Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 14:44:08 -0400
From: Mari L Clements <mrndr2@juno.com>
Subject: Re: RTFM
> From 1994 Rulebook (sorry I'm cheap):
>
> 2.1C The course boundary shall not normally pass closer than 25 feet
> from solid objects.
<<<Ever seen someone slide more than 25 feet? The CSP Honda did this
weekend. I wouldn't be surprised if the course at Harrisburg was more
than 25 feet
from the light pole, too.>>>
<<<I agree with your point that the rules are written to avoid undue
risk.>>>
Exactly. So we agree that people should not be expected to run over
gratings or run near light poles or curbs. So why do they continue to
do so and when something goes wrong they claim it was "just a racing
incident"?
<<<I also agree with the previous poster's point that all risk can't
be
avoided.>>>
That is also true. But I keep hearing all this talk about "acceptable
risk" and I don't like it. We need to plan for contingencies and keep
on our toes. Apparently, many different people walked the Peru course
and thought it might not be safe. We need to wake up and not be afraid
to act! I have seen Larry Park's BP Corvette throttle stick with Patti
at the controls on the fastest part of the fastest course I have ever
autocrossed - I was going well over 60 in a DS car. I can't imagine
how fast she was going. But thankfully, there was a _huge_ amount of
runoff - say 400 ft. It gave her time to realize the _only_ way that
car was stopping was to turn off the ignition and do it. The car ended
up with it's nose barely through the fence surrounding the site. There
were 2 huge black skid marks from the braking point all the way to the
fence...
<<<Can we please move on to Petersburg?>>>
Only after we have hashed this to death, because there are apparently
still a lot of people out there who just don't 'get it' yet. This
sport remains relatively safe due to _your_ vigilance. I haven't
competed in a Pro Solo for a long, long time, but every course (except
one) that I ever ran had a dragstrip start up to about 45-50 mph and
then you turned away from the other course in a big sweeper. From that
point on you never came within 60-80 feet of the other car. The
exception was Jeff Perkin's course at Golden Gates Fields. He divided
the lot lengthwise to create two narrow courses. It was _closely_
scrutinized for safety because of the unusual layout. But Jeff got the
two cars apart by having them turn away from each other at about the
same point where the courses would normally diverge, and then loop
back in a hairpin at the end.
Now, I haven't seen the Peru layout (and I am really dying to...), but
it _sounds_ like the cars stayed together a hell of a long time
terminating in a maneuver that many thought needed to be taken at the
hairy edge. Maybe this course design is more exciting to watch when
two relatively close cars are competing head-to-head but it doesn't
strike me that the same sort of criteria is still being used to
determine whether or not a course is safe. Am I wrong?
Paul Foster
|