That's the cool part I suppose. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It's also where people can get salty if they're affiliated with the facility and hear a differing opinion, which I hope doesn't happen with this post lol.. Jeff, I'm absolutely sure that you had a couple chest thumping parents who don't ride come up and say to skip prep. Of course they want little johnny to be the next jett Lawrence on rough tracks. I saw probably the same couple parents post on FB. I always laugh when it's mini parents saying that stuff who won't be stepping foot on the track. I heard more complaining about how rutty it got than anyone singing praises. I also understand the effort you, Bobby, and the crew put in over the course of the weekend and leading up to. I'm in no way discrediting anyones efforts, so don't take my opinion as a dig. Place has become a top notch facility. Just know that I heard enough on Sunday to know I'm not the only one thinking a little extra maintenance Sunday would have made for a better track. I'm not saying full prep either. Just maintenance. I'm just one of the few that will actually share an opinion after actually riding the track. Heard Saturday was good from the same people talking about Sunday if that means anything.
I have nothing negative to say about the program as a whole tho. Ran smoothly from sign up, to Todd's announcing, to pulling out at a decent time being second to last moto! Was home and washed quite early.
I can't wrap my head around the "this is Lorettas" qualifier crap.. Lorettas is nothing like Malvern and Malvern is nothing like Lorettas, and they never will be alike. Apples to oranges. Racing surface and elevation dictates that. The 200' of sand is the only part of Malvern even comparable to Lorettas. Not to mention 4 lap races aren't too beneficial for Lorettas practice if that's what we're after. Better off hammering 40s somewhere than riding 8 laps on a different surface than Lorettas. Can't compare what were talking about to any of the tracks mentioned either Jeff. You know I've got lots of laps at those places too.
There were really only two sections that needed attention in my opinion. From the first corner to the take off of the first little step up, and the bottom before the uphill triple. Everywhere else was tolerable, and I'll elaborate below by breaking down sections. I understand we need a certain amount of roughness to slow down areas. To be honest, I love the layout right now because it's fun to RIDE. However, I do not enjoy racing it in it's current state because it's sketchy fast. The uphill triple is sick, I love it, but I'm not hitting something 4th on it while in traffic. Even when I don't hit it, it's a scary feeling hearing someone behind you not letting off lol.. You don't hit ANYTHING in 4th at Lorettas except maybe the first curve on the start straight. Hell, not even loraccos leap needs 4th. Again, fun as hell, but sketchy in a race environment. I'll attach a pic of the same big jump, but not in a race environment. Wasn't scared of it lol..
The first two corners were stupid, and dare I say, slot car-ish. Mainly because it was the first two corners! The ruts before the first little step up were really soft early in the day and could've easily been scraped with the dozer.
The low spot before the big uphill was just obvious. If some fast guys didn't bitch tho, it probably would have been left as well.
The stuff out by the road was all pretty good. Couple sick lines in the far corner by water truck. Little sketchy on that off camber inside table thingy and the first outside line was a slot car line, but again, id call this area tolerable. In-between those two sections you had the table. I kept choosing the inside deep lines and seat bouncing the table. Wasnt horrible just a little slick in there..
Sand area was knarly but definitely acceptable, as was the area from the landing of the triple to the finish.
I'm with John tho. The Nationals last year that weren't as deep and saw a little more maintenance played out to be much better racing. Same thing applies well to amateur racing. If we dive deeper into this, ruts at a national may be knarly, but they're good solid lines. Not some squiggly blown out amateur ruts.