Old Track, New Tricks
Old track, new tricks
RACE WATCH
Who among you is old enough to remember Virginia International Raceway-a beautiful racetrack in a beautiful place? The last time I was there was in 1974, at an AAMRR regional race, with a Yamaha TZ750A. Since then, I’ve heard little about it. Grass grew up through the pavement as the track fell into disuse after fall of 1974.
Now comes an announcement that VIR is back, returned to life, repaved and ready. When I phoned the VIR offices, I was told that the track had been “not dead all these years-just a flower sleeping under the snow, waiting for spring.”
VIR was originally planned in 1956 as a sports-car course, on hilltop farmland encircled by Virginia’s Dan River, near the city of Danville. Investors don’t always get a return on their money. The hoped-for 100,000 spectators turned out to be more like 5000 at the first race in 1957.
The new operator is New Yorker Harvey Siegel, who now has a 50-year lease. The track was repaved in 1999 and hosted its first race (for vintage cars) early last year. With regard to motorcycles, VIR has negotiated with the AMA to host a round during the 2001 season. “AMA Superbikes are definitely coming in September, but we’re still trying to work out the best date,” says a track spokesperson, who says the tentative schedule is for the weekend of September 29-30.
In the early days of U.S. motorcycle roadracing, events took place wherever associations could afford track rental, and that usually meant non-moneymakers like VIR. In the late 1960s, we used to set out for Danville from Boston and drive all Friday night to arrive in time for practice on this beautiful course, which includes lots of elevation change as well as sweeping turns. In the event you ran off the track, energy-management deceleration control was provided by large stands of corn.
A great oak tree grew next to the start of the long straight (it is still there). Riders like Frank Camillieri (Yamaha TD 1 -C) and George Rocket (Ducati 350cc Single) would pull away from their class far enough in a few laps to stop at the oak tree for a drag race up the straight. Those were the days in which real racebikes were either four-stroke Singles or twostrokes. They won the races while it was the heroic home-built Norton and BSA four-strokes that smoked and seized.
During their eastern loop last year, a number of AMA national roadracers tried out the new course. Among them were Honda’s Nicky Hayden and Miguel Duhamel, Kawasaki’s Doug Chandler and Suzuki’s Mat Mladin According to the track spokesperson, riders’ reactions were generally positive. “They loved it,” she elaborated. “They were like kids in a candy store. They loved the speed and the challenges of the course.”
Considering how many tracks are actively disliked by today’s vocal riders, this is probably high praise. But then again, VIR is a real road course-not a NASCAR oval or a dragstrip with addon paved squiggles. The concrete walls so hated at certain other facilities are absent at VIR, although there are some steel guardrails. New or old, fresh places to race are always good news.
-Kevin Cameron
