><<But a designer with at least half a brain (and that includes everyone
reading this!) can look at a long straightaway that ends abruptly in a
hairpin turn placed 10 feet away from a concrete wall and think to
him/herself, "Somebody might hit that. Maybe that's not such a good idea."
>>
>
>Then again, as a driver, I would teke that concrete wall into consideration
and brake a little early, maybe take that hairpin at 90% instead of 100%+.
Yes, it would be nice if the course designer gave me some "mistake" room so
I could explore the limits. It's still my choice, but it should be obvious
to every driver that on that particular corner a mistake is expensive.
That is entirely true. IMHO, one of the ideas of Solo II is to allow
drivers to explore their own and their car's limits in a relatively safe
environment. If you only take this corner at 90%, you're not doing that.
It then turns into a game of chicken - someone else will try it at 92%.
You'll have to take it at 95% next time. They run it at 97%, they run 100%,
you run 100%, but whoops, your 100% is less than their 100%, cones fly,
WHAM! So much for the Mustang... Not to insult your driving skills - like
the course I described, this is an exagurated example.
>I'm not saying that the above is an example of good course design, only
that if a driver hits that wall it's still the drivers fault... totally. No
blaming the course designer, the sanctioning body, the tire manufacturer,
the site owner, or an iceberg.
When professional drivers hit a wall on the track, do they blame the course
for putting a wall in front of them? I think not.
>Bottom line... driver responsibility. I will also point out that some
drivers are idiots, and even worse, some are idiots with lawyers. That is
the real reason for course designers to be careful.
Idiot drivers and lawsuits are a concern, but if you can't safely run at or
even a little over the limit, you're not learning as much. If an "idiot
driver" pulls a maneuver like this and spins wildly for 50' before coming to
a safe stop, the experience would probably teach them that what they just
did was a bad thing, and they wouldn't do it again. Both scenarios teach an
important lesson. One of them doesn't cost them a car in the process.
- Justin
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