I want to point out that my message was sent over 30 days ago and has nothing
to do with the incident at RA, but was referring to several previous messages
concerning "cheating".
----- Original Message -----
From: Editorgary@aol.com
To: fot@autox.team.net ; MGVR@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2005 12:20 PM
Subject: Rules, Accidents, and Vintage Racing
In a message dated 7/23/05 9:52:14 AM, owner-fot-digest@autox.team.net
writes:
> The solution [to problems like the BRIC incident} can only be when the
> organizations state that a certain list of modifications is legal or open,
[and
> others are forbidden}. There can
> be no worse regulation than one that is not enforceable. (worse yet, is
not
> TRYING to enforce the rules)
>
While the speed and power (legal or otherwise) of the cars involved in the
BRIC incident certainly contributed to the intensity of the outcome, and
that
power may attract a certain personality of driver to that particular race
group,
I don't believe that this is an issue that can be handled by emphasis on
rules.
Much faster, more valuable, and more vulnerable cars than these, such as the
vintage formula car group, manage to have clean starts and relatively
incident-free races by simply recognizing that the cars are faster than
amateur
weekend drivers are capable of handling in difficult circumstances and
driving
accordingly.
The vintage formula car drivers also recognize that the pace lap and start
are perhaps the most dangerous portion of the race. (Imagine a group of fast
formula cars having a multi-car pile-up like that at the BRIC. Open wheels
would
cause cars to be launched in all directions, and period cockpits, roll bars
and gas tank configurations would make injury and death an almost certain
probability).
Consequently, as I understand it, there is a clear though tacit
understanding
that no one starts "racing" (i.e. no passing) until the cars have spread out
a bit, generally after the first turn on most courses. That still leaves a
lot
of track time left to show how fast the car is and how good the driver is,
while avoiding the possibility of a truly awful situation at the start.
Regardless of the legality and power of the cars, we need to focus the VMC
discussions this fall on policies and procedures for pace laps and starts.
If it
means that we no longer get to play Dale Earnhardt or Mario Andretti when
the
green flag is dropped (or believed to have been dropped), that seems like a
small price to pay for the assurance of increased safety.
Cheers
Gary Anderson
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