[color=#0000bb]Note: I left off items 6-10 from the original message - I had problems with my Adobe program updated 5-25-12.[/color]
To All NorCal SpecE30 Racers.
We had a rough weekend at Thunderhill. Four cars wrecked hard and one unfortunate “car-b-que”. All the drivers emerged unhurt which is the most important thing! I was bummed that my car got racked hard but I want you all to know that I’m staying in this game and plan to build a new car (or fix mine, not sure right now if it is fixable, it’s under a car cover on the trailer. A full autopsy is pending).
NASA NorCal has been trying to curtail body contact and reduce aggressive/unaware driving that has been a problem since the start of our 2012 season. Saturday’s driver’s meeting we learned of new measures designed to settle the group down and clean up our racing. The new measures were met with mostly strong negative feedback from the racers.
My SpecMiata counterpart, Dean Thomas, took the lead and proposed a set of compromise actions to NASA. NASA agreed to realign Saturday’s new rule set with Dean’s, Jim’s and my suggestions. Dean was the point man who presented the realignment to Jerry and Dave. I’m happy to report that NASA listened to our feedback and agreed to compromise.
We have a great thing going here and I do not want to see it devolve. Jim and I remain committed to keep NorCal SpecE30 racing as it has been since the get-go. We have a great group of guys in NorCal with strong friendships and good sporting camaraderie. The balance that Jim and I will continue to maintain is that we will work hard for the group but at the same time will work hard on behalf of NASA. We will fight for you guys and at the same time adhere to NASA’s rules and guidelines.
I think this is a good compromise and an opportunity to become better racers and safer racers.
Cheers,
Scott
Official Revised NorCal NASA Group A Actions
The current amount of contact, aggressive or unaware driving and off-track excursions as a result of over-driving is unacceptable in Group A. NASA NorCal is committed to making the Spec Miata and Spec E30 Series premier racing programs where drivers from inside and outside the group admire the level of competitiveness, cooperation and clean-racing they see in every race. As such, NASA Management, Race Directors and Series Directors believe special actions are necessary to bring the Group A drivers into line with the expectations we all share for these exciting, growing racing series.
Based on feedback from the Drivers, Race Directors and Series Directors, we plan to implement the following changes going forward. We are taking an approach of education, communication between drivers and very targeted penalties for the few drivers who cause problems for the rest of the Group. We sincerely hope that all the drivers will support this approach both through their on and off track actions and participation in the process.
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All yellow flag rules in effect, CCR and Supplemental Rules, remain in effect as they are today. The Race and Series Directors will occasionally visit flag stations during practice and qualifying to see if drivers are acknowledging flaggers.
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We are repealing the blanket “no dent” rule, but are, effective immediately, strictly enforcing the 50/50 rule. This means that all drivers are expected to fix major cosmetic damage to their cars before the next event. Going forward, any driver found at-fault according to the CCR Rules of On-Track Conduct in an incident involving car-to-car contact will be required to repair their own car to 5/5, not 50/50, condition. For the sake of clarity, if you dive-bomb a corner and hit another driver, you cannot simply pound out your fender to 50/50 condition. Rather, you will need to replace the fender, get it painted to match the car and bring the entire car up to “significantly better than 50/50” standards. Your propensity to hit others means you will be held to a different standard for car condition as a deterrent to further contact.
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The “no moves” rule will be in effect for Group A. The Race Director will clarify this rule before the next event so there is no ambiguity to its meaning. The intent is to have drivers focus more of their attention to the flags and what’s happening out the windshield instead of reacting to the driver’s moves behind them. We want to encourage more constructive and cooperative passing and less “racing from ahead” to simply hold cars up.
4) Every Driver’s meeting will be considered mandatory and the Race Director will take roll. The Race Director will decide on escalating penalties for missing meetings. Meetings will be used to review incidents from previous sessions and/or for rules discussions (flag, racing room, passing, blocking, etc.)
- Drivers are expected to have an in-car camera - they can use the money they’re saving by not doing body work and paint for the no-dent rule. If a driver can’t provide video, then their contact form will be taken with a grain of salt in any incident. Race Officials may request in-car video after any session from any driver for the purpose of finding or reviewing incidents, whether the camera car was involved or not.
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Drivers will be required to fill out a contact form for ANY contact other than a bump draft. Failure for any driver to fill out a contact form (assuming video shows contact) will be a DQ and start from back on next race.
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An Incident Review Board (IRB) consisting of the Series Directors (Scott Neville, Jim Bucha, Dean Thomas) will review all Group A contact forms and talk to drivers individually and together. They will review the rules together and will discuss all incidents at the next drivers’ meeting. The IRB will pass incidents deemed serious where fault/penalties are appropriate on to the Race Director. IRB members will recuse themselves from review of incidents involving co-drivers, spouses, etc. so there is no loss of objectivity.
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We will be strict in punishing and exposing overly aggressive, overly optimistic and unaware driving per the existing CCR Rules of On-Track Conduct.
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We will enforce the start rules for flying starts more than we have in the past. There are currently lots of violations that lead to much higher T1 speeds and also more “blender” action in the middle of the pack with drivers in the back getting unfair runs. Start violations include but are not limited to failure to maintain pace-car speed until the green flag is thrown, failure to maintain appropriate spacing between cars and jumping starts. Penalties could be in the form of an in-race black flag for a stop and go and/or post race review of the driver’s video for rule adherence.
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At the Race Director’s discretion, we will have a download session after the Saturday race and/or after the Sunday race if there are any incidents. This is another opportunity to discuss any incidents as a group and learn from them.