Hottvr@aol.com wrote:
> Can someone tell exactly why the Shauf/Flier Europa was DSQed??? Was
> the car ruled as a tube frame car and was under weight? Or was it
> because the battery, gas tank and oil tank were in in the drivers
> compartment?? I never could get a straight answer while I was at the
> event. Is there someplace on the SCCA website to read what the
> protest was for??? I ask at the protest shed and no one on the
> protest committee would give me a ruling. Is the DSQ under appeal????
It's really a bit complicated, as the rules in that section are also
a bit complicated, but I'll try to give the facts here.
There were three items on the protest:
(1) the oil tank and fuel cell were in the passenger compartment, but
not separated from the driver by a metal bulkhead. This is a new rule
in Modified this year, though I believe it's been in Prepared for a
while. The car was found illegal for this safety infraction, and
referred to the Chief Steward for a decision about whether it could
run on the second day. I believe the Chief Steward eventually elected
to ignore this rule for DM and EM for the second day, even though many
cars did not meet this new regulation.
(2) The Modified rules state that for tube-frame DM and EM cars, the
car shall run the higher of the GT or Modified weights. The Europa is
a Production car, not a GT car, so there is no GT weight. Therefore
the higher weight is the Modified weight. This rule clearly needs to
be rewritten -- it was probably meant to say "the higher of the
GT/Production or Modified weights", but it doesn't. Alternately, the
entire rule should probably simply be stricken from the rulebook,
since it sort of contradicts the one immediately below it.
(3) The rules state that the car must retain the original frame and
floorpan for the full length of the passenger compartment. If the
floorpan or frame is modified beyond the allowances for engine,
transmission, or exhaust relocation, the car must suffer a 15% weight
penalty. It was ruled that the 15% penalty should apply to this car,
so it needed to weigh 1150 instead of 1000. It weighed 1108 (I think),
and was disqualified for being underweight. This ruling is under
appeal.
Mark
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