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I happened to be watching the DBT from the area of the pit exit.
Quite why the Ralt that spun at Redgate (and either stalled and would not restart or was stranded on the kerb) proved to be such a problem for race continuity was difficult to understand from where I was watching. I only had a head on view of the car.
It was there for quite some time before the Safety car was activated. Probably two laps? Everyone would have seen the problem.
The safety car then shot out of the pits about 5 cars before the leaders came around. Maybe 10 to 15 seconds?
The Ralt remained stranded for some additional time while the SC attempted to gather its flock, eventually passing my viewing position very slowly with a train behind it. On the previous circuit it seemingly had had time to pick up the leaders and lose them again as they appeared at the back of the crocodile and clearly were confused about what was going on.
Eventually the snatch tractor was despatched from the outside of Redgate and dragged the Ralt to the inside before heading off back to station.
Given the number of "events" that seem to involve cars going off on the inside at Redgate it might be worth considering having a marshals post there? I seem to recall that it was regularly used for such purposes in former times. Presumably still is at the bigger meetings?
In the prior race a car had ended up in the gravel at the esses on the second lap. On around lap 4/5 the snatch vehicle from Redgate was despatched through the paddock area to effect a recovery. I'm sure I recall recovery vehicles being located in all the space available at the esses for races in the past.
Traversing the paddock was perhaps not as easy as it might have been for the snatch tractor, given that early arrivals for the Sunday meeting were being ushered into the paddock area as soon as any space became available as HSCC competitors vacated. Thus the vehicle movements included not only the leavers but the incomers and of course those competitors heading for the collecting area.
I got the impression that some resources might have been running a little on the tight side which, if indeed the case, would not have helped anyone.
The stranded Ralt in the DBT race look like the sort of incident that, in times passed, would not have attracted more than some waved yellows, a sighting lap for the field to make sure everyone knew about it and a couple of pushers to get it off the circuit. However, although I had a clear view of the corner the root cause of the "stranding" was not evident.
In the DBT race the size of the field and the speed discrepancy for the classes was such that the leaders were almost with the backmarkers after a couple of laps. Being that strung out so early in the race would not have made it any easier to deal with early lap incidents, especially when needing to get the snatch vehicle across the circuit at that point.
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