[Ducati] NDC - This Never Happened

[mike major]

 "never let a minor thing like the truth spoil a good story".  Or "truth is
such a rare commodity it would be a shame to waste it ruining a good
story".  Moonbeam

On Feb 3, 2008 5:29 PM, John Whiting <JVWhiting at palomaresources.com> wrote:

>
> Especially since Texas Motor Speedway is not in or near College
> Station...
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ducati-bounces at ducati.net [mailto:ducati-bounces at ducati.net] On
> Behalf Of Harlyn Jenkins
> Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2008 2:12 PM
> To: 'Ducati Owners Group'
> Subject: [Ducati] NDC - This Never Happened
>
> Got this off another list:
>
>
>
> This Never Happened
> by dean adams
> Summer, 1991
>
> (I wrote this for Sport Rider magazine in 1991 but it was deemed a bit
> over
> the top by the powers that be and it was never published.)
>
> The scene: the long, banked grounds of the Texas Motor Speedway in
> College
> Station, Texas in the early 1990s. A secret test held by one AMA
> Superbike
> team was the reason the crew, the riders, the transporter and few others
> were in attendance. Only a skeleton corner-working crew looked on. Press
> and
> observers were banned. One could surmise that the manufacturer in
> question
> had a motorcycle there they did want not want anyone else to see.
>
> A problem arose when the riders took to the track on their Superbikes.
> As it
> had been weeks, maybe even months, since any previous vehicles had
> toured
> the course, a thick layer of Texas dust settled on the track surface,
> making
> traction a hard commodity to come by. Something needed to be done, as
> with
> no traction, a test would be meaningless. And no, there wasn't any track
> cleaning equipment available.
>
> The team manager, a sage type, had seen this before and he stopped the
> bikes
> from circulating and entered the track with his own rental car, driving
> at a
> slow pace to scrub the dust from the surface. It worked splendidly,
> although
> too slowly for most tastes.
>
> More cars and higher speeds would be needed. Danger, Will Robinson!
> Danger!
>
> Riders jumped in their rental cars, mechanics too. A tire manufacturer
> was
> there as well, and they joined in. Soon there were five or six rental
> vehicles on the Superspeedway, rocketing down the straight and into the
> high
> banked corners. It bears mentioning that the team manager, mechanics and
> tire personnel were almost all ex-racers. The ex-racers and racers were
> driving rental cars on an abandoned racetrack, you get the picture?
>
> After a several leisurely laps at a brisk trot, caution went out the
> window
> and the pace increased. Throttles were pinned and seatbelts were
> fastened
> ... tightly. In a scene out of your favorite NASCAR race, speeds went
> above
> 110mph, door handles were scrubbed against each other and mucho
> automobile
> abuse began. Drivers came back to the paddock area with new information:
> "Did you know that cruise control works at 130mph?" one asked. Or that
> simply rolling the all windows up was good for an additional six mph on
> the
> banking. Brake and tire smoke filled the air.
>
> The automobiles, which were newer sports cars and luxury vehicles (other
> than the mini-van) when they were rented (with the full and optional
> insurance, mind you) simply and quickly began to disintegrate. Designed
> to
> haul Joe America from his house to his job each day on a sedate
> expressway,
> the machines were way out of their element traveling at 130mph, with
> severe
> G forces pushing against them.
>
> In this test one the editors from Consumer Reports could only dream
> about,
> parts failure skyrocketed. One nearly brand new machine became a
> creaking,
> frame bent, tires rubbing against the fenders, seat belts sacked out
> from
> trying to hold the driver (and his passenger) in the seat against the G
> forces, doors won't open, now the dash is loose too, machine, ready for
> the
> scrap yard, in less than thirty minutes, without ever touching the wall
> or
> another automobile.
>
> The DOT tires and brake pads were good for about ten laps at most and
> then
> began to go off in a big way. Then things got very interesting. With
> chassis, suspension and now tires worn well past their limits, the cars
> began to assume the fetal position. Traveling at well over one hundred
> mph,
> several cars would spin out of control with no provocation from the
> driver.
>
> "I'd get all four tires sliding pretty good," said one rider, "and all
> of a
> sudden the whole car would just go away, spinning right off the track.
> You
> can't do anything to save it when a car is spinning at one hundred mph
> in
> the sand."
>
> The frank look of astonishment on that rider's face defied description.
>
> The quote of the episode belonged to one of the mechanics, who said that
> amidst one 100mph spinning incident he "... knew I was in real trouble
> when
> fist-sized rocks started coming through the open windows of the car."
>
> ENDS
>
> *****
>
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