Pitstops- an accident waiting to happen

[Crash Test]

How long do you think it will be before someone gets their head chopped off in a pit stop? Just have a look at Faulkner's accident today- not only did he take out his own gantry, but also Larkos... (Did you notice that Larkham had 2, one front, one rear- isn't that twice as bad?)

Also, how about the rattle gun that fell off the back of Faulkner's car- now lucky were the people behind the fence, one piece only just missed the camera. Also, I'd say it was one of those new top of the line rattle guns- how much do they cost?

[tickfordchick]

if I remember correctly, I think they said those new rattles guns were around two thousand dollars each ...

that was a scary moment in the pits ... you make a very good point, Crash Test ... how long before someone is seriously hurt? I also wonder how an allegedly well-oiled and experienced pit crew allows that kind of thing to happen ... I mean, I know it's frantic and it's chaotic, but COME ON!! hmmmmm ...

[thompson_fan]

Well what about what Garry Rogers said about one of the HRT pit stops, that's just a crime that they didn't get penalised. From my understanding Faulkner should have stopped to have someone get the rattle gun off his car before continuing

[PBR]

What concerns me more is that I didn,t see any stop/go penalty for those things that happened in the pit lane.

So the only real punishment left is to remove thier points and/or send the offending cars to the rear of the grid for tomorrow.

[marcus]

if it was one of the new rattle guns (am I dont know if it was) they are about $6000 ..so its rather expensive.

pit stops are always dangerous and they should really do something about it before someone gets hurt..maybe somehow limit the amount of airlines allowed by times as this is what the rear wing of Faulkner got caught on..if there is less air lines it at least limits the chances of it happening.

im pretty sure Faulkner got a stop/go penalty for it just that we didnt see it because he was running around at the back and had no bearing on the race results.

the pits stops are going to be a problem..with speeding cars loose wheels and irlines ..things could take a turn for the worse and lets hope cams get onto that one straight away.

[hypo]

Lets also not forget that some of the other pit lanes at tracks we are yet to visit this year are a bit dodgy......

Thank god there is no compulsory stops at Wanneroo!!

[Crash Test]

Here's another thought, why not get rid of the wings all together? That's what the lines are being caught on...i couldn't imagine a line being caught on a little spoiler.

[thompson_fan]

Only problem with that idea Crash Test is that the cars would be all over the road and be endangering the drivers lives.

[Crash Test]

Not really... the drivers would just have to drive within the limit of the cars, they would be harder to drive, but heck, they're getting paid good money . They are out there trying to entertain us, and more sideways, the better, the more passing, the better. They would only be compromising the cars safety if started removing parts of the roll cage etc..

It's a pipe dream i know, but couldn't they design a better wing that didn't catch the air lines or something?

[PBR]

Well crash you may have something with the rear wings wouldn’t be too hard to modify the end plates on the fords so they are unlikely to catch a hose, Holden would require a little more effort though.

On the other hand are they really serious about safety in the pit lane, After HRT’s $2000 fine for the wheel incident you have to start wondering, they could have sent Bright to the rear of the grid.

Probably wouldn’t have affected the results though, but everyone would know they are serious about the wellbeing of everybody there.

[elephino]

Actually, two gantries should be safer than one as it keeps the hoses further away from the car instead of letting them dangle quite close as they did in Faulkner's pit.

Also the rattle gun didn't get caught on the end plate, but through the wing itself. It wasn't the end plate holding it on. And the Falcons are safer in that respect as the hose cannot get around the wing itself, but they have the larger end plate which causes its own problems (see Bathurst 1999).