In the TTXGP North America 2nd round, at Portland International Raceway
, there was a little allegation that Steve Atlas had “stopped” on the track because his race was over, but there were still riders whose final laps had not finished. Supposedly this interfered with those riders, and one (or more) of them were angry, and there was a bit of a stink going around the paddock that afternoon after the race was finished. However I didn’t think there would be any proof of this, until watching this video by Troy Siahaan of Motorcycle.com who was one of the riders selected by Zero Motorcycles to ride the eSuperStock at Portland. We see in his video report details of the event.
, there was a little allegation that Steve Atlas had “stopped” on the track because his race was over, but there were still riders whose final laps had not finished. Supposedly this interfered with those riders, and one (or more) of them were angry, and there was a bit of a stink going around the paddock that afternoon after the race was finished. However I didn’t think there would be any proof of this, until watching this video by Troy Siahaan of Motorcycle.com who was one of the riders selected by Zero Motorcycles to ride the eSuperStock at Portland. We see in his video report details of the event.
Specifically .. Steve Atlas can be seen zooming by at some point, and it gives you an idea of the huge performance gap between the fast bikes and the slow bikes. The eSuperStock bikes are shown in their final lap, and they come up to Steve Atlas who is riding slowly in the middle of the track, and rather than riding in a race stance, he’s sitting upright and waving to the fans. Obviously Steve-o was in his celebration mode, having won the race. Not that there was any doubt that weekend, after MotoCzysz pulled out. But there were other riders still racing, but there he was blocking the middle of the track.
Is this a big deal? I dunno, but I felt it was important enough to warrant writing this followup.
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As a professional racer watching this video it is basically a case of Steve not doing anything wrong, and the Zero bikes being in a situation that is almost impossible to replicate. The race for Steve was over the moment he passed the finish line. Normally, anyone behind him would have their race be over on that lap as well. They would finish their lap in a race situation, but they should be behind him, so after he passed the finish line, they would have to pass the finish line to catch up to him, and at that point their race would also be over. However, in this specific situation, they JUST passed the finish line right in front of him and his momentum as so much higher than theirs, he was through the next few sets of turns before they even got to turn 1. In a race where the bikes are relatively similar in performance, he would not have passed them after the line. It appears that he might have thought he caught them right before the line, and at those speed differences, it would be easy to see it that way. I don't see what he did as being wrong, it was just one of those situations that will occur every once in a while when there are huge speed differences. But you can't fault him for doing what you do after every checkered flag.
Jeremiah, thank you for this expert interpretation …