At the Qld Titles in Cooloola last weekend there was a red flag stoppage in the pre-final of the JNL. The kids pulled into the in grid and were formed in a group under the scales area with guardians and given instructions by 1 of the Clerks of the Course. They were told they would go back on the track in single file and the race would be restarted at up to race speed. The question was asked would they get a form up lap and the answer was yes. Someone asked will it be like the restart in Victoria. The answer was no, your in Queensland now. All the JNL drivers and parents heard this and we have had letters from Scales Marshall to verify.
As the gate was opened the first karts took off flat out and then a very dangerous situation occurred as 33 karts tried to push their way out to get onto the track to catch the leaders. (they were virtually racing from a standing start on the out grid.) As the leaders came to the start finish line on the first lap the light was turned green with the last group to leave the grid nearly 3/4 lap behind. According to the starter she was told by the 2nd Clerk of Course she must start on the first lap. (the starter was visibly upset after the race at what had happened)
As you can imagine there was an up roar and a petition went in (of course the drivers who gained from this start were happy) which achieved nothing under rule 8.25 where a race cannot be re run.
The rule for a restart is 16.11(d)(3) If a restart is to be conducted over the laps remaining, such restart is to be in single file and up to race speed.
Another Clerk of the course said they cannot have a roll up lap in the middle of a race. (My view is that if it is a restart than the race must have stopped so it is not in the middle of a race.)
Duties of the Starter 4.18(a) To signal the start of competition in a manner that is fair to all competitors. How is it fair to restart a race with the field spread all over the track?
4.18(d) The starter is judge of fact. So why is the Clerk of Course telling the starter when to start the race?
I urge all karters to go back to your club and put forward a rule change to make this rule clear so that this sort of thing cannot happen again. We have run a restart at Cooloola at club meetings where they form up single file on track and then are given the start without any issues. How long will it be before one of the last karts leaving the grid slams into one of the leaders steaming around the track at full pace. This needs to be fixed before it happens at one of the smaller tracks like Mackays Qld Closed Titles or Barossa for the SA Titles.
As the gate was opened the first karts took off flat out and then a very dangerous situation occurred as 33 karts tried to push their way out to get onto the track to catch the leaders. (they were virtually racing from a standing start on the out grid.) As the leaders came to the start finish line on the first lap the light was turned green with the last group to leave the grid nearly 3/4 lap behind. According to the starter she was told by the 2nd Clerk of Course she must start on the first lap. (the starter was visibly upset after the race at what had happened)
As you can imagine there was an up roar and a petition went in (of course the drivers who gained from this start were happy) which achieved nothing under rule 8.25 where a race cannot be re run.
The rule for a restart is 16.11(d)(3) If a restart is to be conducted over the laps remaining, such restart is to be in single file and up to race speed.
Another Clerk of the course said they cannot have a roll up lap in the middle of a race. (My view is that if it is a restart than the race must have stopped so it is not in the middle of a race.)
Duties of the Starter 4.18(a) To signal the start of competition in a manner that is fair to all competitors. How is it fair to restart a race with the field spread all over the track?
4.18(d) The starter is judge of fact. So why is the Clerk of Course telling the starter when to start the race?
I urge all karters to go back to your club and put forward a rule change to make this rule clear so that this sort of thing cannot happen again. We have run a restart at Cooloola at club meetings where they form up single file on track and then are given the start without any issues. How long will it be before one of the last karts leaving the grid slams into one of the leaders steaming around the track at full pace. This needs to be fixed before it happens at one of the smaller tracks like Mackays Qld Closed Titles or Barossa for the SA Titles.
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Comments12
I think the starts at the championships where the poorest i'v ever seen.. i cant even put it nicely..
This is a very valid point and needs addressing..
I will be bringing this up at our next club meeting to have an amendment to the rule put forward.
Mind you I don't know how long it will take with the chain it must go thru to get there.
I am really P....... off over the way this was done as we were at the 2nd row trying to get onto the track
and had no chance of making real inroads on the leaders
What Tim has stated happened at Rocky should be the rule. It is simple (noone could misunderstand it) and gives all the drivers a fighting chance to improve their positions.
This is what all clubs should forward to their State body to have it put into the BIBLE
since it is a re-START it should follow all start procedures EXCEPT for the acceleration line rule (which is never enforced anyway) this means all karts must be in formation before the point that the pole place can start racing at race speed...... the stewards and starter got that one alll wrong last weekend....... the rule obviously needs to be changed to make it IDIOT PROOF!! for all our highly experienced grade 1 stewards??
I agreed totally with all the coments here...and would like to see a safe restarts....
I was the Scales Marshall that verified the information.....
There was a lot of angry drivers and parents after this restart return to the ingrid.......
Apart from this race restart it was a top weekend......
Cheers Greg Coomb
The first c/course also said that the pace of the restart should be fair to all. I also feel that the lead kart was instructed to go full out of the gate, and this added to the whole debacle.
That start was just rediculous full stop.!
I was involed in that race and it was f**** up. but it wasnt the leaders fault for takin off. he asked the starter wat pace and he said race pace so he took off out the gate. and we were catching the leader when battling heavily.
i think they should change that rule
Please joey - watch the langauge.
i think it was the stewards fault, no arguments. I was in that crash so i don't know what was said. Anyway, i've been involved in re-starts in the past where we were given a complete roll up lap to form up properly before the green lights were on. I know this isn't the rule, but since when does ANYONE obey rules these days.
It needs to be changed.
Why isn't it the rule. The rule only says race is restarted in single file at up to race pace. It doesn't say you can't have a roll up lap. Its the interpretation which is why it needs to be made clear.
Sean Butcher said:i think it was the stewards fault, no arguments. I was in that crash so i don't know what was said. Anyway, i've been involved in re-starts in the past where we were given a complete roll up lap to form up properly before the green lights were on. I know this isn't the rule, but since when does ANYONE obey rules these days.
It needs to be changed.
What did the stewards have to do with it ???
Nothing. It was the Clerk of Courses who gave the instructions and made the decisions in this matter.
Greg N Smith said:What did the stewards have to do with it ???