Introduction of Safety Car

[ianbru]

What's the consensus regarding the introduction of a safety car this year then?

For me as a newbie XR2 entrant this year I'm quite pleased about it really

Being a long term Knockhill spectator, the volume of red flags and restarts was quite frustrating.... and at times very confusing (even to the race commentators!).

I think the safety car will add a bit of a better flow to the racing..... and I'm sure it'll also add some interesting tactical thinking (and probably a few heated arguments )

Another good thing is the fact that the first 3 safety car laps will not count as race laps.... so we won't lose out on too much actual race distance.

[TheRealDC]

Greg

Got to be a good thing, in my view. There are too many delays for sure whenever there is an incident. Several years ago the SMRC tried having the lead race car assume the role of safety car. There was a special black/yellow quartered flag for this and on seeing the flag the race leader was supposed to gradually slow down to half race speed and bunch all the grid up (to allow maximum time between cars passing until next lap and therefore allow marshals to deal with the incident with minimum risk to themselves). The reality was that, when the race leader saw the flag, they would either slow down immediately without warning or not slow enough - both equally dangerous in their own ways. In fact, if I recall correctly, there was a race when this flag was deployed and a poor backmarker was unable to make any ground on the last car in the pack ... Glad they have not proposed to re-introduce that particular safety measure



DC

[martinbuchan]

Defo agree about the red flags being reduced Greg, it was kinda annoying at times but it did save my bacon one time lol

The only thing Im worried about is restarting as you could have a big concertina effect which could lead to some damage further down the line perhaps but hopefully it'll all be plain sailing.

Just one part is puzziling me, when the safety car gets told to enter pitlane will it stop in pitlane or just drive through it? Also Im guessing its not race back to the line as like the BTCC and to just stick your hand up and slow down when you see the SC boards.

Next year we need green white checkerd finishes ;D

[norm]

I don't think I'm the person that DC is referring to, but I do remember a wet race in the XR2s many years ago where Alan Keith ("the Michael Schumacher of the XR2s"!) was leading when the black/yellow flag came out and he became the pseudo safety car. I've never been great in the wet and me and several others completely failed to catch up with the group as he'd had only slowed down to my flat-out-in-the-wet racing speed!

Norm

[Giggsy]

Another good thing is the fact that the first 3 safety car laps will not count as race laps.... so we won't lose out on too much actual race distance.[/quote]

Will the XR2's have big enough fuel tanks, to cover all those laps then

[TheRealDC]

Apparently the major teams are already redesigning their XR2's for the new regs ....


p.s. Norm - I wasn't referring to you, but I can't recall the chap who was normally several seconds slower than anyone else in any conditions. It was kinda funny though!!

[flagmonkey]

Mar 5, 2010 12:44:25 GMT martinbuchan said:

Just one part is puzziling me, when the safety car gets told to enter pitlane will it stop in pitlane or just drive through it? Also Im guessing its not race back to the line as like the BTCC and to just stick your hand up and slow down when you see the SC boards.
;D

Clause 3.13.2 of XR2 regulations say "The Safety Car, yellow/amber lights illuminated, will normally join and exit the circuit (Knockhill) from the Tri-Oval immediately after the exit from the hairpin". So the safety car will not enter/exit from the pit lane at the commencement or cessation of a Safety Car period.

Oh and none of the dodgem tactics as employed by BTCC if you please. As soon as you pass a waved yellow and SC board you must behave (ok then try to be as well behaved as XR2s/Minis can be) and no racing to the start/finish line and no overtaking or you will get sent to the naughty step.

[Mike Hogg]

Mar 5, 2010 15:15:20 GMT TheRealDC said:

Apparently the major teams are already redesigning their XR2's for the new regs ....


p.s. Norm - I wasn't referring to you, but I can't recall the chap who was normally several seconds slower than anyone else in any conditions. It was kinda funny though!!

I think I recall the car you mean - wasn't it mostly black with spray-painted wheels? The name is escaping me....

Anyway - from a spectator standpoint it's a very good thing. The massive amount of red flags last year got a bit tedious when standing in the freezing wind!

Might take the drivers a while to get the hang of it though, hope there aren't any pileups like in a Formula Renault race about 5 or 6 years ago on the main straight - took out about 6 cars! Also, we almost had a disaster in the first Legends race at the BTCC last year as the SC call for some reason reached certain parts of the track and not round at the far side - half the field barrelled out of Clark and nearly had a disaster!

Overall, a good thing, though.

[martinbuchan]

Mar 5, 2010 15:52:14 GMT flagmonkey said:

Mar 5, 2010 12:44:25 GMT martinbuchan said:

Just one part is puzziling me, when the safety car gets told to enter pitlane will it stop in pitlane or just drive through it? Also Im guessing its not race back to the line as like the BTCC and to just stick your hand up and slow down when you see the SC boards.
;D

Clause 3.13.2 of XR2 regulations say "The Safety Car, yellow/amber lights illuminated, will normally join and exit the circuit (Knockhill) from the Tri-Oval immediately after the exit from the hairpin". So the safety car will not enter/exit from the pit lane at the commencement or cessation of a Safety Car period.

Oh and none of the dodgem tactics as employed by BTCC if you please. As soon as you pass a waved yellow and SC board you must behave (ok then try to be as well behaved as XR2s/Minis can be) and no racing to the start/finish line and no overtaking or you will get sent to the naughty step.

Thanks for the clarification on RBTL. The pitlane rule I was meaning was the one mentioned in 3.13.14 ("Clerk of the course may ask the safety car to use the pit lane") but I've just read it again and it says you can stop in your garage or space so seems to suggest it will come to a stop. I'll just do what the guys in front do lol

[aland]

Mar 5, 2010 15:52:14 GMT flagmonkey said:

Oh and none of the dodgem tactics as employed by BTCC if you please. As soon as you pass a waved yellow and SC board you must behave (ok then try to be as well behaved as XR2s/Minis can be) and no racing to the start/finish line and no overtaking or you will get sent to the naughty step.

Derek, I honestly think that the drivers will behave in regards to driving standards when the safety car is out, there is a lot of respect between drivers and marshals in the scottish scene and i would be surprised and disapointed if they didnt slow down and obey the rules when we are working trackside. They dont want to put us at any more risk than we already are.

dont let me down lads

[flagmonkey]

Sorry Martin I answered a question you didn't ask....Doh

I think that the mention of the pit lane is only in the extreme situation where the track on the start/finish is blocked then the rules permit the train to be led through the pit lane behind the Safety Car. Not really a likely scenario on a 10 lap race at Knockhill as I guess if the mess is that bad then the red flag would be used. Why did I just type "....not likely scenario..."? Oh dear.

The basic MSA safety car rules now have to apply to a 10 lap sprint at Knockhill and also multi-hour endurance races elsewhere in UK. Some of the elements of the rules will be more relevant than others to the SMRC classes. I am not sure if the going through the pit-lane behind the safety car has ever been invoked. At Britcar 24 hours in 2008 even after a horrendous start-line crash the race continued and I think that they still used the track and not the pit whilst the rescue, medics and recovery crews did their work (can't be sure as I was at Abbey).

[flagmonkey]

Mar 5, 2010 19:18:09 GMT aland said:

Derek, I honestly think that the drivers will behave in regards to driving standards when the safety car is out, there is a lot of respect between drivers and marshals in the Scottish scene and i would be surprised and disappointed if they didn't slow down and obey the rules when we are working trackside. They don't want to put us at any more risk than we already are.
don't let me down lads

Does that include the Driver of the Safety Car too?

[Blair]

Wonder who the lucky guy / girl will be that gets to drive the safety car!

This idea gets the thumbs up from me, the few races I competed in last year all seemed to have red flags from what I recall. Especially now that the Fiesta's have green flag laps, just going through the whole pre race ritual when you have a red flag seems to take forever and you spend more time sitting about waiting on grids being formed than racing (or driving mildly fast!).

[Racemania]

Safety car is a great idea but just one part of the equation I think the racecevier side where drivers are told of Off’s and oil spills etc is essential.

I believe SMRC are making it compulsory for Legends this year but voluntary for all other classes. That’s like refusing a joint in a room full of pot smokers and justifying it by saying I don’t do drugs!

Ali

[emicen]

Mar 8, 2010 8:53:37 GMT Racemania said:

Safety car is a great idea but just one part of the equation I think the racecevier side where drivers are told of Off’s and oil spills etc is essential.

I believe SMRC are making it compulsory for Legends this year but voluntary for all other classes. That’s like refusing a joint in a room full of pot smokers and justifying it by saying I don’t do drugs!

Ali

Theyre trialling it across the other classes to see if the drivers like it before making a decision on making it compulsory or not

Although I havent tried an earpiece yet, I'm all for it. One of the Mini races at the end of last year had a red flag after everyone got touchy feely on the railway straight and cant help but feel if the radios had been in play they could have avoided the red flag.