Clark Smith <clark@dnf.com> wrote:
> Subject: Re: Incident at Pre Historics
>
> Hi All,
>
> I was at the race, viewing from the corkscrew. I saw Carl go through with
> the engine cover pointing straight up acting like an air brake. I
> immediately looked up at the turn workers at the base of the corkscrew and
> further up at the entrance. Both turn workers were looking right at the car
> as it went through the curves so I was sure that everyone knew. I even
> thought I heard the closer turn worker speak on his headphone and then he
> turned to another worker that was sitting with him. Carl's car even
> appeared to be going through the curves slowly and I remember thinking it
> was weird that he didn't just pull off the track. There were no flags
> exhibited. I assumed that the car would continue, slowly, to the pit
> entrance only a few curves away.
>
> I was absolutely shocked that no one stopped the car as it progress nearly
> all the way around the track again and back to the corkscrew. The wreck was
> only a few hundred feet away from where I was standing, nearly 2.2 miles
> after I had seen him go by with the problem.
>
> I can't imagine what on earth prevented the officials from stopping him
> before the accident.
Speaking as a corner worker ... what, exactly, do you expect a corner
worker to *do* to "stop him before the accident"? There is no flag that
says "stop, you're being an idiot", much as we might like to have one.
The closest thing is a mechanical black (meatball), and there's not a
lot that can be done if the driver is "looking down at his gearshift"
as he goes by the black flag station (start/finish and T7 at Laguna).
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