Full Course Yellow?

[emjaya]

How lucky is Rick Kelly?

To have Race Control throw a Full Course Yellow, that allowed him to leave the pits, and then the Safety Car and not go straight to the Safety Car as they normally do.

If they had put the Safety Car out with him in the pits, He would have had to wait until it came around and dropped a lap. That would have spoiled those championship hopes.

Someone up top must be looking after him and not just the bloke in the helicopter.

And what was with that Safety Car period? When we came back from the ad, they were racing with four cars in front of the lead car. They should have been waved though.

[WebberForWDC]

I'm surprised that HRT and FPR didn't complain bitterly, 888 style, about dropping a lap under that safety car there ???

Good luck with pressing on and making up spots when starting 1 minute 13 behind the other cars on the lead lap ...

[RotorFan]

Originally Posted by emjaya

And what was with that Safety Car period? When we came back from the ad, they were racing with four cars in front of the lead car. They should have been waved though.

Crap thread, V8 Supercars is not a conspiracy, its just run poorly sometimes.

But I'd like to know the answer to the above too. Why were there cars in front of the leader?

[peckstar]

was it not because the safety car picked up the leader of the race, who was holdsworth at the time. to me thats how a safety car is meant to work and has worked for since the introduction of the safety car.

the real question though is why didnt Holdsworth pit and then why did he leave his pit stop until the safety car car came in

but i guess you miss all that on tv

[RotorFan]

Originally Posted by peckstar

but i guess you miss all that on tv

Exactly, I'm not saying they messed up with the safety car, just was interested to know what happened because it wasn't clear on TV.

[00 XR8]

Originally Posted by peckstar

was it not because the safety car picked up the leader of the race, who was holdsworth at the time. to me thats how a safety car is meant to work and has worked for since the introduction of the safety car.

the real question though is why didnt Holdsworth pit and then why did he leave his pit stop until the safety car car came in

but i guess you miss all that on tv

Going by Natsoft, the #33 pitted on lap 109, and CL pitted on lap 112, so I don't think Holdsworth was leading the race at any stage (the lap chart also supports this).

I think what happened with the safety car was that car #1 was leading when the SC was called (as #888 had already pitted). AFAIK, the rules state that the SC slots in infront of the leader, or if the leader pits directly after the SC has been called, the SC slots into the position on the road that the leader had been in prior to pitting. This meant that it came out in front of the #5, the #22 etc, as they were running directly behind Rick prior to him stopping.

This is a horrible rule IMO, as it traps people who pit before the leader which somewhat artificially puts them a lap down. Of course, this won't be such a problem at Bathurst, as the lap is so long that making a stop before the leader won't see you running around a lap down in danger of being trapped........ but I still think it should be changed next year for Sandown.

[bestfit]

Lowndes was in the pits at the time safety car was deployed. Winterbottom who was in front of Lowndes in the queue at the restart, but behind in racing position, virtually lost a lap due to the safety car. Whereas Tander who was behind Lowndes in the queue was able to serve his drive through penalty without going down a lap.

[peckstar]

maybe it was the 34 car that was at the front then and pitted as the safety car peeled of. in which case i apologise to those i have mislead.

Then as you have mentioned the Safety car pulled out at the position Rick (car 1) would have been at. This is consitant application fo the Safety car though, they have always done this, even at Bathurst, not sure why they would change it as it creates too much confusion. Just bad luck/strategy for those who are caught

[00 XR8]

Correct, it is a consistent application of the safety car rules, but I still think the rule should be changed. The current rule means that genuine contenders (like the #5, the #51 and the #22) can have their race instantly destroyed by pot luck if an SC comes out during the pit stop cycle. Is this what we want?

The current rule also creates the ugly situation where we have the leaders tripping over fast cars that are actually being lapped, as we saw with Murphy and Lowndes.

Hence, my opinion is that this rule is rubbish, and that the SC should come out in the position where the leader was on the road (as is currently the case), and then wave through the cars who have been trapped between the SC and the actual leader before the restart happens. That way we get a restart actually led/controlled by the leader of the motor race............. which I think would actually produce far LESS confusion peckstar..........

[pete55]

Banning pit stops as soon as the safety car boards have been displayed would save a lot of problems and making it fairer for everybody as far as i am concerned.

[00 XR8]

Originally Posted by pete55

Banning pit stops as soon as the safety car boards have been displayed would save a lot of problems and making it fairer for everybody as far as i am concerned.

No, we have seen that in the past, and it just kills you if you haven't made your stop before the SC happens to come out. This rule was brought in for 2001, and I will let the Seton fans tell you about how unfair it was (Eastern Creek FTR 1-2 anyone? ).

Or you could just watch the 07 Canada F1 race again, as F1 now runs with this rule, and it is an absolute lottery........... which the teams are all very angry about, and trying to get changed for next year I believe...........

[agosling]

Safety Cars are an unfortunate necessity in racing and I don't think there will ever be an ideal way to deploy them. At the end of the day it made little if any impact on the overall result.

[Aquarius]

As I have been saying for a whaile, they need to close pit lane when the safety car goes out, for two reasons, one is to stop the farce that happened Sunday and the second is for the safety of track side officials.

[PVDA]

When an incident requires the Safety Car to be deployed the boards and flags are displayed trackside. If possible the Safety Car will wait for the leader to arrive and pick that car up.

If the leader pits prior to the Safety Car picking it up then the next car behind the raqce leader becomes the lead car behind the Safety Car (not race leader).

The current system is fair for 99.99% of the time.

[Alan52]

The trouble with closing the pits is if it happens in a pit window half the field could be stranded out of fuel.The rule produces more unfairness on a shorter circuit but I still think the best solution is to ensure the leader is behind the safety car at the restart.

[MosquitoByte]

The most important improvement that should be made is to only deploy the Saftey Car when necessary for SAFETY.....

[peckstar]

Maybe when you sat SAFETY, you should define it.

I would have thought, both times were appropriate on the weekend

[MosquitoByte]

Originally Posted by peckstar

Maybe when you sat SAFETY, you should define it.

I would have thought, both times were appropriate on the weekend

Bright yes, the other, hardly, off track to drivers left on a straightish piece of road., if it we any other category they would have left it there.

[peckstar]

if it was any other catagory it would be a ten lap race not 50 more laps,

That creates a difference

[MosquitoByte]

Originally Posted by peckstar

if it was any other catagory it would be a ten lap race not 50 more laps,

That creates a difference

A safe position is a safe position, regardless of how many laps a race runs.

When the competitors have ample opportunity to see a stranded vehicle as they approach AND the vehicle is off track on a straightish piece of road, I'd call that safe. So much so in fact, that if the driver had gotten out of the car, I would withdraw any yellow flags after no more than the equivalant of 1 lap but then, apparently I wouldn't know any better.

[PVDA]

I've got to disagree with you here Mossie.

I've seen several nasty crashes in that part of the track over the years and if someone runs wide out of 5 they could clean up the parked car. If the driver had put it on drivers right then by all means leave it there but drivers left it had to be moved.

[MosquitoByte]

Originally Posted by PVDA

I've got to disagree with you here Mossie.

I've seen several nasty crashes in that part of the track over the years and if someone runs wide out of 5 they could clean up the parked car. If the driver had put it on drivers right then by all means leave it there but drivers left it had to be moved.

A fair enough point, I suppose it depends on how far up the road it was, only got a brief glimpse on TV, was a tad hard to tell. I'll assume by your comment it was closer to the kink betwixt 4 & 5, rather than past 5.

I'll stand by my intention in general terms however, some SC's seem to be called for the weakest of reasons.

[PVDA]

T'was past 5 on Drivers Left part way up the hill.

I do admit it was borderline on being far enough up the hill but in an enduro you have to err on the side of caution.

[MPA]

Brighty was subjective too.

He was in a "Safe" place parked in the kitty litter almost on the fence a bit around the corner.

But since there was 100 or so laps to go it seemed like a good idea to remove him.

Safe is a subjective thing. All thing considered, I agree with whoever called for Brighty's safety car intervention.

[MosquitoByte]

Originally Posted by MPA

Brighty was subjective too.

He was in a "Safe" place parked in the kitty litter almost on the fence a bit around the corner.

But since there was 100 or so laps to go it seemed like a good idea to remove him.

Safe is a subjective thing. All thing considered, I agree with whoever called for Brighty's safety car intervention.

I certainly always agreed with the Bright incident being SC'd. There was simply no other option on that one.