Comments

[Andy Metcalf]

At Donington on Sunday a Driver in a Stock Hatch had a puncture, pulled over for about five laps, then crossed the finishing line to gain championship point(s) for finishing.

It was clear that the Marshals on the post where he pulled up to repeatedly asked him to leave his car, but he refused.

Luckily at no point did the driver's actions put anyone in any obvious danger, but should any driver be allowed to dictate his own rules, and what action should the officials take or be allowed to take?

[Woolley]

Depends on the series rules, which unfortunately ae not always communicated to the marshals. Our preference would always be for the driver to move to a position of safety. GTs and sportscars over longer distances often allow the driver to work on the car, but again, we'd want safety to be the over-riding factor. It's unusual for shorter races to allow the driver to stay with or work on the car, but if he got points, it must be OK. From my point of view, if a driver won't move I'm not going to risk myself to insist, and we'll report it to the clerk who will take whatever is the appropriate action for that series (either nothing at all or remove his wotsits with a release knife). The only exception would be if the car's in a dangerous place and the driver is preventing it's removal.

[brickkicker]

I saw that on Sunday as I was just up the road. I can sort of agree with the driver after all he has paid a lot of money to be there so a finish is good to get especialy if you get points just to finish. Were he pulled up wasnt the worst and I think if I had been on that post I would have done the same and leave him there and let them argue it out after.
If they dont want to get out leave them there, and get the hell out the way. If hes in a bad place he will soon realise and get out.

[EvilPumpkin]

We've always been taught the same as Woolley states. If they want to stay with the car and refuse to move, report it and let them get on with it!

What is the deal with "points for finishing". I've seen a couple of situations where a car that is peeing oil all over the track continues on (painting the circuit in the process and causing a big delay to the overall event) purely because they get points for finishing.

Are there many classes that have this format? Would it be reasonable to say that it encourages slightly less sensible behaviour from drivers with broken cars?

[Bob Pearson]

Hi Evil,
If there is only a small entry for a class and the points go down past that number of entries then a finish will reward points.
Personnaly I would have to be doing remarkably well in a achampionship to risk an engine by carrying on with an oil leak just for points

[Peter Harding]

Giving my views of this subject (and some associated issues) may take quite a few words and, as I know how boring it is to read a long message, I had better break it down.
This was one of the many messages that come in to Race Control during each race upon which the Clerk has to make a snap judgement. Such judgements require a balance between value for money for drivers, Safety, and needs of others (including marshals).
Sure we could glibly say that safety comes first, but that would be easy and we would stop a race or practice every time a car comes off. Others may have a comment to make but, unless it’s a real safety issue, there may not be time for a discussion with other messages already taking clerk’s time, so it gets an airing later.

[Peter Harding]

So what happened in this case from Race Control point of view?
A report received from an Observer that car XX has a deflating front left tyre. Without delay (and to RC credit) a black and orange is requested and displayed on Start. Before reaching this flag the driver stops at the entrance to Esses and message comes in saying driver wants to wait until the end and restart to take chequered flag.
Telephone op relays this to clerk who says “I have no problem with that”
In this instance I was surprised that the clerk said OK but thought that the car was safe, driver out and would get back in for the finish. Maybe the clerk thought that also.
Fact is the driver seems to have stayed in the car and caused a yellow flag until the end of the race at the last overtaking place before the finish. In hindsight we can say we shouldn’t have assumed what was to happen and asked more questions. Perhaps we should always say no.

[Peter Harding]

What I can assure you is that this matter was the subject of several discussions amongst officials and I am confident that, if it happens again, our actions and decisions will be updated by experience. This is always the case, not only in RC but also with marshals on the bank. We act. We learn, We improve. (is that what WWW should mean)

[Peter Harding]

So why did the driver want to do this. Well; in some championships they get a point if they are a “finisher”. A finisher on the timekeepers equipment is someone who crosses the finish line. This is where I get confused because a finisher for an upgrade signature has to cross the finish line and do at least 10 laps (or 80% if race is 10 laps or less). The timekeepers seem to include laps where the driver is in the pit lane except the last lap?. We had another driver on Sunday who was new and, as he came out of the esses, saw the chequered and decided, with cars around him, to enter the pit lane. Now he is not allowed to exit the pits and wont be classified as a finisher as he didn’t cross the line on the right side of the pit wall.
I felt sorry for him but rules is rules and I am sure they were introduced to stop the odd German winning a race whilst sitting in his metaphorical deckchair in the pit lane.
When you write down rules (or laws) they are fair for 90% but tend to convict 5% of the innocent and let 5% of the guilty go free.

[Peter Harding]

On a lighter note, apart from seeing both extremes of the fairness of the rules, there was the driver of car 38 who came in and asked why he was black flagged. This was a mystery until the questioning and detection found that, as he went through the esses (the cage), he observer the marshal’s post on the left with a black board on the front with the post number on it (Post 38) and ……………

LOL

[Mark Mitchell]

Originally posted by Peter Harding
........wont be classified as a finisher as he didn’t cross the line on the right side of the pit wall.

That didn't stop Schumacher from winning did it?