Where was the safety car?

[Sandra R.]

Was I the only one totally incensed by the Feature race on Saturday night. I could not believe that they did not bring out the safety car following Dan Eaves accident which left his car in a dangerous position and part of the tyre wall in bits. Then not to bring it out after Rob Collard again spun off in the same place seemed like madness. How Rob missed smacking into Dan Eaves car, I don't know. Then Muller loses it in the same place. By this time, it was not entertainment but a case of wondering how long before someone ended up seriouly injured or dead. Finally they red flagged the race which robbed the crowd of one the best races we have seen this year.

If they had bought out the safey car after Dan went off and put some sand down where the oil was (think it was from Gareth Howell's focus) then the results might have been a lot different. Firstly I think Phil might have even won the race because he would have had a chance to caught up at the back of the grid. He clearly had the fastest Astra for that race and if he had been allowed to catch up, it would have been realy good to see if he could catch and pass the others again.

Terrific result for B&Q - well done you guys, but again, if the safety car had come out, Nick was so much faster with slicks, he could have probably won the production race.

I was so angry, I actually went and spoke to Richard West after the race. Entertainment is one thing but to see one car after another lose it in the same place without taking any action is totally unacceptable. I have seen races red flagged or the safety car bought out for a lot less minor incidents than the one on Saturday.

I don't know whether it was because it was dark, wet or the drivers were tired, or a combination of both, but for some reason, everyone seemed to be going totally nuts in that race.

I would be interested to hear the views of any one else who was in the vicinity of Russell or Coram on Saturday.

[Claire]

I was standing at Russell and agree that the safety car should have been the way to go. I couldn't beleive how close Collard and Muller were to crashing into Eaves car. Thompson and Plato were about to have a big battle for the win and I was quite disapointed that we were robbed of the last five laps. It was my first touring car race and my first night race and I really enjoyed both, will try to make it to another race before the end of the season.

[redshoes]

Lorna and I were near the marshal's post on the inside of Russell so we got a pretty good view of the accident. The 2 Audi's parked at Russell (Doctor and Safety car) were on the move before the Peugeot had even come to a rest but as soon as Eaves got out of teh car they doubled back and parked up again.

I was surprised that the safety car wasn't brought out but to be fair it wouldn't have made any difference to the result. There was substansial damage to the tyre wall so by the time the car(s) were cleared and the barriers properly repaired we would have run out of laps anyhow.

[hunttheshunt]

As ever th voice of reason red!

[RickP:Clio51]

Oi Sandra!
Going down to the TOCA bus and putting the frighteners on Westie is a bit tough...
The decision would have been down to the Clerk Of the Course in Race Control and assuming Dan was out of the car OK and the track wasn't obstructed then current thinking wouldn't necessarily require a safety car...
RickP

[Sandra R.]

You're right. It was probably none of my business. However the Clerk of the Course does not know me from Adam. Richard does and has always told Les and I that he is interested in our views and will take on board constructive comments. So he had mine!!

It wasn't just the issue of one car, it was a case of wet track with oil down, two abandoned cars in the path of where the drivers were losing it and a badly damaged tyre wall.

Where were you watching from?

[RickP:Clio51]

I was safely tucked up in bed... spent enough time at racetracks recently not to need to be at Snett in the rain and dark on a Saturday night...
Glad you all had fun though...

[Stephen Green]

Just a small point ladies and gents. When the track is wet, marshals do NOT put cement dust on oil spills, I'm sure you can see why?

[Sandra R.]

If you read my comments again, you will see I said "sand"...

[Flagman]

Sand just makes it worse - especially in the wet!

[Stephen Green]

Sandra,

Yes I did see you said sand, but in wet conditions you don't put anything on the track, it only makes it worse!

[Gareth Howell]

I wasn't too disappointed to see the chequered flag!!And who says it was oil from my Focus?

[Minardi fan]

Gareth, you nearly gave me a heart attack when the smoke started coming out the back.

[Les]

I think smoke from the back of your car and oil on the track sort of made sense that it was your oil.

So if it wasn't yours - who's was it?