who remembers...

[badgeman62]

i am sure this will bring back mixed memories for some.
how many marshals remember having to deal with car,s and drivers caught in catch fencing.
was it a good thing or not.
for those who dont know this was in use during the late 70,s early 80,s.

[Eddy V]

Loved it. It was always fun to (try) to get a car free, caught in the fence. It was safer as well for saloons, as cars didn't roll that often as they do now in graveltraps. Bad for single seater drivers though.

[The Fat Clerk]

Best ones of all used to Marshals caught in the catch fencing!
At Silverstone we used to camp in the infield, & on a couple of occasions i can remember jumping down from the clubhouse @ Woodcote & getting entangled, much to the amusement of my equally drunken colleagues.

On a much more serious note, it was one of these same catch fencing posts that claimed Dick Parsons life (F3) in the mid 80's. This was my 1st but unfortunately not last fatality as a marshal.

[Alan Raine]

I remember it well at Silverstone.

I was always concerned when single seaters went in it as the posts could hit the drivers helmet quite hard. It was a pain to pull off cars, took ages to replace and if anybody else went off at the same spot moments later things could get very complicated. Also because it was at an angle to the barrier you couldn't just go straight to the accident as you had to run 20 or 30 yards to the end of the fence and then to the car.

It served it's purpose at the time but was ultimately replaced by sand traps, which have there own problems. Having raced single seaters I would much rather go off into a home made beach than catch fencing, just to save the bodywork if nothing else.

[Grandslammer]

Remember it all to well and was also at the meeting The Fat Clerk mentions,thankfully not that post though .
On a couple of occasions,can recall going to an incident,picking a suitable path to the car, only to find I,m a couple of rows of catch fencing away .
Wasn't a great fan of it but it was 'derigueur' at the time

[Woolley]

Fortunately just missed it as a marshal, I arrived about the same time as gravel - actually, sand in those days. As a spectator I used to find it very entertaining.

[Chris Griffin]

Originally Posted by The Fat Clerk

Best ones of all used to Marshals caught in the catch fencing!
At Silverstone we used to camp in the infield, & on a couple of occasions i can remember jumping down from the clubhouse @ Woodcote & getting entangled, much to the amusement of my equally drunken colleagues.

On a much more serious note, it was one of these same catch fencing posts that claimed Dick Parsons life (F3) in the mid 80's. This was my 1st but unfortunately not last fatality as a marshal.

I was marshalling at that meeting too FC. Not at Woodcote fortunately but my mate Wayne Clarke was I/O at the incident. Most distressing. The guy died at the scene.

Catch fencing was a nightmare really. Because of the angle (to the track) that it had to be placed, you often had to run many yards down the bank before got to the right row to access the scene of the carnage. Also, the repairs necessary after an incident resulted in long delays between sessions.

[DaveW]

Having started in 1980, I remember catch fencing well. I was also at Silverstone the day after Dick Parsons accident and it clearly left a lasting impression on those involved.

Whilst it may have been a step in the right direction, I certainly don't miss it. Working with gravel traps, Recticel or substantial tyre barrers is definitely preferred.

[Hepatic]

I've been watching DVDs of the '85 GP season recently, where catch fencing was still used at some circuits (i remember Paul Ricard was one). I've never marshalled with it, but just watching the races and some cars going in to it, it scared the hell outta me. I can see the theory might have been good, but in practice it had many drawbacks. It's interesting to see that some places are now removing some gravel traps and going to high-grip asphalt to try and avoid the rolling experienced in single seaters...

[Alan Raine]

Originally Posted by Hepatic

It's interesting to see that some places are now removing some gravel traps and going to high-grip asphalt to try and avoid the rolling experienced in single seaters...

It does seem as though this is the latest thing. It at least allows the cars to get going again instead of being stuck in the sand or catch fencing. The only problem I see with it is that drivers will tend to use it as often as they can get away with and make it part of the corner.

[The Fat Clerk]

Certainly works well @ Silverstone, I was down @ Stowe a couple of years ago for the G.P & it was excellent.

[archaic gold]

I can well remember as a Clerk trying to persuade the MSA Steward as how little catch-fencing we could get away with replacing so that the Meeting could continue - it was a nightmare for everybody!
Did we ever find out WHOSE idea it was?????

[The Fat Clerk]

Yeah - The Grim Reaper!

[Alan Raine]

Originally Posted by archaic gold

Did we ever find out WHOSE idea it was?????

The guy who ran the fencing company in Towcester!!!???

[badgeman62]

alan raines point about the posts hitting drivers on the head made big headlines back in 1975,when mark donohue crashed,and was hit on the head by a said post.although not killed there and then he did die the next day (i think),due to head injuries sustained in the impact.

[Alan Raine]

Originally Posted by badgeman62

alan raines point about the posts hitting drivers on the head made big headlines back in 1975,when mark donohue crashed,and was hit on the head by a said post.although not killed there and then he did die the next day (i think),due to head injuries sustained in the impact.

I seem to remember that Donohue went into a big advertising hoarding and it was one of the posts from that structure which did the damage. The same thing though.

I witnessed several damaged crash helmets from catch fence posts.

[Ian Briggs]

I am too young to have dealt with catch fencing on circuits, but from experience of rally cars through fencing it seems like a nightmare on a circuit, we once had a Pug 205 through a barbed wire fence, he shot off as we were disentangling him, barbed wire flailing everywhere, tore the arse out of my Brother-in laws trousers and sliced his hand open, and whipped a spectator up in the air to land on his elbow, breaking it in lots of places.
Was there any system to stop single seater drivers slicing their heads off?

[Alan Raine]

Originally Posted by Ian Briggs

Was there any system to stop single seater drivers slicing their heads off?

Yes - they ducked!

Joking apart. They ran the Kart Grand Prix and the Bike Grand Prix when they had catch fencing and that was even more dangerous.

[The Fat Clerk]

Dick Parsons died in an F3 car @ Silverstone when he went through the Catch fencing @ Woodcote & one of the posts went through his helmet (& head).

[badgeman62]

oh well wrong again.

[ghinzani]

François Hesnault left the Brabham team after getting trapped in catch fencing whilst testing at Ricard in 85. I think it was the last straw for his confidence after a difficult start to the season.
When you think of what happened to poor Elio in 86 you can imagine how Frankie felt being trapped in a car that could be about to catch fire. Running the family transport business probably seemed a lot easier pastime.