How to Balance Risk/Reward in Race Preparation & Driving

[GTRMagic]

Mr Bright has parlayed his thoughts into a Speed article about the different transgressions that occur from time to time on and off the race track, and how they might be dealt with by the powers that be.

Article Here

I know we seem to spend a lot of time on here discussion the various merits of when officialdom get something right, or get something wrong, (usually when talking about the same incident) but the thought pattern for this thread perhaps is how the penalty structure should be worked out on the basis of gradings.

Indeed in the most recent VESA SWOT analysis of their own series, they make a specific mention of needing to establish a 'rhythm' with the series, with racing on the weekend, a public tribunal hearing for charges that is communicated, then punishments identified, served out, then racing again next week.

To build a proforma patter that is along the line of AFL/NRL with the usual mid week fronting of 'City Hall' to discuss various failings of the race weekend.

Now is this a good thing or a bad one? If it cranks up the publicity for the sport, it is a good thing. It will do that if there is controversy, it will do that if there is a fair and proper system of bringing all incidents to account.

While in other series' the corner workers seem to have an input into whether a pilot is spoken to about driving behaviour at the end of a race meeting, it is not in place here. Should it be? What form would it take?

Lots to choose from as subject matter, lets keep it clean though huh..

[davester]

The Spoiler would say:
Is it futile to be discussing this on a forum when the professional organisers of various leadline series cannot even get it right? Consider this...NASCAR, the series where due to the oval track design makes passing quite easy, allows bumping/crashing...when maybe due to the ease of passing there is no real excuse for "so called" world class drivers to be crashing each other out without penalty...yet in CIRCUIT RACING like F1 and V8Supercar where the tracks make overtaking extremely difficult, the slightest bump effectively RED CARDS the offender...when maybe it shouldn't, because the tracks virtually induce incident due to minimal overtaking opportunities.

So while VERY BASIC injustices exist, forced upon us by well paid officials, further discussion is your right, but is it futile?

I'm still flabbergasted at how a VSC team gets away with unauthorised rides/testing (how would we ever know?) with a mere slap on the wrist! Some get the Marine Parade Love and some don't.

[GTRMagic]

And I look to the comments of Marcos Ambrose most recently, where he claims to have had more wrecks this season than in the entire previous pre-NASCAR part of his career.

So its difficult to think that the NASCAR solution works to its potential either.

I am still reminded by the old SuperTouring BTCC days, when drivers bumping others off would have their licences endorsed for bad behaviour, and where they were to accrue sufficient signatures, a stand down was more than possible!

Throwing fines and loss of points at the failure, technical or driving standards, doesnt seem to be the solution.... because it exists in the sport now, and delivered arguably inconsistently...

[Senna05]

I guess in an ideal world, where the sport is meant to somehow reflect off-racetrack ideal (KERS and renewable energy, safe driving, etc etc), the ideal of having a point system and a ban when that is reached makes logical sense.

Would a mid-week hearing into on-track behaviour be a good option? Potentially. I think back to Bathurst 02, where the Murph got a 5 minute penalty - was this entirely his fault? More than likely not. A Mid-week hearing could potentially let fires and angers settle and calmer minds prevail on a punishment - be it points, monetary, time on meeting, grid reduction, or a penalty accrewed to a suspension AKA NRL and AFL.

Maybe some food for thought for the boffins in the ivory tower.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by Senna05

Would a mid-week hearing into on-track behaviour be a good option? Potentially. I think back to Bathurst 02, where the Murph got a 5 minute penalty - was this entirely his fault? More than likely not.

Murph was not penalised, the team was - he just happened to be the employee driving at the time - the cause of the penalty was entirely the fault of the team and they all copped it together.

There has been much discussion over the years within the sport about a mid week tribunal type setup. The marketing and PR people all like the idea as it gives the sport more coverage.

What has always got in the way is that motor racing is different to football in that tribunal decisions don't change the result of games in football but they could well do in motor racing. This means that the winner of a race on Sunday might not be the winner depending on a tribunal decision but gets the benefit of standing on the podium, thanking the sponsors & giving them exposure etc.

It'll sometimes happen like that with appeals etc now but having the world turn that way on a regular basis has always been what held the decision makers back from going down the tribunal route.

[PVDA]

Motorsport is a team sport and everyone in the team is part of the "team". In the case of the Murf 5 minute penalty the team members caused the error not Murf but the driver had to suffer the penalty for the team (so to speak).

[Gaz170]

In that case, the penalty decision was made in the "heat of the moment".

If it went to a midweek hearing, would it have stayed at 5 minutes or would maybe 1 minute been added to the race time instead?

In the opposite way, if a driver gets a drive through at the start of a long race, then make it back thanks to a pace car later, they would be advantaged under the current system rather than it going to a later hearing and a penalty added then.

Using the football analogy, they have midweek hearings but you can still get sin binned during the match.

What is mostly needed either way is consistency in the decisions. To penalise one team for something, then not penalise another doing the same thing at a later round puts the whole decision making process into question.

[Just Do It!]

The problem in motorsport versus the oval ball club is when do you have the prizegivng?

Oval ball centres on a team, and motorsport spins around a driver.

Mess potential plus...potentially

[JimW]

Originally Posted by PVDA

Motorsport is a team sport and everyone in the team is part of the "team". . . .

IYHO perhaps. Others may feel that it is the driver which matters. Sure if there are two drivers, then they might be called a team.

Regards

Jim

[GTRMagic]

Mr Ingall's View

[DAVID PATERSON]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Mr Ingall's View

"Most problems could be settled out the back of the pits," he said.

"Just go and grab the bloke and sort it out. If you don't like the resolution, get them back on the track. It is better than being a sook.


Is he joking? That's about the dumbest thing he's ever said. That kind of attitude is absolutely not on and has no place in motor sport or modern society.