Mark Sipe responds:
<<<My statement about the majority opinion had nothing to do with the Ft.
Worth
Tour event being fun or whether people enjoyed it or not. It had to do with
whether the majority considered the speeds and type course areas where they
were obtained as being unsafe or not meeting the safety wording of the
rules.
As for anyone getting in over their head, whether a newbie or experienced
driver, there were no obstacles or other safety-related incidentals for
anyone to get into even at speeds twice of what we actually ran.
If you didn't attend the event it's probably hard to imagine a course this
big still having 1000+ feet of smooth, unobstructed asphalt surface
remaining
before running off or getting into an obstacle, so I can see how you could
confuse the actual issues at hand. Simply put, faith-based metaphors have
no
relevance to Solo2 safety or the intent of my comments.>>>
I think it was Thoreau who said that a single person who is against the
majority opinion but happens to be correct is a majority of one.
But you do raise an interesting point. Given the world was totally paved and
was totally flat would there be a need for limits to the speed of Solo II
events? I think the answer is "yes" because Solo II is not supposed to be
about taking corners at 60 mph in a stock car. It is about taking corners at
30. If you want to go faster than Solo II speeds take up Solo I, Solo
Trials, or Road Racing where the required safety equipment is better in line
with what is needed to keep you safe if something does go wrong.
Someone else mentioned the speed limit on Interstates as a rationale for
this sort of speed being safe. Let me ask you how many times you have
threshold braked on the Interstate from 70 to say 20 as you might for a
tight corner at the end of a long straight? I don't ever remember doing this
but I guess some have done it once or twice to avoid accidents.
Paul Foster
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