Jeff Cashmore - Solo Safety Steward in training writes:
> Randy wrote... "I think that it is hard for someone who is only used to
> slow/small courses to hit a gate at 75mph and know that they can make it
> stick."
>
> Mari Clements pointed out that section 2.1 in the rule book states,
> "Speeds on straight stretches should not normally exceed the low 60's
> (mph) for the fastest Stock or Street Perpared category cars". Which
> leads me ask what do most folks consider 'normally' to be? Does this
> mean 1/3 straights on that course? 2/8 events that year? That it's ok
> if only John Ames hits that speed? (Linnhoff, normal?) <grin> Should
> 'normally' be dropped from that section?
>
> Somehow I get the feeling anyone successfully protesting the
> SD courses wouldn't have been a very popular person. :)
Hear hear!
I got the same feeling at Divisionals my first year - I chickened out
big-time because I was not used to the awesome wide-open spaces that enable
some good-sized straights. To make matters worse, the newish wording in the
rulebook has led our club to not take advantage of the one opportunity we
have for making a fast course. We run at an airport and get half of one
runway and a couple of taxiways. In the old days, the story goes, the
outbound leg used to resemble a slightly downhill dragstrip, since there
is nothing hazardous nearby. Everyone loved it. Nowadays, it gets
clogged with stuff that pisses off the V8 drivers. So we lose year-round,
because some national caliber course designers know the rule is loose, and
set up courses which actually are fun _and_ fast. But the fun can be a bit
over the heads of us who don't get to use such large venues, or have
interpereted the rulebook as setting a strict upper limit.
The issue of top speed and applying 2.1 comes down to two questions for me:
1. Is it fair for course designers to take advantage of the space to make
a safe course that exceeds 65mph?
2. Is it legal for course designers to take advantage of the space to make
a safe course that exceeds 65mph?
Not idle, theoretical questions for me, who is also a SSS in training,
and a fledgling course designer who rarely gets to drive a course that
actually approaches even 60 mph more than once a season.
It seems to me that the "normally" part of 2.1 means the answers are "yes".
I'm torn between wanting all autocrossers to have an equal footing, and
preserving the freedom to use a great site to its full potential.
And as someone who has done two non-SCCA Solo I (the safety equipment would
make my car too expensive and not a practical daily-driver), I jump at the
chance to run a fast event.
To truly mandate that all autocrossers have an equal footing, the rule
would have to be more objective, and probably more work to apply. So the
status quo does sound alright to me, but I have to accept that those who
get to run fast events will sometimes have an advantage.
I think the key to applying the rule is safety - what hazards are there,
and is the maneuver at the end of the fast section likely to upset a car,
especially one driven by a novice? This is _always_ critical, but it takes
some experience for a course designer or a safety steward to judge this as
speeds increase. Keeping top speeds in the realm of normal highway speeds
does serve to keep the risks in line with the definition of Solo II.
Unfortunately, "normal" for me makes me eligible for tickets!
--
Jeffrey D. Blankenship Senior Technical Consultant
jblanken@itds.com ITDS - TRIS
Neon Enthusiast #478 Champaign, IL, USA
|