Austria ERC

[Barrie]

Kev Proctor fourth quickest in 1st heats. Jernberg quickest.

[Barrie]

Kev ninth quickest in 2nd Heats, Hanson, Isachsen, Jernberg top 3. Should get Kev in the B final at least.

[schanche]

Whatever result in Austria for Kevin and the others will be overlooked by all the goings on at the event seems to have turned into a farce.Each party at war with each other not good advert for the ERC no doubt this will get discussed in further posts make interesting reading.

[BOY BLUNDER]

Tony
1.yernberg
2.hansen
3.walfridsson
didnt see how kev got on thought.

BB....

[QuarterRik]

The Austrian organisation failled,...again!!!
This race should be black flagged.
I find this whorse than the crash at Valkenswaard ast year.

http://www.rallycross.hu/massive_crash_in_melk.html


.

[schanche]

Originally Posted by BOY BLUNDER

Tony
1.yernberg
2.hansen
3.walfridsson
didnt see how kev got on thought.

BB....

Cheers BB...
Kevin Finished 9th Overall not bad after a break in the Bahalmas/Barbados ?
Just a shame the event by all accounts turned in to a shambles! will it or wont it be on the calender next year? any little thing now that occurs at events with drivers and Organisers must give hope to those running candidate events this year!
Thanks for the link QuarterRik just watched it! not good viewing had to bloody hurt unnecessary damage caused me thinks Marshalls on here would like to hear your oppinions should it have been stopped although I guess not enough footage ....

[CS1]

Originally Posted by schanche

Cheers BB...
Kevin Finished 9th Overall not bad after a break in the Bahalmas/Barbados ?
Just a shame the event by all accounts turned in to a shambles! will it or wont it be on the calender next year? any little thing now that occurs at events with drivers and Organisers must give hope to those running candidate events this year!
Thanks for the link QuarterRik just watched it! not good viewing had to bloody hurt unnecessary damage caused me thinks Marshalls on here would like to hear your oppinions should it have been stopped although I guess not enough footage ....

Of course it should have been stopped. Walfriddson clearly couldnt see where the problem was even without the dust and had to take evasive action because eklunds car was on the racing line and around a blind bend. Pinnomaki and Munich never stood a chance and now one of them is in hospital.
No question in my mind

[zac510]

With the short laps in rallycross the race directors have to analyse the situation, make a decision and communicate it very quickly - within 30 seconds.

[BOY BLUNDER]

As cheifstartline for the BRDA,and a marshall aswell,i would have requested a race stop,and it seemed that the only marshall point was on the start of the loose,i thought in the ERC,you have to do a DOUBLE WAVED YELLOW,that was what we was told at lydden in easter,what a horrible accident.

BB....

[King Arthur]

With the short laps in rallycross the race directors have to analyse the situation, make a decision and communicate it very quickly - within 30 seconds.

Exactly, and that is what we have to do every race we run. Sometimes 60 or more races in a day. The UK Qualified Clerks do this every meeting and whilst we / they do not get it right every time, we ALWAYS put the safety of the driver first.

KA aka TW

[Jakobth]

At the website of German driver Rene Münnich you´ll get an almost horrific view of the accident as the clip presents onboard photage of the crash.

Hope this will be an very expensie lesson in how NOT to let the race continue with standed veihecels at the track.

Look for "Unfall Melk" -> http://www.muennich-motorsport.com/

[StockHatch782]

Originally Posted by Jakobth

At the website of German driver Rene Münnich you´ll get an almost horrific view of the accident as the clip presents onboard photage of the crash.

It's very easy to cast aspersions from afar and I can't make a firm judgement from a few videos, but I can't see any of the reasoning behind the decision not to stop the race. The whole thing looks to me like an absolute disgrace from start to finish. There shouldn't have been so much dust, the race should have immediately been stopped and, possibly worst of all, there's no way an injured driver should be allowed to lie for that long, collapsed on the floor with potentially serious spine injuries, waiting for medical attention, while another driver is unconscious in his car nearby. It just absolutely beggars belief, to be honest; rallycross, by it's nature, runs on some of the shortest circuits around, and there's no excuse for taking so long for medical attention to reach them. In what other short-circuit sport would you expect a delay like that while your MECHANIC was the first one to reach the scene and people stood bellowing for help in the middle of the wreckage of several cars?

This makes me extremely angry, and I'm only glad that they both escaped more serious injury. Sadly, the organisers seem to have placed the value for money and time restraints above the safety of the drivers who are trusting them implicitly to make decisions about their safety. It's all very well saying that stewards have to make a quick decision, but if they can't do it they shouldn't even be there - this is potentially peoples' lives we're talking about. As KA rightly points out, people like him make extremely difficult decisions countless times in the course of a meeting, and safety must ALWAYS come first in these situations.

My dad tells me stories of visiting French rounds years ago; he says that when there was an accident the doctor was driven flat out to the scene in a Peugeot 205 T16, whilst the other drivers carried on racing around them. It all sounds very cool and funny, but these sort of speeds and conditions are not a game, and there is no excuse for allowing a serious, preventable accident to happen. I just hope I'm never put into that situation by someone else's failure to make a decision. My thoughts go out to the drivers involved in wishing them a speedy recovery.

[Hickey]

Originally Posted by Jakobth

At the website of German driver Rene Münnich you´ll get an almost horrific view of the accident as the clip presents onboard photage of the crash.

Hope this will be an very expensie lesson in how NOT to let the race continue with standed veihecels at the track.

Look for "Unfall Melk" -> http://www.muennich-motorsport.com/

I have tried to access this and it requires authorization? Am I the only one who this is happening to?

On the more pertinent subject of the race, surely the default situation is to red-flag the race, not just for safety reasons but also becuase these are timed qualifications. Given how tough the ERC is to get into a final, competitors shouldn't be required to slalom extra cars just to save the organizers time. Every ERC event I have attended has had more than enough spare time to eat into between heats/finals etc.

The safety of the competitors must come first and I do not agree with the decision making time restraints being a problem in this case. I read on ERC24 that they had time to radio HQ and say that they had made a decision that Eklund was not on the racing line (are they blind?); so if they had time to do this, then they had time to throw out a red flag.

I was stood on the first corner at Hungary and two cars were in the middle of a blind, uphill bend and the race continued. Pauwels and another narrowly avoided them (very narrowly and at a snail's pace), whereas Liam Doran had to do a handbrake turn to avoid them, and then pulled out of the heat. The problem there was that the only yellows were on the apex of the corner!! Cars are flying in at 100mph and are meant to see the flags and stop instantly! Unbelievable. At that pace, I bet drivers are lucky enough to see marshal's post, let alone a waved yellow flag! This is not fair or safe to any competitor and thus this accident in Austria was an unfortunate innevitability.

As previously mentioned on here, it is easy to judge after an event and hindsight is always 20/20; let's just hope the powers that be take heed and prevent this happening again.

[shhh]

Originally Posted by Hickey

I have tried to access this and it requires authorization? Am I the only one who this is happening to?

Here you go, the full crash video.

http://www.motorsportmad.com/view/74...-june-6th-2009

[BertMk2]

Just watched the clip on Rene's site - that was a horrible accident. Should have been stopped, no question about it, there was enough time to stop it no problem. Was Per still in his car? It may not have been "on the racing line" but it was certainly in a dangerous position (as proven by subsequent events).

About the only plus point you can take from the accident is that the cars stood up to it very well. Big damage but none of it looks terminal for the cars (Pinomakis looks the worst of the three). Hope the drivers make full and swift recoveries and are back in action soon.

[rx-guru]

Nope, Per took to his heels in time.

For Münnich the 2009 RX season is finished.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by rx-guru

Nope, Per took to his heels in time.

Lucky he was long gone - it would have been bad if he'd still been in the car - worse if he was in the process of getting out.....

Originally Posted by rx-guru

For Münnich the 2009 RX season is finished.

I'm not surprised to hear that - I guess the recovery time for that kind of injury is fairly lengthy. It's not something worth rushing either.

[Non stop]

http://www.rallycross.hu/erc_melk_d1final.html

[schanche]

Originally Posted by StockHatch782

My dad tells me stories of visiting French rounds years ago; he says that when there was an accident the doctor was driven flat out to the scene in a Peugeot 205 T16, whilst the other drivers carried on racing around them. It all sounds very cool and funny, but these sort of speeds and conditions are not a game, and there is no excuse for allowing a serious, preventable accident to happen. I just hope I'm never put into that situation by someone else's failure to make a decision. My thoughts go out to the drivers involved in wishing them a speedy recovery.

I recall the above mentioned Medics T16 was it only ever France that used the Idea for Transporting the Medics or did other venues use similar cars for the purpose.How about a pic of the T16 Im sure it had doctor or Medic all over it certainly different site to see at events!
Guru your turn I think?
Might make a good artilce on the other well known website that you contribute too