Have to disagree here.
The course was well within SCCA guidelines for speed. I ran my fastest
runs in 2nd only. I tried 3rd to see if it would be faster across the
lights, but it wasn't. I never buzzed the rev limiter anywhere else on
course. Fastest car on course barely got over 70, for a split second, in a
straight, safe section of the course.
The 'incidents' came through a section of offsets run soundly in the middle
of 2nd gear. If you can't set up a set of 2nd gear offsets without
criticism, then our sport is finished.
Yes, the fence was close to the pavement. Not the event's fault. Yes,
there were some incidents that could probably be better discussed off of the
public forums, but the fact is, the incidents had more to do with driver
errors, and bad luck than course faults. I think the drivers would likely
agree.
The course was fairly distanced from the edge of the pavement given the
site. The start and timers were well away from the finish, as were the grid
and impound areas. Perhaps they should have planned an escape route in
case of brake failure, but the people getting near the start by spinning
through the finish were simply not driving responsibly on those runs.
My only criticism of the course was the first section of jerky offsets,
which were improperly marked, with pointers on the wrong side of gates, too
many cones, a poor mix of new and old cones, and a lack of chalk line. This
particular section did not give rise to any incidents, however, just a lot
of bad runs.
It is a worthy excercise to analyze the course after incidents, but the
conclusion here is that the course was not lacking in layout, IMO.
Three
> cars got collison damage in different areas of the
> course- A Z06 hit a fence and 2 corner workers, MR2
> spyder with minor damage, and a Subaru that hit one of
> those large steel storage containers. The corner
> workers are OK with just bruises, (although one jumped
> and was sent flying above roof line, possibly caught
> on in car video).
>
> Atleast 2 out of the 3 incidents were not stupid
> mistakes. The Z06 could not do anything different
> when the course workers were hit, it was just going
> that fast. Actually, 2 other cars ended up 4 tires in
> the grass at the same spot, and didn't hit the fence.
> Keep in mind the grass is only about 7 feet wide
> between the concrete and the fence.
>
Several occasions put
> cars near or in the start line including one that
> smashed the timer and almost the start tree.
>
> Bottom line though, a majority of the course was in
> 3rd gear and there's just not enough space for a
> prosolo that fast with a 60+mph finish.
>
> Sean Minehart
> Team Underdog Racing
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