A mystery (for me only i guess)

[AMICALEMANS]

I am french, you know, so i dont know about something i saw in Uk race :

Why some cars are (or was) wearing at the back, an orange sticker with a black cross , it is a mistery for me for a long time !

Thanks for your reply !

[ianpearson]

Originally Posted by AMICALEMANS

I am french, you know, so i dont know about something i saw in Uk race :

Why some cars are (or was) wearing at the back, an orange sticker with a black cross , it is a mistery for me for a long time !

Thanks for your reply !

its a novice cross, you have to display one on the back of the car until you have finished 6 races & obtained signatures from the clerk of the course to show your behaviour was acceptable. they really are a warning to other drivers that the novice cross driver may not be quite on the case.

[AMICALEMANS]

Is it for any race ? I mean, if i begin and finsih my first race in saloon car, then, going one race Formula First, then one race FF, then one race F3, then (i am so good and rich that i pay a lot of money to bernie) one race Formula 1 in the british GP, i have to wear the cross on the back of my Renault ?

If i am a french guy, running my first season of FF in France, i come to england, just to see if i am a good driver, and enter a race in FF, i have to wear the cross ?

[ianpearson]

Originally Posted by AMICALEMANS

Is it for any race ? I mean, if i begin and finsih my first race in saloon car, then, going one race Formula First, then one race FF, then one race F3, then (i am so good and rich that i pay a lot of money to bernie) one race Formula 1 in the british GP, i have to wear the cross on the back of my Renault ?

If i am a french guy, running my first season of FF in France, i come to england, just to see if i am a good driver, and enter a race in FF, i have to wear the cross ?

you can get sigs in a range of cars, but there is a limit to what you can drive on a National B licence (first licence). If yo came to the uk i would imagine you would need an international licence or you would have to go through the UK's licence procedure, i.e. ards course then NAT B with a novice cross.

You need a super licence for F1, even some of the worse drivers you have ever seen race in F1 would still totally humiliate most nat b & nat a licence holders

[Davhut]

Tell them your religious practices prohibit orange crosses, unless they mean "danger" on a box of C4!

[John Turner]

I'm not sure in which forum this thread should go really, but it sure shouldn't be here, in Motorsport History, should it, unless of course we are going to discuss how this (logical) requirement came about?

[Eddy V]

Well, how did it come about?

And yes, I love the idea. They should have it in every country.

[Alan Raine]

As far as I know it's been around since at least the early 70's. I had a ceremonial burning of mine when I got my 6 signatures.

They also made good targets in Formula Ford

Out of interest, what do other countries use to identify a novice driver?

[Eddy V]

Belgium: nothing.
Germany: nothing.
Holland: nothing.

Shall I continue?

I know that in my early days sometimes I wished I had a cross.







Afterwards I wished the others had them.

[AMICALEMANS]

its a typical english thing ! like double decker or london taxi !

[John Turner]

Nevertheless, it is an eminently sensible thing to do!

[MGDavid]

John, are you seriously suggesting that 'we are right, everyone else is wrong' ?

[Chatters]

New Australian drivers have to have a P (Provisional Licence) Plate for 2 or 3 races until they get their full licence. Not sure whether we have L Plates or not though.

[John Turner]

Originally Posted by MGDavid

John, are you seriously suggesting that 'we are right, everyone else is wrong' ?

You might infer that from me, but I couldn't possibly comment!

Seriously though, surely the cross on the back of any novice racing driver's car is a 'good thing'? Would not an experienced racing driver want to know that the person he/she is about to lap, or less likely, has just been overtaken by, is someone whose inexperience might lead them to do something which might involve you in an otherwise avoidable accident, and therefore give yourself a greater margin of comfort. Equally, wouldn't the novice driver similarly have a bit of an additional comfort zone knowing that the other drivers are aware of their lack of experience and will (hopefully) drive accordingly?

[Jeremy Hall]

When you consider that in one famous (infamous) race a couple of years ago a TGP pilot was doing their second race ever in a 1982 Formula 1 car at Monza, I think that it a very good thing that we use this progressive system.
By the way were not the French the pioneers of the P plate for novice driversa on the road.

[MGDavid]

Originally Posted by Jeremy Hall

....By the way were not the French the pioneers of the P plate for novice driversa on the road.

No, in France it's an 'A' plate....