Double Yellow - Future Speeds Behind the 88/39

[marshall_mosty]

David,
Great breakdown of the incident from your prospective. From control, it was a mutual, albeit very quick decision to send Dave (Colorado region dude) out in the pace car due to the location of Daniel's car and the fact he was buried so deep in the tires the corner couldn't easily assess his physical condition. As we didn't know if we needed to send an ambulance the most prudent thing to do was to throw the double yellow followed by a pace car.

This is a very good example of people (88/39 in this case) driving a tad too fast during a double yellow.

To add an example to a hypothetical situation... what if this same issue happened but someone also broke on the exit to the bitch and was mid-track at the crest of the hill. If two people were "racing" the double yellow assuming the only double yellow incident was Daniels #34 AMCM car in the tire wall at T2 they would be sorely mistaken as well as put another drive and emergency crew in danger.

Everyone needs to remember that fires happen and we have had more red flags this season than I saw in my 13 years of racing and the last 5 years of not racing and being a RD. If that car in the middle of the track at the exit of the bitch was on fire and the driver was getting out of the car to save his own life, what happens when two cars come by at 7-8 tenths?? I certainly wouldn't want to deal with the outcome of that situation (hopefully I never will).

For everyone's awareness, Brian was given a DQ and 1 race suspension for the incident with Dave. He will be spending his suspension in control (Brian's idea, not mine) so he can see what we deal with during a race. That will be standard protocol for my race groups going forward in the event suspensions are handed out.
Fingers crossed I don't have many "guests" in the future.


We can all learn from this and I'd like to leave you with a quote that's on my wall at work:

"It's not about being better than someone else. It's about being better than you were the day before".
Let's get to tomorrow so we can all be better!

[Fbody383]

As we didn't know if we needed to send an ambulance the most prudent thing to do was to throw the double yellow followed by a pace car.

The more true this is, the more prudent a red flag would be.

To add an example to a hypothetical situation... what if this same issue happened but someone also broke on the exit to the bitch and was mid-track at the crest of the hill. If two people were "racing" the double yellow assuming the only double yellow incident was Daniels #34 AMCM car in the tire wall at T2 they would be sorely mistaken as well as put another drive and emergency crew in danger.

There's already an answer for that, and arguably in that example that car is visible before and after a braking zone.

19.3.5 Yellow Flag - Waving
Categories: Command; Advisory; Local

Description: A solid waving yellow flag, displayed at a flag station(s) found anywhere around the course.
Uses: This is used locally, to advise drivers that there is extreme danger in the immediate area. Command: Drivers shall SIGNIFICANTLY SLOW THEIR VEHICLES in preparation for any necessary evasive maneuvers or coming to a complete stop to avoid a collision with a potential hazard. NO PASSING is permitted, until completely past the incident, or until past the next manned flag station that is not displaying any Yellow Flag(s), whichever comes first. [Note: If this flag is displayed to indicate a hazard on, or near the course, it maybe rescinded after two (2) laps even if the hazard remains.]

Arguably then in our event, the flag station track left before the hill should have had an AGGRESSIVELY waving yellow flag. Probably good to do a flag review at a driver's meeting and understand how a track throws them.

Again, I'm not upset with any racer, any RD, or NASA; just making it clear what I'm doing going forward. It could be the mixed class folks that will need a refresher if I'm splitting their field.

[Supercharged111]

Ya know I didn't notice the flag station at the top of the hill in R1/R2. I easily could have been roped into the DQ situation from R2 under different circumstances. It may be prudent to foot stomp that flag station's existence and its importance for Hallett events. I realize that's not a big picture solution, but could help out from the get go at least at Hallett. Those aren't conditions you'll find at every track.