R.I.P Michael Park

Thus as you say move the trees back OR slow the cars and you have lost your hairy edge that gave you that satisfaction.

Nobody is saying they want to see people die or get hurt BUT we ALL want that challenge to remain challenging.

Reducing the cars performance or changing the course because some nervous person thinks it has become too dangerous means that many have lost that personal challenge that you so loved.

What happens and causes people in rule making positions to make decisions or recommendations like yours is simply that we have retired and moved on and now WATCH from our couch or as a spectator. We probably now have kids, etc. and our lifes focus has changed.

BUT when YOU were rallying you DID enjoy that challenge and we have to remember that NOW you don't because 'if you like' we have grown up ... but that should not mean that we more mature people who now have different values should force those younger and still competing people to drive like Grandma's on ultra safe courses, etc.

Think back to your competing days and (be honest and) think how pissed you would be if some wise old ( ) man was making suggestions like you have been saying.

Again when you are young you live for the challenges ... that changes after you retire and get out of the car and have a family, etc. ... officials need to understand that.

Pete

 

Again: it was the hairy edge of traction not of survival.

If you spin off course you don't need a tree through the door to tell you that you got it wrong.

And if there's a tree in the "run off" area, you're less likely to push traction to the "maybe" level. You keep it in "probably".

"There are no old, bold pilots": a quote I learned before I took up rallying, not after I became a "nervous old man".

If I wanted to risk death on a merry-go-round, I'd have gone oval racing.

So maybe I was a nervous young man, too? (I'm not sure my co would agree -- I think his finger marks are still embedded in the dash of that old Fiat, wherever it is.)

 

That is why I went circuit racing ... you can really find that edge at much higher levels.

My brother-inlaw though loved the only one chance part of rallying ...

Pete

 

Whatever smokes your Havana, I guess.

I preferred to push to the edge of mistakes, knowing that they weren't terminal. Vehicle control gets real interesting right at the brink.

One spin-off (no pun intended): When I first got the 328, it had an older set of VRs on it. The first time I had it out in the rain, the back end stepped out on me making a left out of a stop. (Textbook power oversteer) The other drivers had this shocked look on their faces, like they were seeing a Roswell alien, but from my perspective it was a completely controlled maneuver. I'm rather pleased how controllable the 328 is in a side slip (provided you're paying attention). (Rallying in the RWD days was a tad more sideways than today.)

 

Thank you, Michael Park, for the memories!

 

I did something similar with my E36 M3 with 4 coworkers in the car on the way back from lunch. Funny, there weren't any additional requests for me to drive to lunch after that...

 

Since I have already been written off as a blood-thirsty thrillseeker I might as well dig the hole deeper...

The best people in auto racing, like those in many activities, should be those that can consistently run nearer the edge than lesser people. I think the reducing all risk and softening the edge lessens that skill distinction. For example, I am far less impressed with someone who can beat the stock market with "virtual" money (like kids in a finance class) than those who risk all of their own. In racing today I think there are many drivers who average out to be "fast" since they spend as much time over the edge as up to it. Since there is no consequence for overdoing it, they look as good as those who can consistently operate close to but not over the limit.

Of course I don't want people to get killed in racing, but I also think that if you push too hard and go off course, you should suffer a distinct penalty. In F1, I think that curbs should be higher so you have to stay on course and not be able to spin out across huge swaths of runoff and get back on track without losing position. In WRC, if you damage your car by going off, you should be out of competition. Now they have rules whereby you can fix the car and run later stages and catch back up.