominated
series. Not saying drivers have no input or affect, because I believe
they do. But hardware has more effect than the organic nature of road
racing. It's a combination of Mat, Tommy, Yates and Suzuki putting them
up there. I think if Hodgson had been on the Honda, it would have had a
better showing than it did. But, at the same time, I think the Yamahas
are (still) holding their riders back.

Unless they want to go "race of champions" shenanigans, I don't see a
lot of change, though I do hope Hodgson and Erion can develop that bike
a bit farther and hopefully get some podiums this year.

From a pragmatic point of view, Fontana is 45m away, and it's simply no
big deal for us to go, no grand event. The ASB race was a blast, and
worth seeing, just because I enjoy hearing and seeing the bikes run. I
don't think it's worth the effort, even if we had the time, to do the
long trips this year. And I will definitely miss Sears. It's been a lot
of fun coming up there.

I think you should go to Sears for the same reason, you're right next
door, and you can blast out there even for one race and get back home
real quick. Little pricey, but it's a nice venue and I think Mat and
Tommy will put on a good show, just like the Yamahas and Hondas will.

I'm not excited about DSB. Kind of a hard race to watch, especially when
Eslick started to run away. To me the Real Race(tm) was the top 4 guys,
but Eslicks runaway kind of ruined it for me. I was also wondering why
the White Flag wasn't out on lap 16, and was just filled with doubt that
these guys can do ANYTHING right, when Kim reminded me it was a 21 lap
race. Felt pretty stupid after that.

I would put the year behind you, and try to stuff away the controversy
(assuming they're not citing folks for cutting corners and the other
crap they did last year), and just go out to Sears to enjoy the day and
the riders on the track. You'll feel better afterward I think, and you
just know you're addicted to them skipping, hopping, chattering and
bending the bikes in to Turn 9 and blasting up the hill after turn 1.

Regards,

Will Hartung

 

They're doing rolling starts beyond just Daytona? I thought it was a
one-off. The rolling start is just ridiculous for motorcycles and
eliminates one of the skill elements of the race. I hope DMG pulls
their head out on that one soon.

 

It may be what you would like to see but I wouldn't bet on it. I
suspect Mat could have left Tommy behind any time he wanted to but
didn't so as not to give DMG more of a reason to handicap his team. I
don't expect Mat will let him win any until he (Mat) has a comfortable
points lead.