Yellow Flag between sessions

[andrew_powell98]

Originally posted by brsccnw
The point that is being made is at least they are making some sort of effort !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now Come on Alister not saying we don't make an effort durring the race?

Also I to would like to join Observer and the many others in the silvery OP tower to have a ganders at what goes on. It would mak an interesting addition to Cliffs newbie walk, and the Flaggie walk.

[Woolley]

I have noticed that some flag marshals place the yellow flag sometimes in the armco when sitting down during the time the course is open

But that's the point of the first course car - to close the course so that it's safe for the marshals walking the track.

I drove a course car at Shelsley at the week-end, as I do at most meetings now. It could have been fun to blast up in a nice big supercharged Jaguar, but I treated every blind corner as probably having a marshal lying down in the track checking fluids. I expect the same when I am in the track. Sorry if this is controversial, but between sessions it is not a race and shouldn't ever be treated as such. It is a public road with pedestrians. Drive accordingly, and if you can't, apply for an entry and do it properly!

[JimW]

Originally posted by Chigley
I agree with Flagman! this is blantant abuse of the yellow flag and abuse of flag marshals. . .

So do I and in spades. Course car drivers had better da*n well learn to drive within their visibility and ought to assume that there are orange bodies all over the track round every corner. If there are not marshals out there, I would want to ask why they have not been checking the track for bolts etc.

(First course cars excepted, of course).

Regards

Jim

[flying muppet]

"Lets face it, course/incident marshals are basically "at ease" during races waiting for something to happen so keeping an open ear for traffic should be too much of a burden".

Sorry, I didn't want to keep this thread going, but I think the sweeping statement above cannot go unchallenged; this kind of thing is hardly fostering the 'team spirit' that this thread is threatening to tear apart.

The gist of this thread has NOT been about excessive speed of the course cars, but about the specific practice at Oulton Park only of showing a yellow to course vehicles and/or race cars returning after an off, if marshals or stationary vehicles are on the circuit.

The reason this practice has continued at Oulton is that on the short circuit, when you are driving round, more than 50% of the circuit has a restricted view of the track ahead, either because of gradients or the proximity of barriers to the inside of corners. As far as I know, 99% of OP regulars are in favour - both the vehicle drivers and the incident marshals and IOs. No-one has suggested that the practice should spread elsewhere (although I have seen it occur at Knockhill, for similar reasons). No-one has suggested that the practice is there to slow errant course cars down; but it is in place just to warn those vehicles that it's not clear ahead. It's a warning, that's all, think of it as an extra precaution.

This practice has been going on Oulton Pk for years, and I can't think of a logical reason to scrap it.

As Simon Morrell so eruditely put it on pg 4 -"Ask yourself this, if a fatal incident occurred between sessions and you were stood in front of the coroner answering the question 'what did you do to prevent this happening, how would you answer?"

Let's stop squabbling, pull together and act as team members, not individuals.

[Flagman]

This practice has been going on Oulton Pk for years

Agreed - but with the flag marshal showing the flag were it is felt to be necessary - as I said before - overuse of the yellow just leads to it being ignored.

more than 50% of the circuit has a restricted view of the track ahead

It depends on the speed you are travelling at!