Gentlemen, start your excuses!

robjacobsen

The Pros From Dover
Ok, let's hear all the excuses. The stewards were still talking to drivers (probably still are) when I left the track over two hours ago. Workers were getting writers cramps all afternoon. Lots of contact resulting in wild rides over the curbs and bent cars. I know you guys can do better than what we saw this weekend.
 
Well, I just did not feel up to making it out there today.. sigh........ and everything goes to pieces. Hope all are well this evening.
 
Mark, thank you for posting that, and no it was not pretty. The passes shown were done by experienced drivers. These were not area drivers with recent upgrades that were still learning. My turn couldn't get all the numbers for the passes due to the slicing and dicing and diving.

BUT, something that I noticed was you acknowledging the flags shown. We appreciate it.
 
Hmmm, that's disturbing considering that was an issue only a few weeks ago with the same group at PIR. Those were pretty obvious flags..not sure how those were missed at multiple turn stations in a row. As a novice we have been drilled on those the first two races of the year and I haven't seen anything like that happen.
 
I hope we can collect an apology for the workers and stewards from everyone in G1. Close racing is close and dicey, and might involve a wreck or two. But it doesn't involve passing under the yellow, scaring workers, stuffing it on the re-start, or taking unnecessary risks. I'm sorry that we, as a group, weren't better behaved.
 
I don't disagree that the drivers own a majority stake of this last weekend's issues.

I was immediately behind the first incident between T6 and T7, which looked to me like it was simply a racing incident. One PRO3 car went wide coming off T6, initially two wheels in the dirt, and from my perspective it was obvious that he was going to hook back across the track. The other PRO3 car next to him didn't have the luxury of my view, nor any time to react, and the two of them got together. I checked up to avoid the carnage, and was grateful not to get drilled from behind. There was a lot of traffic in that zone, and the incident covered a majority of the surface, yet there were no secondary impacts. I personally thought everyone did a great job there. Given the scene, I expected a full course caution, and found double yellows as I approached turn 2B station. Kudos to the drivers involved and the workers for a very quick cleanup. The only complaint I have is that the pace car needs to go 5 mph faster so I don't burn my clutch up trying to stay behind.

I did not see the incident at the restart, my understanding is that drivers with radios got a better start than some without, and made some questionable choices about what constitutes racing room. I don't disagree that there should be some examination of the factors and behavior that contributed to this situation. Let me say that I'm certainly not without fault myself, I have made poor choices that have led to regrettable outcomes as well. Reflection is good.

One thing that needs to said though, is that the flagging was confusing at best, at least when I went through following the subsequent re-start incident.

Having said that, the flagging following the restart incident was confusing for me, and I didn't have 17 cars breathing down my neck. I saw a station with double yellows, checked up, only to come to the next station with no flags. Seeing the next station with no flags, I assumed the previous station displaying the double yellows simply hadn't pulled flags after the restart so I accelerated again only to come to the next station, now displaying double yellows. I'm trying to process what's going on while driving a race car at speed, and there are two possible scenarios that I can come up with in only a few seconds time: the unlikely chance that another station simply hasn't pulled flags after the restart, or, we are FCC again. Since I didn't have anyone racing me for position, and little traffic, I had the luxury of slowing to try to get a good read on the situation. I thought the next station will likely have double yellows flying and that would confirm that we were indeed under FCC again for some reason. The next station had no flags. I just decided to slow enough to be under full control, but proceed until things became clearer. Finally I passed two consecutive stations with double yellows, so things were indeed FCC.

I'm glad my class competition wasn't directly behind me trying to work a pass through all of this, because I would not have been able to dedicate the mental bandwidth to thinking through those possible scenarios. If so, I would have been looking to the next station to confirm or refute the previous flag, and finding no flags, it would have been game on.

I'm not sure we can lay all the responsibility for passes under yellow on the drivers. There were probably some black and white instances, but there also may have been some instances where the drivers did the best they could to read a very confusing situation and got it wrong.
 
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Randy, there was a glitch in the communications for that one. I heard Full Course Yellow and put mine out. I didn't hear the call to cancel them so mine stayed out.

(Also, once you ring the Full Course Yellow bell, you can't UN-ring it.)

Some of the turns did cancel and then noticed other turns were still on Full Course and then they started calling Race Control for verification and they put them out again.

Yes, we own that one and we can't stand back and say "Oh well, no harm, no foul".
When our flagging causes confusion to the drivers there is foul. I am sorry for that one and we were very lucky that nothing serious transpired from it. (someone getting run over from behind as a result would have been MORE THAN unfortuante.)
The passing that happened in my turn though, was at the point of the 3rd station of the double yellow.

We as flaggers, communicators, Race Control et al, will make every effort to better ourselves as well.
Thanks for making some very valid points and observations.
 
Just so I'm crystal clear, I am not in any way questioning the character or professionalism of any of the workers.

I think the challenge and issues result from the limitations of radio communications and the load of information that has to be processed in a very compressed interval of time, coupled with varying levels of experience.

I just wanted to provide a driver's perspective, that may help improve compliance.
 
(OHHHHH to have a land line at Pacific!!!)

And you were clear, you weren't questioning our professionalism, but it's always good when a driver(s) sing out with a question or a different perspective. 1) it shows they are watching and aware 2) helps keep us on our toes and be more aware. WIN WIN

Now for ORP YEE HAW!!
 
Sorry about the early end to your race MTripp. Judging from the vid, I'm hoping that it ended somebody else's racing credentials before they really hurt somebody with a numb, but aggressive lack of skill.
 
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Mike,

After the great racing in group 5 I am sorry to see your day end the way it did. I sincerely hope you don't chalk that up to a "racing incedent". Glad some of us have cameras. I have seen that maneuver pulled on other drivers before without any sense of responsibility. Thanks for posting.

Tyler Kolbo
 
Does anyone have video of the BMW pair leaping over the curb and grass in front of the turn 5 station? Mac Russell near flattened his tires stopping without clobbering those cars when then came to rest blocking 2/3 of the track. We thought they were going to nail the wall in front of the station. Heartstopping moment that.
 
Sorry about the early end to your race MTripp. Judging from the vid, I'm hoping that it ended somebody else's (overdue) racing credentials before they really hurt somebody with that numb, but aggressive lack of skill.
It was a bad, bad race, from first start to end. I saw someone else's video of the RX-7 playing bumper cars out there in the Group 2 start; he got Mike and another car on the first half lap; the second segment of the video Mike posted shows it. Just horrifying. This is not fun.

Watch it and weep. That RX-7 driver should never, ever be allowed on a race track (or even a public road) again.
 
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Does anyone have video of the BMW pair leaping over the curb and grass in front of the turn 5 station? Mac Russell near flattened his tires stopping without clobbering those cars when then came to rest blocking 2/3 of the track. We thought they were going to nail the wall in front of the station. Heartstopping moment that.



Here is the video from #108:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXmto8b5MeE
 
I would like to know, as an ICSCC racer, if the RX-7 driver #70 has been banned for any extended duration. And, if not, why in god's name not?
 
#70 is a senior racer. I seem to remember a miata playing bumper cars with me & #09 last year and he ended up in the wall, but our club gave him an award lol.
 
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