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Re: Passing

To: S800Racer@aol.com, clark@dnf.com, vintage-race@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Passing
From: Mike Jackson <grand_wazoo@flinet.com>
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 13:28:21 -0400
I like both Brian and Uncle Jack's responses.  Some rules of fender location
apply but the summary of dont hit or get hit is really the answer.  I worry at
the occasional drivers meeting when some gold-chain guy wants to carefully
review the rules of who has a corner.  Amazingly enough, he's usually the one
in the brand new drivers suit that has yet to have it's back side stained from
having the crap scared out of him.

I have seen good driver conduct and passing etiquette in both VSCDA and SVRA.
It's probably worse in SVRA just due to the size of entry at premium events
like Mid-O and Watkins Glen.  Folks that get enough seat time to be aware of
their surroundings seem to mostly come around to fair and safe racing with few
attempts to cut others off and just pay for it in body work.  On the other
hand, most of the really bad passing I've been involved with has been in the
back of the pack.  I think mostly it is those folks that just haven't been in
the seat long enough to have what I call the "movie in their brain" slow down
to normal speed.  They simply aren't aware of everything around them and they
don't know what their car will and will not do.  And there is no way to gain
that improvement other than racing.  When I've been grouped with cars that are
mostly much faster than I, I too end up in the aft end of the pack.  I've had
some truly scary times there.  I modify my aggression level accordingly.
(Unless of course I'm in the FV and there are 4 other adrenaline pumping bozos
drafting right on my tail, but that's another problem.)

A final personal note.  My first BIG TIME vintage race was with SVRA about 12
years ago and I had the thrill of being passed by Mr. Moss himself in a loaned
Sprite.  I was that back marker that didn't see it coming, got the begezuz
scared out of me and soiled my brand new suit.  The old fart stole an apex from
me after I had already turned in.  Lucky for me he was going so much faster
than I was that I probably couldn't have hit him if I had wanted to.

Brian Evans wrote:

> My thinking on passing is that I don't agree with the idea that you can put
> a rule, or even a hard guideline, in place to control passing in any form
> of racing.  My only two rules about passing are don't hit the other car and
> don't get hit by the other car - in no particular order!  The relative
> position of one car with respect to the other has no bearing on it.  People
> hear rules like "the responsibility for a safe pass lies with the passing
> car", and leap to the conclusion that the passee has no responsibility for
> participating in a safe pass.  They hear rules like " if your front fender
> is even with or past the passee's door handle, you have the right to the
> corner".  All that rules like this do is set up expectations that cannot be
> met on the track, where real life intrudes on theoretical perfection.
>
> I've often seen, and performed (rarely!) passes that were very safe  where
> I was a full car length behind the passee when we entered the corner (you
> can do this at many corners at Mosport).  I've seen and participated in
> great passes (both as passee and passer) that took two or three corners to
> complete, and included a whole bunch of side by side racing.  So a rule
> that says examine your peripheral vision (which varies widely between
> people with otherwise excellent vision) does, IMHO, little more than give
> people some grounds to bitch when something goes wrong.
>
> All successful passes have one thing in common - the drivers cooperated to
> the extent that they left the other driver enough room to avoid a
> wreck.  So if you think about it, both the passer and the passee are
> responsible to ensure a safe pass.  The greater weight of
> responsibility  is on the passer, of course, because he's the one putting
> both cars in harms way, but the guy being passed (read gender neutral
> references of your choice here, please)  often has the option to allow a
> safe pass, or not.
>
> This presumes, and in fact requires, that the passer have a brain in his
> head and attempts passes that have a hope of happening. So the real "rule"
> is a pretty simple one, should be easy to follow - "don't be stupid!"  Use
> "common sense".  Be "responsible".  And when you're being passed - give the
> other guy a break, and don't force a wreck, and then blame the other guy
> for your inability to play fair.
>
> Brian - Rules - I don't need no stinkin' rules! - Evans
>
> \Jack eloquently inscribed...
> >However, the whole thing brings to mind a subject near and dear to my
> >heart -- namely, the proper code of ethics for passing:
> >
> >1. Punting another car out of the way is forbidden and should be
> >punished.
> >2. Blocking a clearly faster overtaking car is not done (I'm talking
> >here about a car that is lapping you, or a clearly faster car that for
> >whatever reason is behind you -- like a Corvette behind a Sprite or a n
> >XKE behind my TR4.
> >3. Blocking another car of the same speed is bad manners and bad
> >sportsmanship -- unless it is on the last lap and is for finishing
> >position.
> >4. For cars of nearly equal speed, fighting for position, whose corner
> >is it? It's really simple -- if the overtaking car CAN BE SEEN WITH
> >PERIPHERAL VISION by the overtaken driver, the corner belongs to the
> >overtaking car. This means that the overtaking car must have its front
> >fender at least halfway alongside the overtaken car.
> >5. If the overtaking car is 'kinda' alongside, say its front fender is
> >abreast of the overtaken car's rear fender, the corner belongs to the
> >car in front -- the driver can't necessarily see the passing car, and
> >the passing car has no right to the leading car's line.
> >
> >These are the practices followed by respected drivers in every auto
> >racing venue.
> >
> >Okay, go ahead.
> >
> >--
> >uncle jack
> >TR4 - 10 mpg
> >TR6 - 30 mpg
> >(plus a few other differences)
>
> Brian Evans
> Director, Global Sales
> UUNET, An MCI WorldCom Company


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