I'm getting some private posts about my comments to Mark about Spinning
at autocross. He had suggested that it should be impossible to hit
anything when spinning at an event site.
My reply to him must have come across as if I were suggesting that
autocross is a dangerous sport that we should all just accept. Here's the
deal. There are inherent dangers in any moving motorsport, including Solo
II. Our rules are designed to limit that risk to a reasonable level. That
level is spelled out in our rules as being about the same or better than
driving on the street.
We have a very active and good Solo Safety Steward and Safety program in
place here in Atlanta. We do not want to see any driver hit any objects,
or worse yet, hit anybody at one of our events.
My point to Mark is that expecting to come to an autocross event and have
absolutely no risk in case of a spin is unrealistic. This whole thread
started out as some were complaining about the "high speeds" at the SD
Tour. Having heard those same complaints from some competitors in our
area from time to time, I'm aware that often these cries are
unsubstantiated by the facts. People "think" they are going a lot faster
than in fact they are in a lot of cases.
On top of all that I refer to my previous post that points out that the
times I have seen objects hit and damage done to vehicles were, in fact,
in places that are well within the rules and way under the maximum speeds
of the rules.
Every year a number of vehicles roll over around the country. If SCCA
took the stance that Mark suggests, those regions would run the risk of
losing their sanctions. Frankly, the SCCA wants to limit any damage but
bodily damage is of far more importance than property damage to a
competitor's car.
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