Brings to mind that even low-speed situations need room after the finish.
This finish followed a fairly tight slalom, then you barely had time to nail
it for a quick squirt to the lights. It was second gear, probably 30-35 mph
is all. A fairly sharp left followed, but there was plenty of room to brake
from that low a speed and make the turn easily.
Unless your brakes failed RIGHT THERE. That's right where I popped the
pinhole leak in a rear brake line that had been rubbing against my axle.
Instead it was straight ahead at the turn. I hit no cones, but the eyeballs
of the people in the timing trailer right in front of me were VERY large.
Fortunately, a pinhole leaves a *little* pressure and I was able to get
pumped up enough to stop before I hit the trailer. Then I *slowly* eased
back onto the course upstream where I went off, exited the course by the
intended route, on what ended up my winning run!
In that wonderful 20/20 of hindsight, would that the finish had led straight
PAST the trailer rather than straight at it. I'd still have had the moment
of panic, but would have survived it without ever going off course.
--Rocky
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Zahornasky" <p.zahornasky@att.net>
To: <autox@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2001 8:34 PM
Subject: RE: Acceptable finish designs.
> Any finish that forces you to brake before the finish lights can spell
> disaster, especially if it includes a turn after the lights, but even if
it
> doesn't.
>
> Case in point:
>
> I was an event in Maine (NOT an SCCA event) a few years ago that had a
> finish with a 100 foot straight stop box after the finish. Doesn't sound
> particularly dangerous until the following points are added:
>
> There was a 250 foot straight before the finish.
> It was raining for most of the day.
> The timing trailer was 50 feet away on the side of the stop box.
>
> Fortuately, nothing happened, but the recipe was there. As it started to
> dry out, people really started to push the limits of where they got off
the
> throttle in the straight and on to the brakes. I remember one car ending
up
> sideways in the stop box.
>
> Paul Zahornasky
>
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