Safety - Slicks and Rain - Snetterton

[Bostik]

Did anybody witness the the last race on Saturday at Snet?
As the cars left the assembly area, it started to rain.
They (Radical Clubsports) were all on slicks.
As it was late - the race started at 18:04 - I guess the officials didn't want the hassle of a change of tyres / two green flag laps etc.
So off they went.
The weather got progressively worse, and the drivers were amazing. After about 3 or 4 laps in drizzle, the rain started, there were roosters of water and spray from the cars, and small rivulets appeared on the circuit. The race was not going to be stopped / restarted until somebody crashed.
They were doing 1:30s - the leader did a 1:29 on lap 6!! It was stopped on lap 11.
My point?
Is this a safe decision i.e. to let it run to destruction because its too late to bother? As the owner of one of the cars - with my son in the car - I can assure you I was not comfortable watching a game of motorised Russian Roulette.
He hit a river/puddle at 100+mph by the pit wall - the car turned violently 45 degrees (fortunately to the left) and he kept his foot in.
But - it could have been a disaster - and a preventable one.
Or is this how it should be?

[JR Ewing]

Driving in the wet on slicks is little safer than on wets. You just have to modulate the throttle and be smoother. it's also damned good fun! It also sound like evryone was on slicks so no advantage..

Would you have preferred no race.

And are you CERTAIN it hadn't been declared a wet race??

[Bob Pearson]

I disagree with you there JR, I recognise too well what Bostik describes. If a race is declared "wet" it must be with sufficient time to change wheels, If the cars had left the collecting area for the grid it was too late to declare it wet unless time was allowed on the grid for the changes.
The line between great fun and a large bill or broken legs is very fine in cases like this and that level of risk isn't "all part of it". Tell me Bostik, who was the organising club and who was the C of C, I would be very interested to know and extremely disappointed if it was any that I normally deal with.

[Claire]

I was marshalling at the Esses and then the Bomb hole over the weekend and thought that they did really well considering the conditions, it wouldn't have been declared a wet race as it wasn't raining all that hard when the cars went out, I don't even know why the race was red flagged either. I can't second guess the C of the C but I guess he did what he saw best, it was getting very late but I'm positive he wouldn't have put safety before curfews. They got better weather on Sunday and had a good race despite the first lap incident at Corum.

[Claire]

It was a BRSCC EA race weeknd.

[Jensen]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JR Ewing
[B]Driving in the wet on slicks is little safer than on wets. You just have to modulate the throttle and be smoother.

How can it be safer, i understand the smoother comment, but safer ? I think not. More grip on wets = more driver control over vehicle..

[JR Ewing]

I meant wets are little safer than slicks - sorry.

[Ian-S]

What is the normal wet lap time for one of these cars on wets?

[av8rirl]

Were drivers told to use their rain light? If yes, they should have been given time to also change their tyres.

Personally I love the rain (whether on slicks or wets) but Snett has a very bad river that runs across the track just at the start of the pit wall. Even with wets on, you often have to apply a little opposite lock to ensure that you stay going in the right direction. It also has a river that runs down to the bombhole which isn't very nice.

I wasn't there but it sounds like CoC did not do a proper job. People should not be forced into using slicks for a race that started wet. Different story if it was dry for the first 2 laps.

[Bostik]

Re your question Ian-S, we did a 1.33.72 on lap 6, which was by then well into the rain, and he was doing 1.32s on wets on Friday late morning testing.
I have to say that I was absolutely astounded that a full grid of cars can endure 10 laps in the rain on slicks - but I was even more shocked to find that they weren't stopped earlier. It was wet - believe me- I was on the pit wall and got soaked!

[terje]

I was on the pit wall too, it was stupid racing in those circumstances.

[Bob Pearson]

A ploy often used by some of the more experienced drivers in the closing moments before race start with the rain getting heavier is to raise the hand as if the engine has died and won't re-start. Under such circumstances a few other drivers usually catch on and do the same. This should trigger an aborted start with a number of stalled cars. This buys some time to see which way the weather is going to go, and if it worsens it reduces the chances of the C of C having enough nerve to start the race on slicks.
i'm not sure I ought to make that public, but cicumstances like those described by Bostik mean we have to defend ourselves somehow.

[Bostik]

Sounds like a reasonable tactic, albeit last resort - especially when the drivers are well aware of the likely consequences of being forced to compete in such dangerous conditions - and equally, when they have paid so much money to race, and they know that trying to circulate on slicks in the wet is not racing, and is in fact a complete waste of money. I'm sure they would far rather abort - and at least have a reasonable race on wets - or preferably, in dry conditions.

[Ian-S]

Originally posted by Bob Pearson
A ploy often used by some of the more experienced drivers in the closing moments before race start with the rain getting heavier is to raise the hand as if the engine has died and won't re-start. Under such circumstances a few other drivers usually catch on and do the same. This should trigger an aborted start with a number of stalled cars. This buys some time to see which way the weather is going to go, and if it worsens it reduces the chances of the C of C having enough nerve to start the race on slicks.
i'm not sure I ought to make that public, but cicumstances like those described by Bostik mean we have to defend ourselves somehow.

Yea, it happened at Brands a few years back (wasn't started by me, honest guv!)
Didn't do much good though (but was fun!), the GP Loop was bone dry and rest soaking - so nobody dare change to wets!