Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 17:46:57 -0400 (EDT)
From: kit
To: New England Area Race List
Subject: RE: [near] White walls & white clothes?
On Tue, 10 Jul 2001, Adam Vella wrote:
> As for my $.02, I think the CWs should have left the bike out there
> until there was absolute safety to remove it. I'd much rather have to
> ride around a bike rather than try to dodge a moving corner worker.
> I think CW safety procedures should be re-examined. This can be a
> very dangerous sport and they should only put themselves at risk if
> another rider is in danger.
Adam, it is *just* as dangerous to have a bike out in the middle of the
racing line as it is to have people out there getting it off the track.
You might not think so, but it's people being willing to get out there
and do this that keeps our safety record as good as it is. I have watched
this exact scenario happen a couple of times in Daytona, sans workers, and
the outcome isn't any better. :/
As much as I wish Rob hadn't been injured, and as much as I value my own
safety, I still wouldn't leave a bike out there for a rider to hit. Just
because a red flag happens doesn't mean we won't still have a collision
with something in the race line, the same as a waving yellow flag didn't
protect our people out there on Saturday. But what Rob Dages and Richard
Martin were doing out there was trying to prevent someone like Rick
Currier from getting hurt. It failed this time, but MOST of the time it
doesn't. (For instance, when people risked themselves to get to you in
Turn 7.)
We've said this a hundred times on this list, but maybe you haven't really
understood what it means that we don't red flag every single crash like
this. Let's break it down a little bit:
First, think about how long it takes to regroup and deal with a red flag
incident:
-- Anywhere from 3-7 minutes to get the bikes off the track and
-- regridded, during which we are working on cleaning up the track.
-- *If* it's a minor situation, that's all the time we need for the
-- incident itself. If it's not, add 3-7 more minutes, best case.
-- 3.5 minutes for the next sighting lap before we can really get
-- going again.
So, a spread of 6.5 to 17.5 minutes. Now every time there's a crash in,
say, Turn 2, you think we should red flag it? We have maybe... 5-10
crashes in Turn 2 every day, most of them pretty minor, in terms of damage
to riders and bikes. So, again, best case 32+ minutes added to our
schedule, worst case we're pushing 3 hours. The reality is probably going
to be somewhere in between.
We have a minimum of 12-13 races every day, and with splits we sometimes
push that to 18. How do you anticipate this change in corner worker safety
practices would impact the ability to get those completed? Are you willing
to give up your practice time or your race classes in order to accommodate
this?
Even if you are, I bet a lot of people are not.
Kit
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catness@broadsquad.org LRRS/CCS #858
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