Officials have only one way of stopping a car with a mechanical problem,
and that is with the meatball, mechanical black flag.
That is normally given at the start finish line and at most tracks at a
second corner somewhere on course. I don't know what corner that would
be at Leguna, but likely it is done.
Someone else stated that Carl had been given the black flag (likely the
mechanical black flag). Hopefully that was the case.
If a driver does not see it, or chooses to ignore it for whatever
reason, there is really not much the "officials" can do to get the car
to slow or depart the course. A corner worker leaving his station to
stand on the track and signal is simply not an acceptable move. His
life is then in real danger. We don't do that. Order of safety
priorities is 1, spectators, 2, workers, 3, drivers.
That does not mean that a drives life is worth less than a worker or
spectator, it simply means that the safety of a spectator or worker
cannot be knowingly compromised. Drivers always assume more risk by the
nature of their activity, although officials do everything they can,
short of risking a worker, to minimize that risk.
Keep in mind that a loose body part does not necessarly mean a crash.
"Officials" will always try and communicate the problem to the driver
with flags, but short of sending a pace car out in front of the
offending vehicle (I did do this at SIR once when an old Alfa did not
see the meatball for 3 laps and was oiling every corner of the course),
remedial action is limited to flags.
Larry Dent, Chief Steward, SCCA and SOVREN
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