In a message dated 3/8/04 1:42:55 PM Pacific Standard Time, rocky@tri.net
writes:
> Burden on the protester? The protester creates the burden by filing the
> protest. The whole point it is that it has to be WORTH that burden. If the
> protester is ultimately correct, then obviously it IS worth that burden. But
> we want that burden to be part of the protest. It should not be easy to
> accuse someone.
>
Okay, here I go disagreeing with Rocky, again... I'm not convinced that it
"starts" with the accuser. Sometimes it starts with a vehicle which appears
faster than it should be. Make it harder to protest, and the penalty for
cheating (due to the possibility of getting caught in the first place) goes
down. I
really don't like that concept. What I've seen in Nationals protests (I
think I've served on over 10 years worth, plus 3 years as Impound Chief and 2
years on the Appeals Committee) is this:
Stock Category protests usually arise when one driver of a particular model
of car is significantly faster than other drivers in the same model, and
someone thinks something is wrong with that car, or else the protest is along
the
lines of the allowed modifications and whether they meet the rules, as compared
to the OE part (say, Miata shock absorber perch height or spring length).
Most Stock protests need some form of documentation as to what is the stock
specification, and the FSM is the first place to start looking. More than a
few
good drivers have been exonerated by the Protest process, showing that they are
merely outdriving the competition. "Yes, he's bumping the rev limiter where
no one else is, because he's getting out of the corners 5 mph faster!"
SP protests sometimes start with stock specifications that are not allowed to
be changed (such as camshaft specs, compression, etc.), but a lot of them
have to do with whether the allowed modifications are within the rules. Again,
the FSM is the starting point in some (but fewer than Stock) cases.
I don't think I've seen an ST or SM protest, but they would probably be
similar to SP...
Prepared protests are seldom over the remaining items that are required to be
original for the model of car (internal engine dimensions, wheelbase, and new
for 2004, minimum track dimension). So, the FSM becomes less important, yet.
But depending on the protest, it could be meaningful...
Modified protests (even D and E) would almost never be settled by FSM
documentation.
So, unless the rules for burden of proof are changed, part of vehicle
selection is going to be the cost of documentation. Compete in a car with
expensive
documentation? Well, it was your choice to compete in that car... How should
those rules change? Write the SEB...
Charlie
Until the rule is changed
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