Chuck
Excellent letter and I'm glad you escaped with minor injuries. I have not
run into this race grouping yet in the Northeast but may in the future if
something isn't done about it. at last weekend's Pocono dbbl regl I was
talking with an SRF team and the driver admitted he couldnt see below the
belt line of his car so anyone smaller coming up his inside might be in
trouble when he turned in. I
rented a SRF at Lime Rock in 2005 for a regl and the mirrors didnt seem to
be too good at all. Hope you heal quickly and best wishes.
Captain Eddie
KBS F500 #64
From: "Chuck McAbee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
To: "BOD SCCA" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "SCCA Comp Board" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [F500] SRF - F500 - FV Race Grouping Unsafe
Date: Tue, 15 May 2007 19:25:42 -0400
The Daytona Classic National was conducted May 5-6 at Daytona International
Speedway. National Race Group One consisted of 36 Spec Racer Fords (weight
1670 pounds), 4 Formula V's (weight 1025 pounds) and 12 Formula 500's
(weight 800-825 pounds). While this race group may be permitted with the
letter of the GCR, it is patentedly unsafe if based on nothing but the
sheer physics of the mass of the cars involved. An SRF at 1670 pounds has
over twice the mass of an F500 at 825 pounds and 1.6 times the mass of a
FV.
In addition to the difference in mass of the cars, the size and body
dimensions of an SRF makes it difficult if not impossible for a SRF to see
either a F500 to FV that may be trying to overtake them, if they were of a
mind to look in the first place. In most of the events I have participated
in in my 19 years of club racing, SRF have either run by themselves or with
the other Sports Racing classes.
Creating a race group of SRF-FV-F500 is an invitation to disaster, and
disaster nearly occurred at the Bus Stop at Daytona during the first
qualifying session, when I slowed and moved to avoid a competitor that had
been spun at the entrance to the Bus Stop, I (F500 #16) was rear ended by
an
SRF (#15) that, from the video, was moving at a speed that indicates that
he
was not paying attention to actions taking place ahead of him. It is
fortunate that I received no injuries more serious than a severely bruised
shoulder and back. However, had the impacting car struck a few more inches
to drivers right, the results could have been severely catastrophic. The
following link is to video taken from my car showing the severity of the
impact.
http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u80/mmi16_racing/?action=view
<http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u80/mmi16_racing/?action=view¤t=20
07DaytonaQ1Short.flv> ¤t=2007DaytonaQ1Short.flv
During recent years Central Florida Region, despite numerous complaints
from
the competitors involved has seen fit to run SRF combined with the small
Formula cars F500 & FV. Central Florida Region is the only region in SEDIV
that has been running this unsafe grouping. This has caused many small
formula drivers to go elsewhere for their fun, where they can run in
relative safety with their own, similar sized, competitors. All the
complaints to Central Florida Region, to date, have fallen on deaf ears.
So long as the GCR does not prohibit the formulation of wholly unsafe race
groupings, Regional race organizers will continue to put together race
groups that are a disaster waiting to happen.
Chuck McAbee
Nat. Lic. 148167
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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