This past weekend in Atlanta, the track was very tricky. The usual Atlanta traction was nowhere to be found and was replaced by a drier, less ideal version. It was evident from the first step of track walk on Saturday morning with heavy water laid down on the racing surface. Keep in mind that Atlanta is almost never watered for track walk. I can't remember a year when it was watered, and I have been going to Atlanta annually since 1990. As frustrating as that was, there was something else about this track that I disliked even more. Behold the split lane, in all of its dysfunctional uselessness.
Ok, ok, maybe I am being a bit harsh. I do know this, though: That split lane didn't work this weekend. From the first lap of practice, everyone favored the inside line. The reasons were very simple. First, the inside is always the shortest distance between two turns. With the torque and power of modern-day bikes, riders are often able to get away with incredibly tight inside lines. To get a rider to go to the outside in any situation, there has to be incentive. In this case, there was none.
In fact, that leads to the second reason. The whoops were actually bigger on the outside line! Not only that, but there was a double leading into the bigger whoops (which was removed before the main events). The double slowed the acceleration into the whoops, and the lane was still slower even after its removal. The thought process (I think) was that the number of jumps would be the same in each lane, four. But with two at the beginning and two at the end of the outside lane, it gave no options. The inside lane, however, had all four jumps at the end of the section. This gave the opportunity to triple or even jump all four if you were able. In short, everyone went inside when they were clear of traffic and even if not clear of traffic, most decided following someone on the inside was simply better.
The big problem here is that when split lanes don't pan out, it turns the track into a slot car course. It takes a fairly wide supercross lane, plenty wide enough for passing, and cuts it in half. Everyone funnels into that one lane and plays follow the leader. Even more importantly, the split came in the whoops, where most passes are made. It was frustrating to watch riders get a great run on their competitor but simply have to let off with no room to get by. Had the track been normal width, said rider would have blown by without incident. It was fundamentally detrimental to good racing and battling. In other words, it was bad.
I’m very much in favor of changing things up to improve racing and give a better show to the fans. To do that, chances have to be taken on track design, racing formats, etc. I understand that and applaud attempts at it. This particular case didn't work. I don't feel that narrowing the racecourse in any way will lead to positive changes. It is simply too difficult to make different sections exactly the same speed. Even with the changes that were made mid-stream Saturday night, it still didn't work out. Riders went inside over and over, bottling up into a ten-foot wide trail. Change is good overall, but learning from mistakes is also important. Keep the lanes wide and give the riders room. Split lanes are a gimmick and unneeded. That's how I see it.
