Classic Adelaide

[Marlin]

G'day guys, gotta say I'm kinda concerned at the amount of carnage at CA over the weekend.

I'm only getting 2nd hand info, but I hear there's a few people still in hospital with some rather serios injuries

I'm starting to believe that CAMS will be taking a serious look at tarmac rallying in the near future.

Your thoughts?

[Marlin]

Here's some of it. Apparently we lost a lot of classics over the weekend. Heard one of the guys in the M3 has a broken back,,,,, I say lucky they were both wearing HANS.

Great shot of Bill's 'Stangs still on full noise in the air though

[N1GTR]

Holy shit!

[phunky_monkey]

Geez, not good. Looks like some very big hits there, hope everyone pulls through ok.

[Marlin]

Hmmmm, not good alright. Got a couple more of the "Gotalotago"

[t01-100]

my cams licence says motorsport is dangerous, always has and always will

hans devices are good idea

so is reducing the total speed of cars by running max 98RON fuel

reducing corner speed is also another top idea so r tyres should be banned too...

[evil_weevil]

ouch.

Did the guy walk away from Giocattalo?

[Marlin]

I really can't confirm too much as I wasn't there, but I was told they both spent a night in hospital (driver and co-driver in each car for this event) and have been released. I hope that's the case.

[Hillzy]

That's really nasty. Love the Classic Adelaide but don't like to see that. That green BMW is a nice car, kinda well known too.

I'll dig up an awesome pic of it last year.

[sanjuu-ni]

The quantity of serious accidents in these tarmac rallies seems to be kept quiet.

One year in the Targa Tasmania I was second last car on the road. We got to see first hand how many cars had crashed and not been able to complete each stage. At the end of the event we had counted over 60! Sometimes the damage was confined to a bent nose and the car could be repaired overnight.

However, plenty of cars were rolled into a ball or down a steep embankment.

Fortunately the safety requirements have been improved considerably over the years but the unyielding trees remain....

[Hillzy]

Found it:

[Marlin]

my cams licence says motorsport is dangerous, always has and always will

hans devices are good idea

so is reducing the total speed of cars by running max 98RON fuel

reducing corner speed is also another top idea so r tyres should be banned too...

Hmmm, couple of good ideas there.

[sav man]

They are 2 big hit's. That M3 is flat, where did the engine go?

You don't need to be going fast to distroy a car. Just look at Marks GT-R from Targa this year, only went off the road at snails pace, but there just happened to be a giant bank too roll down.

[Snowman]

The "gotalotago"crash was on the news. They walked away unhurt. It was stated that the road had just been resurfaced there which they didnt know about which is what they have blamed that crash on, but I can tell you from the video they were moving....

[Marlin]

Very true, but I do feel that steps need to be taken to slow the pace of the cars - moderns especially.

The amount of seasoned guys I talk to, (like Murray Coote, ARC champ etc) all agree tarmac rallying is super dangerous, the most dangerous of all. Most won't even compete in the events and tell me I'm nuts.

The high speeds, big grip levels of current tyres, coupled with delays in getting to crews after a big off, all these are transpiring to highlight the danger.

Now I reckon a ban on open top/clubman type cars is inevitable and warranted, but what else can be done to reduce the risks without taking the fun out of it?

Do you think an overall reduction in a cars acceleration and cornering ability would dull the "experience" too much?

Don't get me wrong, I'm totally infatuated with the sport, I'm just keeping my eyes open to the possibility of CAMS stepping in.

[sav man]

The local paper said that Rally Tas is banning opentop cars for 08, and putting 190k speed limit on the event.

[260DET]

Anyone who goes in an open clubman type car in a targa type event is crazy, the ban would be voluntary if sanity existed. When you think about it the safety requirements for circuit events are just on another level compared with gum trees flicking past a few meters away.

[Roy]

Sorry, first thing they need to do is ban all these limited build cars which dont have to go through the usual ADRs/crash tests etc

Think Daytona, Elfin and now Giocattalo! The Giocattalo was very fortunate!

Its a necessary risk, with the tarmac rallies some of the strictest with regards to safety/cages etc. CAMS need to also look at the averge speed of stages. The lenght of competitive stages over an event, and rest betweeh events.

Havign just got back from the Alpine Rally, its crazy the hours they put in through the night, then to back up the next day. Albeit the Sunday is a short day.l Cant imagian havign to string too many long days together. It will take its toll on the mental fitness of competitors

[t01-100]

personally i speed limits are as out of touch as average speeds... stats show that cars crash on corners, not straights.

crashes on corners are usually because of too higher entry speed, not by a hundred ks, but low speed (+10-20ks)... change the tyres and you reduce the corner speed, reduce the corner speed and you reduce the maximum speed of the corner, now add 10-20ks to that and you event up with cars going off (as they will) at say 80ks instead of 140s...

although i hope not intended to by design, a 190k limit will ensure the near total domination of lancer evolution and wrx sti in an event... just got off the phone from a mate of mine who owns a gtr and only just found out about the 190 limit... his response was he will now withdraw from rally tas because the car he developed to have fun in will struggle to get out of third gear now! i cannot see the point of even bothering to buy all the stuff i need to make the rx7 comply with the tarmac rally rules as i'm too busy to play during targa, so not point doing over events. bring on track work.

roy makes a good point about fatigue, stages following long transports maybe prone to crashes, but again based on the stats actual longer stages (+30km) do not see more crashes than those shorter (-10km).

don't overlook the fact that people approach six day enduro events very differently to three day sprint events... i won't even start on my thoughts about the hillclimb sprints (running the same road for the same distance 12 times is hardly a tarmac rally).

tarmac rallies are a very special part of motorsport, but as with anything special they should be considered precious and treated with respect

Edited December 13, 2007 by t01-100

[t01-100]

sorry, forgot to disagree with your statement about limited build cars roy!

adr and crash testing has near no part in the safety of any tarmac rally car... in fact a tower to tower cage actually compromises the crumple zones a manufacturer builds into modern car design.

although perhaps not evident on the surface, it must be recognised each serious incident involving a limited build car involves a significant factor other than how the car was built...