Planet Minis

anyonebut_24

I attended Starwest looking forward to watching pros race here at our local tracks in SoCal and I left Starwest very disappointed yesterday. It's not every Saturday you get to see Costella tear up a track that you can ride whenever you like. But just an honest, unbiased observation, it seems this M4SX thing is not organized very well.
I was waiting to watch the second moto of the 50 size pro class, the gate staged and there was only 4 or 5 guys on the gate, half the gate was missing. In fact, the top 3 from the first moto were missing. The race was started regardless. Following the race there was just confusion. There is no way that the situation could have been fixed after the fact. There was talk of running the race again but that screws the guys who just ran that moto. There was talk of a refund for the pros that missed it. Costella didn't drive from Vegas just to do one race, and watch some ams run. And the other pros wanted a shot at running with Costella so it's not about the money. These guys just want a straight-up race which was not accomplished with this particular class. Then there was talk of a dash-for-cash but you have to understand that it was 100+ temperatures and many of these guys were riding in two different classes for a total of 4 motos and waiting until the end of the day to do a dash-for-cash just isn't very appealing to some.
I left with the impression that there were some very unhappy people Saturday night. The M4SX guys were unhappy with the riders stating that "you guys are pros and should know when to be on the line". According to Costella and others, from where they were pitted you couldn't hear the PA system so how are these riders to know. I guess they expected these guys who are already giving up all their energy to race to sit in the 100+ heat for 20 minutes to guarantee they make their moto.
It just seemed to me that organization was lacking. I came away disappointed and I know that many others did too.

filthyboatguy

Musta been your first race..........

Welcome to the wacky world of SOCAL MX mini racing

Frustrating huh?

Chaos is the norm.

BTW the Supermoto/Road Racing mini series are 1000 times more organized, why, nobody knows

anyonebut_24

Not my first race, been to several, just none like this. I was very impressed with Vegas this year for example.

filthyboatguy

I'm talkin' SOCAL mini races, we'll never do another MX event, total disorganization.

Bummed the Kids out too bad, the flaggers make mistakes, they have serious problems counting laps (flagged my boy off the track cause they thought he was lapped, he was battling for second) (my Son and others lapped these riders, the lapped riders ended up finishing second and 3rd) I could go on and on........

Dosen't seem like a big deal right.........But when you rip off a 6 and 7 rd old out of a trophy a few times, it pisses them off

anyonebut_24

That's exactly how this race played out. Your kids and these pro riders just want to race a fair race. I guess you've got the idea though. Just avoid those kind of races. It's kind of hard for the top BBR rider to do that though. Imagine if BBR boycotted M4SX because of the way riders were treated. There would be even more unhappy people. Especially the guys counting money at M4SX.

Pimpindahoes

yea i run in the starrs races and the races go on smothly. the PA systems they use broadcast throughout the entire pits so nobody is excluded form the information about what race it is, etc.

to correct you there was only 3 pro riders on the track......4 were not on the gate. not even half the gate and they still start the race.

should have seen the madness with the superstock class at racetown...i think they restarted the race about 4 times before they could get anythign right. each time the riders rode for a full lap and then got pulled off and re-gated.

in another race (starwest) the announcer said "GOING ON THE LAST LAP" yet there was about 4 more laps to go.....i said wait if this is the last lap why isnt the flagger letting the riders know with a white flag!! the anouncer claimed he never said that. but when i asked everyone watching the race they all clearly heard him say last lap.....of course the announcer and one of the m4sx guys said he didnt....i guess me and 10 other people were just hearing things.

kinda like the pro race at racetown they screwed up......they drop the gate with one guy looking at his fornt wheel and another while he was puttign on his goggles......never even gave the last check to make everyone was ready...they just dropped it. they could start the superstock class over 4 times yet they cant stop the pro race because of careless/lazy gate workers.....

i too would like to see a whole lot more organized racing.

if i were m4sx....those gate guys would be long gone.
they are only making joe and ken look bad when they are doing nothing but trying to help out and organize this stuff.

oh yea...why do you let flaggers get on their cell phones during a race??

SHADE

Ok first of all did you race this race...not every race is perfect...ahh it pisses me off to see you bash on M4SX there first TWO races were unbelievable!! so its soo hard to see that this round was soo screwy but i was not there and i have heard some storys...

SHADE

i didnt know there was that much stuff going wronge..but you have to say the tracks are narly

crf50-racer-156

"you should have seen the madness with the superstock class at racetown...i think they restarted the race about 4 times before they could get anythign right. each time the riders rode for a full lap and then got pulled off and re-gated." Origanlly posted by Factory Motorsports


Ya I was in that race.. It was nuts i think it re started bout 3 times after likes 2 laps each.. but i have no complaints, if you look at it in a positive way it only gave us more track time you guys should give M4SX alot more credit for what they do.. After all this series are the biggest mini races in california and surrounding states and there are so many riders its hard to keep up with everybody.. truthfully I raced Rd.1 and Rd.2 but couldnt make Rd.3 and it was the best racing ive ever done.. I think you guys should give them more credit.. NOBODY OR NOTHING is perfect!! so you should expect a few mistakes here and there

anyonebut_24

I'm not out to bash on M4SX, that is not my mission. I just wanted to tell my experience. I think the M4SX is a great idea. Especially for us here in SoCal but I'm newer to the mini-racing scene and to tell you the truth I've been more turned off by this series then drawn to it. I just wanted to hear others experiences to see if I'm the only one that felt this way.

SHADE

^^WorD^^

filthyboatguy

A few..........LOL

I think the top bubbas (M4SX and Podium) are professionals and know what they are doing.

The problem lies in the hired help for the day (you know what I'm talkin' about), you get what you pay for, but hey, they gotta turn a profit or no one races right?

The problem is when you don't run a fair, organized, professional event, everyone loses.

Fact of the matter though, most riders will accept these mistakes just so they can race, so life indeed goes on.

Pimpindahoes

its not ken and joe....its the people under them that have no clue what they are doing....

i mean the flaggers are sitting on their phones during a race....the announcer doesnt even know how many laps are in the races, the gate guys just half asses everything and doesnt even know how many riders should be on his gate that hes in charge of.....

ken and joe do GREAT work....the problem lies in who they hired to work for them

SHADE

The flaggers..For sure!!!

SURFERCROSS

Hey guys -

Just got back in and had a chance to read everything. I respect everyone's opinion, and definitely appreciate those of you that have defended us in our absence.

Overall, there are some days you just wake up an know that it is definitely not going to be anywhere near perfect. Yesterday was one of those days for shure. We all know it was blistering hot, and that always factors into everything, but I will not waste all of our time giving excuses.

For the sake of keeping on a professional level, I am not going to argue the gate drop in the pro mini class either. There were arguments from both sides of the view from more than just those involved, and at this point all we can do is look to not let the situation arise in the future.

We will definitely be meeting with all of our staff and hired help to discuss the ways we can prevent these issues in the future, and continue to put on great race events that everyone leaves stoked. But even at that, there will always be an unhappy soul.

As CRF50, filthy, and SHADE said, the first 2 rounds were insane, and there probably hasn't been a local race that could compare to them for the most part. There are always even going to be small flaws in those days. There is also always going to be that one time that just wasn't very smooth, and what do ya do?...learn from it!

Just don't look at one small piece of the picture in it's flaw and count that as it's quality. Anything made or done by human hands will have flaws, we obviously want the fewest, thats all.

See you at Del Mar!

We appreciate all of you that been coming out and we are looking forward to a great finale at Del Mar with a lot of prizes to give out as well as overall trophies for the series.

Outlaw Powersports

It is frustrating when things like you guys had expressed happens, especially when you have pride and $ on the line. I can not dispute any of what you have said.

I have attended a lot of different races and competitions of all sorts and there is always a hick up here or there. But, nothing ground shattering for the most part. It is not easy to put on a race with the amount of entry's that the Del Mar series has. It is even harder to do it at an affordable cost.

My hats off to people like M4SX for putting on these races. If it was not for race promoters where would the sport be.

filthyboatguy

Wouldn't miss it

Not racing this year but the little ones and I will be there for the spectating and the swag

dakine

Bro I would bitch too if I was not racing and thought it would be a good idea to sit and watch a race in over a 100 degree weather. I talk crap to being a racer when ever I miss a gate or do not get 1st. I will blame anyone and everyone but I really know it was my fault I missed the gate or lost the race. Guess it is just my nature. If you really are so worried bro about missing a certain class you want to see run. Ask the track to borrow a blow horn so you can call out to all your racing idols to line up so you dont miss them on the track. Who knows bro they might even give you the point out on the checkered flag and do a little trick for you to show the love. And you can smile and feel good that you saved the day Super Hero

D

mdkuder

About half the flaggers in general need their butts kicked for gross incompetence, including AMA races. Might as well throw in the promoters while your at it for their lack training or just poor hiring practices. Their is no excuse for being an idiot, if someone goes down you should be in their line blocking traffic, just as if your buddy was down. If the riders are ignoring the flag take them off the bike with it. Damn