barc f renault uk quote in mn

gravel_monkey · 10 Jun 2008, 23:38 (Ref:2225295)

hey all, i know a lot of f reno guys post on here. i was wondering if anyone else had read the report on the safety car request for this series and if they had seen one drivers quote. i would like to ask what you guys thought of it if you know which quote i mean, i didnt want to just post it up incase i started trouble! if the mods feel it may end up in a dodgy post then please delete!

SAMD · 11 Jun 2008, 06:09 (Ref:2225413)

Quote:

Originally Posted by gravel_monkey

hey all, i know a lot of f reno guys post on here. i was wondering if anyone else had read the report on the safety car request for this series and if they had seen one drivers quote. i would like to ask what you guys thought of it if you know which quote i mean, i didnt want to just post it up incase i started trouble! if the mods feel it may end up in a dodgy post then please delete!

Now that appetites are duly whetted, How do we find this "quote"?

Aha!! duuuuuu I suppose MN means motoring news!!!!
Sharp as a tennis ball me!!! LOL

**Asp** · 11 Jun 2008, 08:48 (Ref:2225508)

Quote:

Originally Posted by gravel_monkey

i didnt want to just post it up incase i started trouble! if the mods feel it may end up in a dodgy post then please delete!

I wouldn't have any objections if you post "the quote" for discussion - otherwise this thread is a bit redundant for those of us who have no idea what you're on about! Just don't copy the whole article, that's when we start to get grumpy!

Bob Pearson · 11 Jun 2008, 12:07 (Ref:2225678)

Back in the days when I was Drivers rep this whole subject was chewed over at great length with BARC and ( in my view) the right decision was made that a safety car was in fact a danger unless used in a formula which had pit to driver radios or some form of audible warning to the drivers as in FR UK.
The evidence used at the time was the spate of heavy and in some cases injurous accidents which were taking place immeadiately following the scrambling of a safety car and also the displaying of other idea which was being trialled which was the black and yellow flag.

gravel_monkey · 12 Jun 2008, 23:44 (Ref:2227424)

ok here goes, in motorsport news there was an article about formula reno drivers asking to be able to use safety cars instead of just red flagging a race. when going through the article there were two quotes from drivers about why this was needed, and in all honesty i have to agree with them on their reasons why. what got me was a quote from ash davies who said
"at oulton two weeks ago the second stoppage was for a car miles off the track that got beached at cascades" anyone wanting the quote mn news june 04)

now being a marshal at that post which asked for the flag i do get a bit annoyed by this comment. i understand that mr davies is there to race and make the most of his entry fee but while the rules are this way with no safety car i dont see how he can complain. the car in question that was beeched had gone wide at cascades across the grass. the driver span the car and then tried to rejoin not knowing his rear suspension had collapesed. when he could not get back on the track he duely parked the car. we had to get a red flag becuase not only knowing that particular post very well but also through the day several other cars from various champs including the f reno had been across that very section at a seriously quick speed. the decision was correct because if we left it and someone else went through the grass section, especially at the speed of f reno's it would have been a large accident. to illustrate the point the 3rd red flag for the reno race was after mr pearson had gone over the exact spot were the previous car was left and lost control coming back on the track. if we had left the other car there he would have it well in excess of 80mph and you can only imagine the damage. i fully understand why the reno guys want a safety car and i will admit i love the series as it is always great racing. it just annoys me when someone makes a comment without thinking of the bigger picture! it just seems the way article read which is prob no fault of mr davies that as marshals and officials we just threw the red flag for the sheer hell of it!

Bob Pearson · 13 Jun 2008, 07:50 (Ref:2227536)

I believe this subject stretches far further than is immediately obvious.
My belief is:
When a car goes off as did the one Gravel is referring to it should be protected by a yellow flag in race conditions, but the session should be red flagged if it is qualifying.
My reasoning is: The object of qualifying is to obtain the best grid position possible, nothing more and nothing less. To do that you must be driving at your own personal limit. That cannot be done with a yellow flag displayed without breaking the yellow flag rules.
In a race it is easy to cease racing and obey the yellows for the short area covered by the yellow and continue racing at the green. It should be the same for everyone. I wrote should because we all know that someone will try to sneak an advantage by not slowing. The onus then falls with observers and Cof C's to come down hard on offenders. When I say hard I mean hard, exclusion for the slightest suspicion that someone did not comply. We may all be crackers, but we are not thick, we would soon realise that we need to demonstrate that we have slowed to avoid exclusion and would act accordingly. Where FR's are concerned proof one way or the other would be easy as they are all fitted with a very user friengly data logging system which could be downloaded as evidence.
So. given the current state of affairs I believe you guys at Cascades did the right thing when presented with the beached car, but I believe changes should go a lot further along the lines shown above. It is worth noting that if the drivers could be trusted to comply fully with yellow flags the only incident which would have cause a red in that race would have been the startline accident at the first start, because all the other incidents ended up clear of the track!!

JimW · 13 Jun 2008, 11:15 (Ref:2227705)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Pearson

. . . It is worth noting that if the drivers could be trusted to comply fully with yellow flags the only incident which would have cause a red in that race would have been the startline accident at the first start, because all the other incidents ended up clear of the track!!

Spot on.

Jim

gravel_monkey · 14 Jun 2008, 22:17 (Ref:2228960)

was a bit worried about the comments i made at first but when you get a reply like bob's................
as jim said you cant really say anymore. prob one of the quickest serious threads to be wrapped up here on 10/10ths. well done bob.