Wes and the list,
Everyone seems to be ganging up on Malcolm. He is stating fact as far as
FIA and FIM is concerned. They don't recognize any speed records unless the
entire endeavor has their seal of approval. Not only the physical timing of
the runs but also the conditions and rules under which the record was set.
I don't think Malcolm is attacking the credibility of SCTA of USFRA or their
ability to time accurately. He is only stating that in order for a record
to be recognized world wide, there needs to be someone, or some
organization, that oversees the event to assure that the challenger is
playing by the same rules as the current record holder. Some of those rules
are overlooked by our sanctioning bodies. Many are due to practicality of
running an event. One rule is the one-hour turn around rule. This rule is
a good one. It was created to insure that both runs of the record were set
under the same weather conditions. Meaning, of course, wind. I have seen
records set at Bonneville by small bore cars where a 30 MPH tailwind was
allowed to help the car achieve its' qualifying pass and then on the next
morning another tail wind of about 15 MPH helped it back up that run. The
competitor achieved a record of at least 10 MPH greater than the car was
actually capable of. This kind of a record would be justifiably invalid as
far as FIA is concerned. The rules set forth by FIA were meant to prevent
this from happening and make the playing field fair to all competitors. It
can't be denied that our organizations, in the interest of keeping the meet
going, are justified in overlooking the FIA's rules concerning wind. (I
think the FIA has a 10 or 15 MPH maximum wind rule both in the interest of
safety and fairness.)
And of course there is that sticky point about two-way runs which we, in the
interest of safety and convenience also overlook. The two-way rule was
meant to account for any slope to the race course as well as to counter any
advantage of a tail wind as described above. Bonneville, of course, is not
subject to the concern of terrain elevation change but the wind factor can
certainly be a problem.
Obviously the requirements written by the FIA concerning World Records would
be very cumbersome and not at all practical when dealing with 250
competitors at Speedweek. That's why we have modified those rules somewhat.
>From Malcolm's FIA point of view, our records are National Records. And, in
fact, I think that's what they were considered since the beginning. As I
recall, Speedweek was always called the "Bonneville NATIONAL Speed Trials."
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-land-speed@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-land-speed@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Malcolm Pittwood
Sent: Tuesday, February 29, 2000 12:39 PM
To: Land-speed@autox.team.net
Subject: On line chat topic
Hi everyone,
Due to the time difference with Britain I will not be able to join the 3 am
chat with a working day to follow.
Just to help the topic of BNI/SCTA/USFRA times for runs, working time in
impound and FIM & FIA record attempts, heres by two pence worth.
If your club or sanctioning body is not an affiliated body of the FIA or
FIM then why worry what you call your records. To these two World
governing bodies you are just running club events for "local" records -
that may offend some of your organisers and many of the racers but that is
how they are seen. Remember there is no differentiation by body style in
their rules, only capacity divisions. Your 'local' record in the classes
may be faster than the FIA or FIM listings but these two bodies will never
ever acknowledge them as International/World records.
On four wheels, as Mike Jenkins explained last week there is only one
"World Record" - the Thrust SSC outright speed of 763.035 mph. On two
wheels there are FIA World Records for ALL capacity classes for the
variety of distances and duration records.
ACCUS is one USA based FIM affiliated organisation as is USAC but I do not
know if they have any input into anything other than individual ouright
records. Perhaps someone could explain from your side of the pond why they
are not at Bonneville ? The AMA is the USA motorcycle affiliated body and
they seem to interact only with the "Land Speed Authority" organisation.
Is that so ?
The 'four hour maintenance working rule' in impound makes little sense to
me, as the return run to achieve a record is the day following the first
pass any way.
The FIA 1 hour ruling and the FIM 2 hour ruling for 1 mile timed distances,
is to ensure that the two runs occur in (almost) stable conditions on one
day - much more difficult to do ? Because little work is allowed by either
sanctioning body except general safety checks and maintenance on the
vehicle between runs you do not need time to "rebuild the vehicle from the
ground up".
With strong comments expressed on the list I do not expect to see any
changes in the way the USA do things in general at Bonneville meetings.
Some US racers will dip deep into their pockets to get International
(FIA/FIM) recognition because they can rightly be compared directly with
the best of the past. Brits will come across to your US deserts to set
World Records in their own events. Bonneville Speed Week will continue
for another 50 years as a wonderful sporting event. Can anyone see this
changing ?
Have a good chat tonight.
Malcolm Pittwood, Derby, England.
|