Indian Grand Prix 2011, Buddh International Circuit - Race 17/19
- Thread starter Duke
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Race edit is out - http://www.formula1.com/video/?uid=2011103017R
And to think, I was questioned when I dared to say America has a lapse view on motorsport safety. A guy in a GT race at Silverstone deliberately rammed someone off and got his racing licence revoked. Putting someone into a wall in NASCAR gets a 1 race ban!? Honda got more than that for suspicion of running their F1 car a few KGs under weight!
You think that's bad? You haven't seen anything! This is at Atlanta which is one of the fastest tracks in Nascar. He intentionally wrecks him when they're going flat out, admits that he did it on purpose, and doesn't receive a penalty (they put him on probation for 3 weeks).
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I took 'a pop' at you because your post was pure flamebait.
As I said at the time - of course TPTB running American motorsport don't want to see drivers or spectators getting killed. Hell....with how litigious America is, there's a financial incentive right there anyway. Nor is it even blithely accepted as 'part of the show'. What they don't do is blindly charge in changing everything as soon as someone gets hurt (à la FIA in the wake of that horrible Imola weekend).
NASCAR took a few years developing the CoT. They could have rushed it in straight after Dale Earnhardt died - but it would have been a mistake. As it was, they probably introduced it a season too early from a 'competition' standpoint. They did accelerate the SAFER barrier program (though ISC and other track owners were already getting on with it by then), and they did mandate the HANS device right away. And historically, NASCAR has been hot on certain safety aspects. They mandated window nets after Richard Petty had a big crash and came within a whisker of losing an arm, they've kept a close eye on speeds at Daytona and Talladega with carburettor restrictor plates, and they got right onto the teams at Speedweeks this year with cooling modifications when they turned up able to push each other round the speedway all day long.
IndyCar are also very much hot on safety. As I said in that post that you so easily deride as just me having a pop at you, they've been getting ready to introduce an all-new car with an improved safety cell and closed rear wheels at the heart of it. But again, you know all about that since you feel able to say that they don't give a **** about safety in American motorsport.
Yes, they should come down harder on dangerous driving (NASCAR in particular). I won't dispute that. Atlanta '10 and Braindead Moron™ Edwards was a complete joke, and not a particularly funny one at that. But to say that "American Motorsport needs to sort their act out" does those governing bodies a dis-service, since it ignores the fact that they are constantly striving to make the racing safer.
Man of Honour
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Nascar really is a dull sport.
Soldato
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The commentator mentioned that the main reason for the car taking off like that, was the rear wing. When moving forward, the rear wing pushes the car into the ground. When the car is moving in reverse (which is what the car in question was doing), the rear wing allows the car to take off (much like a conventional aircraft.
Well to be fair the cars and tracks themselves are pretty safe. The fact that he went roof first into the wall and walked away is good proof of that. What isn't safe is their "have at it boys" attitude. They let drivers rivalries get to the point where they do stuff like the above and almost kill each other.
I suppose the trouble is that the rivalries make for a good soap opera which must help keep the sport popular.
What d'you want me to say? That I strongly disagree with the way NASCAR handled the Edwards-Keselowski situation? 'cause I believe I already did that.
It kind of undermines all the time, effort and money expended in making things safer from a technical point of view though if they're going to send the message out that it's ok to spin people into a solid wall by dishing out pathetically lax punishments for doing so.
Safety needs to start at attitude and behaviour IMO, at the moment they seem to just ignore that aspect entirely.
This
The issue is the mentality of American motorsport is far behind that of the Europeans and other areas, and its undermining the technological advancements they are making.
Safety is a complete package.
