Saftey Car

[Sim_Da_BTCC_Man]

I know how controversial threads seem to get pulled but please, seriously, can we have some adult discussion on this so it doesn't.

Why o why was the saftey car in round 16 warrented!?! This is the second time this year when a peice of bodywork well off the racing line has seemed to of warrented a saftey car :rolleyes: :confused: .

I'm sorry but this realy is pathetic if its a ploy to make racing more interesting for the crowds! The vast majority of the crowds do not want to see the saftey car! And i'm not a Muller fan at all, but he was striped of a deserving win because of this. This is just a poor way of trying to entertain the crowds, nothing to do with saftey, and indead, it seems pretty pathetic if this is true. We do not pay to have a saftey car come out a lap from the end, bunch them up and let them have a lap dash. We might aswell have a one lap race!

:mad: Sim's rant of the day over :mad:

Appologies in advance.

:) Sim :)

[Alan]

The safety car was sent out because there was part of Tom Chilton's rear bumper on the track at Bottom Bend (or Graham Hill bend if you prefer!).

However by the time the safety car went round the offending part had been clipped by a car and had been knocked off the track.

It could therefore presumably appear that the safety car had been sent out for no reason.

Nuff said?

[The Stig]

Many people, including the thread originator, who weren't aware of the full facts, could be forgiven for being cynical.

[Sim_Da_BTCC_Man]

Originally posted by The Stig
Many people, including the thread originator, who weren't aware of the full facts, could be forgiven for being cynical.

Stig I have a completely unreleated word to describe me :p ;) Idiot ;)

But seriously, there are some points here that have been raised elsewhere. It did seem ludicris that on that with only a few laps left and the fact the bumper was moved onto the grass just before the saftey car left the pit lane, it was all rather pointless.

However I fully respect your opinion, this is just my view point on this.

[Alan]

The debris was still on the track when the safety car lwas told to leave the pit lane as I understand it - once the car is on track it is too late to recall it!

I do think this was just unfortunate timing (particularly now having seen it on tv).

[The Stig]

Clearly, the BTCC is in safe administrative/technical hands. If the powers that be deem it appropriate to deploy the safety car with two laps left, safety is paramount. It is very easy to sit in judgement after the event, the real skill involves making difficult racing decisions in a split second as racing occurs.

[Bill]

but, as I have said elsewhere, if safety is paramount then with 2 laps to go why not the red flag? I thought that that was a more common practise with the race practically run anyway?

[cos]

Originally posted by Bill
but, as I have said elsewhere, if safety is paramount then with 2 laps to go why not the red flag? I thought that that was a more common practise with the race practically run anyway?

Entertainment! Red flags just confuse the situation with that countback rule (e.g. the penultimate race of 2001 where no one was quite sure who won). Even though it may seem artificial, it makes the race more exciting, and let's face it that's what we want to see. Sucess ballast is also 'artificial' in that it levels out the field to a certain extent, but that seems to be more or less accepted now. I'm not saying that the safety car should be deployed IRL-style every time a speck of dust appears on the track, but I don't see anything inherently wrong in putting it out to make the race more interesting when a red flag would suffice.

[Nikh_mg]

It's just an Alan Gow ploy, it's like his trademark thing, bring the safety car out to make it more interestin, n u cant say it doesnt work! Anyway hopefully it'll make Muller want to pi$$ off back to france