Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Bell
Not sure if this is infringing anything, but courtesy of Autosport.....
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Interesting.
I didn't see any of the more controversial incidents at Cadwell other than one or two slower cars not always judging well how they got out of the way of those lapping them and now and again what seemed to be a complete lack of Blue flags at places and in situations where I would have expected they might be used.
But I don't drive and I'm not a marshal so there may be things that I missed.
One incident I did see was a car off on the inside at the Mountain, bits separated and hard into the barriers (driver OK) and a couple of laps before everyone was stopped and recovery could start. I think it was a dodgy place because just about every time I have been to Cadwell one or more incidents have occurred pretty much at that point.
I appreciate that it a relatively slow part of the circuit and the hill is steep so maintaining momentum is probably important but many driving through did not seem any slower than they had been on previous laps.
There were also a few situations where a car that was obviously having some difficulty continued on track and ended up having to pull off in a difficult position - then safety cars or red flag and frustrated competitors. Possibly also frustrated marshals.
On a flat circuit like Croft or Silverstone National one might be able to coax it back to the pits.
Cadwell is probably not a good place to try it though. Too many hills - notably into the Paddock - and no real pits to speak of even if one makes it back.
In Mr. Pye's FF example the failing car would have had nearly an entire lap to get through. At the point of difficulty there is a fair amount of space on the outside and a lot of safer area, as well as a marshal post, on the cut through to Mansfield. One would think that taking that option would have been better for all concerned although I suppose it might necessitate an immediate decision that could be difficult to make if the problem had the potential to be temporary.
If paying one's own bills I would have thought that discretion would be the better part of valour but perhaps it is the release from having to live life with complete discretion that make the weekend work for some.