Pat,
Agree with most of your comments & insights, but want to clarify a couple
points on the MG's. The all-MG race does take a bit of time (one session
Sat AM) but this was not new this year -- we have been doing the Collier Cup
race since about 1985. Many of the other features you mentioned were new
one-time deals this year.
Also re: open door policy on drivers ... I agree that every race organizer
must be careful about driver qualifications, especially at "major" events.
But, we had zero incidents in the Collier Cup, in fact I can't think of a
single incident in any Collier Cup race since I've been going (1989). Not
that the MG's are perfect, we're not, but our less-experienced drivers have
done OK to this point. The one MG involved in the enduro pile-up was a
very, very experienced racer (something like 20+ years SCCA & vintage).
Agree that lots of factors you cite are at work here, but when you look at
the incidents one by one it is hard to generalize the causes.
Regards,
Mark
>From: psr@mnw.net (PSR)
>Reply-To: psr@mnw.net (PSR)
>To: "Jim Hayes" <hayes@mediaone.net>
>CC: <vintage-race@autox.team.net>
>Subject: RE: Feedback on Watkins Glen
>Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 00:26:50 -0500
>
>Jim Haynes wrote
>
> >>And not entirely on the SVRA event.
>I raced with SCCA Volvo Historics this last weekend at W-G and had to
>endure the wrath of several of the SCCA Scrutineers and officials over
>vintage drivers. The were apalled at the carnage at the SVRA event the
>week before. I was told 30 cars were damaged in incidents.
>The big issue for them (many of whom have been officiating for over 30
>years and remember the vintage cars when they were new) was why people
>would drive such valuable, irreplaceable cars like an IT car! (If that
>does not make sense, you should try to find an IT car without dents
>-serious dents.) The second complaint was the ignoring of flags. The
>third was poor driving, esp. overdriving the car or the conditions. The
>"more money than sense" comment was made too, referring to the rows of
>transporters with shiny vintage cars.
>These guys, who work numerous pro races, are obviously not very
>impressed with vintage events or drivers.
>Now before you decide to kill the messenger (that's me), I think you
>need to understand I did not question these guys, they vented to me as a
>vintage driver unsolicited.(I do not know how many times I told them I
>was not there the week before!) One guy was particularly upset at the
>damage to the Lotus 17 in the esses incident- he was a big Lotus fan.
><I'm merely feeding back to the list that vintage has a serious image
>problem with these guys.>
>The problem that occured in the esses did change how they flagged
>incidents. There were numerous full course yellows and a number of"
>black flag all" sessions. I have never seen such conservative flagging.
>They discussed the yellow, waving yellow and full course yellow at one
>meeting. They said the lights were equal to a waving yellow. I asked
>what the local rule was on red flags and it's come to a controlled stop
>on the track and we'll send a pace car out for you when the track is
>clear.
>BTW, our Sunday race ran incident free and I finished in a pack of four
>cars that passed and repassed seemingly dozens of times - then crossed
> >>S/F three wide. Wild, but clean racing. <<
>
>--
><<Jim Hayes Winchester, MA, USA
><<hayes@mediaone.net http://www.fotec.com/jim/jim.htm
><<jeh@fotec.com http://www.fotec.com/
>
>
>
>
>There seems to be a pattern here. If you understand the pattern, you
>understand why the SVRA Watkins Glen seemed to be out of control.
>
>First, understand that RCA (Race Communications Association), the long time
>Watkins Glen flagging group, was outbid by a splinter group for the annual
>contract with WGI and the people in charge of flagging are not the same
>people as the last few years. Next understand that SVRA had planned many
>feature races for cars which are not often seen at SVRA events and
>therefore
>have drivers who are new to SVRA in spite of their long standing "no
>rookie"
>policy at the Glen. These included 911 variants, GTP cars, NASCAR Stock
>Cars, Formula Juniors, an M-G only race, and "Group 10" (roughly translated
>as "everything that is not legal in our other groups"). All these extra
>groups took track time from the regular SVRA groups and put most regulars
>in
>either a bad mood or a mood which says: "we have to run fast real soon".
>As
>a matter of fact the most significant incident of the weekend (6 cars)
>happened in a Friday Enduro with an unmanned flagging station at the blind
>part of the Esses. I have never seen a race scheduled on a Friday (standard
>worker shortage day) let alone an Enduro.
>
>The "lowered barriers to entry" contributed to the greater potential for
>incidents. Bud Merrill, SVRA's very capable veteran Chief Steward, was not
>given the expected courtesy of setting the red flag procedure, in fact the
>flaggers used their own local procedure while the drivers were instructed
>contrarily. Bud was not even able to make the red flag calls, which mostly
>were dictated by the new communication's leadership. This "workers take
>charge" pattern first emerged at the HSR event (per Joe P), SVRA walked
>into
>the aftermath, and you have seen the "conservative flagging" at the
>following event.
>
>Perhaps the presence of Speedvision had more than a few drivers in
>Earnhardt
>mode. This was the first time in my 90 races with SVRA that we had national
>coverage.
>
>The "new SVRA" with their open door policy can be expected to be more like
>HSR in the future. This might be good, or bad, depending on your point of
>view. The point is It Is D i f f e r e n t so take note. That is the first
>part of the pattern. The new flagging regime added a measure of confusion
>and made the number of incidents seem like a deluge.
>
>The total number of incidents was actually down slightly from last year's
>Glen event (number of cars was up), but the full course yellows and red
>flags happened in almost every session. I only got to drive on Thursday
>(broken valve spring), but the overflagging was quite obvious and there was
>a shortage of workers. The outrageous numbers of passes under yellow on
>Saturday and Sunday might relate to overflagging or to the lack of track
>time or to Speedvision. There is no excuse for passing under the
>yellow....ever, but patterns emerge for a reason.
>
>Pat Ryan
>SVRA Member since 1988
>
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