In a message dated 9/15/00 6:10:33 PM Central Daylight Time, jss@marimba.com
writes:
<< Let me tell you the details of the HS protest and penalty against Russ
Blume, because I can't stand to see people just guessing. >>
Resistance .... is .... futile ... :-), so I'll pipe in a few more details:
Contrary to the "pulling it out of his ..." comment, there were distinct
visual indicators that the protest was based on. First, the distributor was
adjusted to the extreme end of it's adjustment range and it was the
protestor's opinion that when the timing is set in the proper range for this
particular engine the distributor would be in the middle of it's adjustment
range. This generated protest item 1. However, the protester also felt that
if the distributor was adjusted to the extreme end of it's adjustment range,
yet produced a correct timing spec, it would be possible that either the cam
timing had been modified or the block/head surfaces had been over-trued,
leading to protest items 2 and 3.
Finally, one of the tubes on a multi-vacuum tube metal manifold was open,
generating the last protest item. When the protestee removed the air filter
housing to allow inspection of the open tube end, which was ruled OK, the
disconnected vaccum line to the EGR valve was found. There was some
discussion about whether or not the vacuum line was accidently pulled loose
during the removal of the air filter housing, but all the protest committee
could conclude is that the EGR control hose was disconnected upon inspection.
There was further discussion about whether or not these items were merely a
result of poor maintenance. It was the protest committee's conclusion that
regardless of intent, the items had a potential to modify performance
slightly and it is the competitor's responsiblity to ensure vehicle
conformance to the requirements of the Solo2 rulebook, resulting in a fair 1
second penalty being assessed.
With regard to the other HS protest over missing trim items, the protester
admitted that the missing items which could be verified to be
factory-supplied would weigh only 3 - 5 lbs total The vehicle was ruled
illegal on this count, but of no real performance advantage. Further, the
protestee demonstrated good faith as the parts were already on order and due
in the next day. The protestee was reprimanded and told to have the missing
trim pieces replaced before the 2nd day of competition. The next day the
protestee provided a receipt showing the missing items being received and
purchased. Item 2 of this protest was for the front tires extending beyond
the fender well. However, after reviewing a clarification in the April, 2000
Fasttrack, Solo Tech Bulletin Item 3, identifying the widest part of the
fender arch as the defining limit of tire coverage the vehicle was ruled
legal.
BTW, the stock class tire/fender coverage rule will supposedly be eliminated
from the 2001 rulebook. Good riddance.....
Mark Sipe
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