Guards Trophy at Silvertone

[Teddington Ted]

First of all an apology for causing the safety car to come out in the Guards race yesterday. The front offside stub axle snapped so I came to a halt and couldn't move. Unfortunately this happened on the racing line on the exit of Becketts so sorry if this compromised anyone's race especially going into Becketts where I assume there were waved yellows.

Which brings me to my second point. Driving standards.

We had a restart with a second green flag lap which some of the cars at the back of the field seemed to ignore so came piling through at race speeds. Did they really think that their winter rebuilds had suddenly turned them into midfield cars ?

I only managed nine laps yesterday but in that time experienced the red Turner outbraking itself at Becketts, shooting across the grass and crossing my bows from the right. A red MBG spinning in front of me on the exit of Becketts which required the time honoured "point the car at him and he may have moved by the time you get there" routine.

Then to top it all as I was sitting in the car on track unable to move for a good three laps before the safety car came out, shouting at the marshals to stop the race, a silver 911 (No. 35) came round Becketts far too fast yet again (he had already passed my stationary car twice so knew I was there), fishtailed and passed me on the outside of the track. It was then that I spotted the novice cross.

Were there a number of new/inexperienced guys out there with too much testosterone ? I don't take part in this sport to share the track with such numpties. As far as I know over 40s are not eligible for the McLaren Young Driver of the Year Award.

Mark

(Morgan No. 27)

[simon drabble]

I cant speak for the other drivers but I think we must always be careful to make sure our own driving is faultless before naming and shaming on a public forum...

[Teddington Ted]

I agree.

[iconway]

Glad you were ok Mark, sorry didn't catch up after the race but had a small malfunction of my own on the last lap. Sump plug came out on the entrance to Brooklands, turned in and kept on turning as I spun on my own oil. Hats off to the green MG for dodging me and apologies to the red Turner who I tagged going backwards. All in front of a packed BRDC stand, so at least the spectators were entertained. Limped to the pit lane entrance where the marshalls kindly hoisted the car to parc ferme.

Double green flag lap was bizarre, fortunately no harm done, but noticed quite a lot of overtaking under waved yellows in the race - put it down to early-season rustiness maybe but needs to be firmly policed (at least as much if not more so than weight/ride height you would think).

Looking forward to the next outing, hopefully incident-free!

[delta]

We at Delta Motor Sport spent last year building the green MGB with a little help from Terrance..Anyway the owner had his first race with you guy's yesterday and as far as i know is still beaming from ear to ear. When i tell him your complement he might just have to carry on smiling for another couple of days.

[GrahamH]

I was spectating from the inside of Copse, and agree with Ian's comment about overtaking (or lapping) under waved yellows - there was a lot of that going on, the flags seemed to have no visible effect on the speed of many cars.

[simon drabble]

bit off thread but has anyone got Tony Mantles phone number? I seem to have mislaid it - you better PM me or if you knwo my email send it there - thanks

[one-two]

Mark, I sympathise - you were in an exposed position and it took some time to sort you out. That's not intended to be a criticism, but just an observation. In terms of other drivers' conduct, you've made your point and we can all learn from it. It could be us sitting there next time.

To the Copse spectator, there is a debate about what to do under a safety car away from the incident that has caused it. Should we slow down or keep up/close up with/to the car in front? I think we were probably doing the latter when you saw us, which is what most of us think we should be doing.

More generally, what a great grid and, for most of us, a great race to start the season! It was also good to hear about the plans to tighten up further on eligibility too, though I for one am not bothered about MGB radiators. Weight and capacity checks for all cars would be a good start please.

Lastly, and a bit more contentiously, I can't help noticing that every car mentioned in this thread is a GT car. Yet I still hear people chuntering on about speed differentials with the sports racers. The reality is that issues arise up and down the grid, and aren't confined to the sharp end.

Best wishes, Robert

[Teddington Ted]

Thanks Robert.

You make a good point about the cars mentioned being GTs rather than sports racers. I for one have never had an issue with the sports racers - they have always passed me cleanly on the track.

Going back to the thread I notice that I invented a new circuit (Silvertone) and a new car (MBG). I shouldn't have written it first thing this morning !

Cheers

Mark

[simon drabble]

I am more impressed 10am is first thing! I have been in the office 2 and a half hours by then! Hopefully issued raised on this thread have been taken on board as they are all relevant ones.
Out of interest did we see a track record set by an FIA E Type yesterday? To mix it with Graham Dodd's G16 was impressive bÝ anyones standards!

[HairyDJ]

Originally Posted by iconway

Glad you were ok Mark, sorry didn't catch up after the race but had a small malfunction of my own on the last lap. Sump plug came out on the entrance to Brooklands, turned in and kept on turning as I spun on my own oil. Hats off to the green MG for dodging me and apologies to the red Turner who I tagged going backwards. All in front of a packed BRDC stand, so at least the spectators were entertained. Limped to the pit lane entrance where the marshalls kindly hoisted the car to parc ferme.

Double green flag lap was bizarre, fortunately no harm done, but noticed quite a lot of overtaking under waved yellows in the race - put it down to early-season rustiness maybe but needs to be firmly policed (at least as much if not more so than weight/ride height you would think).

Looking forward to the next outing, hopefully incident-free!

Thanks for parking up for me at pit entrance, saved an awful lot of sweeping cement dust - glad the big puddle was a quick cure rather than expensive damage.

Originally Posted by Teddington Ted

Then to top it all as I was sitting in the car on track unable to move for a good three laps before the safety car came out, shouting at the marshals to stop the race, a silver 911 (No. 35) came round Becketts far too fast yet again (he had already passed my stationary car twice so knew I was there), fishtailed and passed me on the outside of the track. It was then that I spotted the novice cross.
Mark

(Morgan No. 27)

Hopefully not nitpicking, but marshals don't make that decision - it's the Clerk's call

One thing that will help the pack get back to racing asap is to give the marshals / recovery crew a bit more space to get the job done quickly. I realise that giving the orange army a bit of extra space might put you further off line and maybe onto dirtier surfaces, but that's no great problem if you've slowed down enough is it? Put simply, give the team plenty of space to focus on the incident and we might well be able to get clear a lap or two sooner .....

[percy]

Originally Posted by Teddington Ted

Then to top it all as I was sitting in the car on track unable to move for a good three laps before the safety car came out, shouting at the marshals to stop the race, a silver 911 (No. 35) came round Becketts far too fast yet again (he had already passed my stationary car twice so knew I was there), fishtailed and passed me on the outside of the track.

I was taking photos on the inside of Becketts when you had your incident. The marshalls were wondering why the safety car wasn't deployed earlier and they were VERY concerned about your safety and very anxious to get to you as soon as they could.
I have to agree about the 911 - we all thought he was going to take some of the marshalls out when he slid past you - they definitely retreated after his near-miss.
Glad you were OK and hope the car is fixed soon.

[Teddington Ted]

Thanks Percy. The marshalls on the outside of Becketts were great when they could get to me and I was keenly aware that they were putting themselves in danger when they came onto the track.

Once back in the paddock I went to see the Judicial Clerk of the Course (no he didn't tannoy me!) just to go through what happened and to try to understand why it had taken so long to send the safety car out. We looked at the race log which said that I was reported stationary at 1635 and the safety car was released at 1637. I'm sure that is an accurate record of when race control were told but the reality was that I was stationary for a lot longer than two minutes.

No finger pointing please, but I would genuinely like to know from any marshals here what the process is when a car stops on track. Do you rely on the COC to make a decision based on what he sees on the screens or do you have to make a judgement as to whether the stationary car can move out of the way under its own power and report to that to the COC ?


Mark

[simon drabble]

I think we should be careful here as this could go the wrong way and to that end possibly it is a conversation to be had privately and/or directly with CoC..

[Teddington Ted]

Simon

My question is a general one and not incident specific so I wouldn't have thought there should be an issue.

Mark

[simon drabble]

I am just aware that the main offender has been identified! And I am sure it was a big learning curve for him so I am sure he will be more circumspect next time... nevertheless I would not have enjoyed being in your position and each lap I went passed I was aware of how much the lock had to be tightened on exit to give the Marshalls room.
If I can make a suggestion maybe the safety car needed to go more slowly at the start to allow the snake to close up as some problem might have been stragglers trying to catch up the snake. Not a defence I know....

[iconway]

Really pleased he enjoyed his first outing, Delta, it's great to have new cars and drivers in the series. Thanks very much to Hairy DJ for stopping me, had no idea how much oil I was losing, you saved my bacon and my engine, sorry for the puddle! As for speed under the safety car, those of us in the slower cars often have to pelt round to catch up, and I think that's what you saw Graham, because the main straight and Copse were the best/only opportunity - rest assured we were vey slow passing Mark and the orange army. Anyone else trying Classic K next month btw?

[Alan Crook]

Originally Posted by Teddington Ted

No finger pointing please, but I would genuinely like to know from any marshals here what the process is when a car stops on track.

Mark

Mark,

When any incident happens it is reported to race control, if the Post Chief at that position on the circuit requests a Safety car or a Race Stoppage (red flag) this information is then passed to the Clerk of the Course who makes the decision. It is always best to allow the marshals & Post Chief to fully assess the situation before any hasty decisions are made, this also goes for the Clerk of the Course otherwise you would see many red flags and Safety Car periods that are not really required. The use of red flags and Safety Cars would be reduced if drivers obeyed the yellow flag signals.

[Fay]

Originally Posted by Teddington Ted

Thanks Percy. The marshalls on the outside of Becketts were great when they could get to me and I was keenly aware that they were putting themselves in danger when they came onto the track.

Once back in the paddock I went to see the Judicial Clerk of the Course (no he didn't tannoy me!) just to go through what happened and to try to understand why it had taken so long to send the safety car out. We looked at the race log which said that I was reported stationary at 1635 and the safety car was released at 1637. I'm sure that is an accurate record of when race control were told but the reality was that I was stationary for a lot longer than two minutes.

No finger pointing please, but I would genuinely like to know from any marshals here what the process is when a car stops on track. Do you rely on the COC to make a decision based on what he sees on the screens or do you have to make a judgement as to whether the stationary car can move out of the way under its own power and report to that to the COC ?


Mark

I hope Alan has expained this for you.

However, what I would say is that perhaps you would like to spend a day on the bank with us and we could then go through everything a marshal does and how a marshals post operates. I know that any driver who has done this has certainly benefitted.

If you or anyone else would like to do this then please let me know. (Also you can get an upgrade signature on your licence if needed!)

Regards

Fay

[percy]

Originally Posted by Teddington Ted

Thanks Percy. The marshalls on the outside of Becketts were great when they could get to me and I was keenly aware that they were putting themselves in danger when they came onto the track.

A couple of pics towards the bottom of this page...
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/for...=212560&page=2

I think I've got a couple more if you want them as a 'souvenir'.

[GrahamH]

My earlier comment was based on the speed of the front running cars, who looked like they weren't dropping their pace at all going up towards the waved yellows at Becketts. I accept that cars do have to close up ASAP behind the safety car, but it didn't look like that from where I was sat, and I had a pretty good view. Perhaps this could be a case of the sports racer to GT car speed differentials making it look worse than it was.