<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Mr. Shupe @ Jun 12 2008, 09:33 PM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Edmondson has replied to the riders' decision not to ride in the rain at Mid-Ohio.
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2008/Jun/080612res.htm
So the wall on the back strait and the guard rails along thunder valley were okay all along?
Here is an example of the arrogance of this prick
When the release on Mid-Ohio was issued during the AMA Superbike event last weekend at Road America, members of the official AMA Rider Safety Council for Road Racing (which included Ben Bostrom, Jamie Hacking, Tommy Hayden, Mat Mladin, Cory West and Jake Zemke) were asked if they had been involved in any recent discussions regarding changes to or inspections of Mid-Ohio that would lead to it being approved for riding in the wet.
Mladin, Bostrom, Hacking and Zemke all told Roadracingworld.com that they had not been involved in any such activity and had no knowledge of changes at Mid-Ohio.
This led to Roadracingworld.com asking Edmondson, does the Rider Safety Council still exist?
“I have no idea,” said Edmondson. “I know that there is one, but I don’t know who they are. But this is not an issue that riders should be taking up, in my mind. It’s not appropriate that one rider determines whether or not another rider can ride. It’s only appropriate that one rider determines whether or not he rides.”
So will the Rider Safety Council be irrelevant in the future?
“It’s irrelevant right this minute, as far as I’m concerned,” stated Edmondson. “We have not met anybody, and nobody’s ever presented themselves as being a member of it. And frankly, I haven’t asked about it in this particular case. Because, once again, while you may determine that the track is not something you want to ride, I might determine just the opposite. This is my chance for a big payday. And so I don’t think it’s appropriate in issues of this type where a track is approved for competition period that we get riders telling us whether or not it’s appropriate to ride there in the wet.
“Now, if there’s changes that need to be made to racetracks and we need to get input from a variety of people, then certainly the riders can be helpful. I’d like to think that we’re going to have a very close relationship with a rider committee once we get firmly in charge, but I can’t tell you it’ll be the same guys that are on there now.
“There seems to be a tendency to pick fast people with the implication that being fast means a greater level of intellect. And I don’t happen to subscribe to that. It might be true, but it’s not guaranteed. I think we need to have people with a long view who are capable of understanding the issues, both those that the rider deals with [and] that the promoter deals with and balance those things when they make the recommendations. Today’s committee might be exactly those guys, but the bottom line was that it’s not a question of racing in the rain or not. If a track’s approved for racing it’s approved for racing.”
Asked for his thoughts concering top factory riders who have already said that they will not race in the rain at Mid-Ohio and how that might affect the August 1-3 AMA Superbike event there, Edmondson said, “I think it’s typical. It’s part of the current environment where the riders seem to feel that they’re in charge and where’s there been a complete lack of professionalism. I think that it’s silly to be sending a message to spectators who might want to buy a ticket to Mid-Ohio that if the skies are cloudy you might want to stay home.
“On the other hand, they’re certainly entitled not to ride and that’s a position that’s been respected by every AMA regime that’s ever been around, including mine before and mine that’s coming. I respect that. But I have no respect and will not abide by this concept that you go out and get other people and try to convince them or prevent them not to ride.”
Last year, Edmondson’s MOTO-ST endurance series raced at Iowa Speedway, a facility that had never hosted a sanctioned motorcycle road race and had not been inspected by any of the series’ riders prior to the start of the event. Once the event started Brian Parriott, who rode for Championship contender San Jose BMW at the time, was part of a group of riders who tried to organize a boycott of the race. Parriott was fined significantly by MOTO-ST for his actions, including an interview he gave to Roadracingworld.com.
“I hope it doesn’t happen, but somebody’s gonna get hurt,” predicted Parriott, who was concerned primarily with the unpadded retaining wall outside of Iowa Speedway’s Turns One and Two.
The worst fears of Parriott and several other racers came to be when Shawn Higbee was knocked down by another rider, crashed in that area and slid into an unpadded wall. He suffered a compound fracture of his femur, a broken pelvis and a broken shoulder. Brian Kcraget then crashed trying to avoid Higbee’s motorcycle, which was engulfed in flames in the middle of the racetrack, and suffered a severe head injury. Both Higbee and Kcraget recovered from their injuries and returned to racing later in 2007, but Iowa Speedway did not return to the MOTO-ST schedule for 2008.
