Bob Barnard Track Engineering

I commented the other day about the time it took IMSA to respond to accidents and clear them. Nearly 6 hours in a 12 hour race does not keep the fans or drivers happy. So IMSA is looking into it. Hope it is not a mirror. Old joke.

Of bigger concern is the management of the accidents. Several marshals have now chimed in as to the new rules for them. IMSA used to have a dedicated response team that went to all the events, like IndyCar, but the new regime decided to use the NASCAR model and have a crew from each track. This is not necessarily a bad thing, F1 does the same apart from the Medical Car, but both NASCAR and F1 are a single class race,with almost spec cars in the sense that basic safety items are the same on each car. The fuel filler is in the rear quarter panel for example. Just check the Porches in sports cars. IMSA has four classes of cars with a variety of manufacturers and with very different designs. Getting to know where the cut off switch is in each one is not the work of a morning. 

Worse than this though is the decision to not let marshals respond until there has been a "conversation" with race control. Responding to an accident, especially a car on fire with someone in it is not a time for conversations. I well recall when Berger ran off at Imola and caught fire. I along with most viewers were screaming at the TV asking where was the fast response car? It seemed and eternity, but it turned out to be 22 seconds. I bet it felt like an eternity to Berger.

Race Directors need to make snap decisions, and so do the men on the spot, the marshals. Here in the US there is a reticence to marshals going over the wall, unlike most of the world. I do not know if this cultural, or an insurance issue, but going out under yellows ensures that someone is at a crash almost immediately. Who recalls at Sebring a few years ago the Jaguar almost fully engulfed but one brave soul had it out because he got there fast.

Marshal posts must have sight of each other, so a yellow at the preceding post should be automatic. We had a car in the tires at Turn 9 mid race, and again it seemed to me an age before someone turned up, and then it was a truck, and the driver was not getting out. Who knew how bad he was hurt?

In respect of the fire, why was a red flag not shown immediately as we had with the Turn 17 crash? We had marshals and fire trucks trying to combat a fire which would not go out while the cars paraded past. Crazy. Marty Kaufman and Gordon Gratiot where are you?