When excactly comes the Safety Car out?

[Lunaboy]

I was watching round 6 at Rockingham on my season review dvd and suddenly the safety car came out without any reason, there was no car standing still on the track and the comentator said that probably it's just for putting back the cars togheter, because Plato had too much lead... :eek:

Did i miss something trough the years?

As long as i know this is no reason for sending the safety car out??
Although, i think i remember they did it once few years ago for the same reason and there was a lot of discussion then...

Still hope that there was a car out there because i really don't like seeing this in -for me- the best Touring Car Championship in the world!

So, is there another reason for a safety car except for safety reasons?

Regards from Belgium

[Mp3 Astra]

Technically the safety car should only ever come out if there is a significant danger to drivers, such as cars or debris. Rockingham was a bit of a mystery, and I said at the time that if there was no actual safety reason for doing so it was very unprofessional to do so.

It has happened before, however. I think they did it in the 2004 masters' race, and possibly in a BTCC race in that same year. Not sure though, but it has happened.

I presonally think that it's irresponsible to bring the SC out when there's no danger:

1) Bunching the cars up actually increases the chance of a collision and more danger
2) It can upset a well driven race for a lead driver with a significant lead
3) It makes championship look desperate for an exciting race, whereas what you're really doing is upsetting the balance of the race, and affecting the outcome in a way that is not meant to be.

[racer69]

They've been known to do these "NASCAR yellows" in Australian V8Supercar races as well.

I personally find it a joke to just bunch the field up because someone is too far out infront...

[SEATFreak]

I was watching round 6 at Rockingham on my season review dvd and suddenly the safety car came out without any reason, there was no car standing still on the track and the comentator said that probably it's just for putting back the cars togheter, because Plato had too much lead... :eek:

Did i miss something trough the years?

As long as i know this is no reason for sending the safety car out??
Although, i think i remember they did it once few years ago for the same reason and there was a lot of discussion then...

Still hope that there was a car out there because i really don't like seeing this in -for me- the best Touring Car Championship in the world!

So, is there another reason for a safety car except for safety reasons?

Regards from Belgium

Thank God for the DVD-ROM!

Later Tim Harvey (who was the one that gave the reason as being Plato had too much of a lead) said that "Alan Gow had callled the "debris on track" safety car" though we never actually see the debris. So we could say we missed something yes. We later cut to John Georges TH Mototorsort Integra but nothing from the Integra. It was a simple tangle between George and Pinkney in turn 1. George was ahead of Murray going into the turn and Pinkney hit George as he was turning in which somehow spun Pinkney.

Perhaps Harvery was right first time??

[CroftPilgrim]

Technically the safety car should only ever come out if there is a significant danger to drivers, such as cars or debris. Rockingham was a bit of a mystery, and I said at the time that if there was no actual safety reason for doing so it was very unprofessional to do so.

It has happened before, however. I think they did it in the 2004 masters' race, and possibly in a BTCC race in that same year. Not sure though, but it has happened.

I presonally think that it's irresponsible to bring the SC out when there's no danger:

1) Bunching the cars up actually increases the chance of a collision and more danger
2) It can upset a well driven race for a lead driver with a significant lead
3) It makes championship look desperate for an exciting race, whereas what you're really doing is upsetting the balance of the race, and affecting the outcome in a way that is not meant to be.

The safety car is only ever brought out if there is danger. AFAIK, it's never been brought out just to bunch the cars up deliberately. Just because you dont see the danger on the TV or the DVD doesn't mean it isn't there - it can easily missed by the cameras or edited out. The Masters race was an exception because it was a bit of fun.

[Lunaboy]

Thanks, that's clear... ;)

[Radders]

One of the season funny moments was interviewing Jason Plato and Matt Neal at Rockingham and asked why the safety car came out (I think in race three) and both independantly responded;

"I think someone dropped their hotdog in the grand stands and the paper might have landed on the circuit"
"I think a small vole burrowed it's way onto the circuit"

Classic gents, classic!

So in summary the safety car comes out either
i) when there is a safety need
ii) when the tv coverage needs a bit of spice injecting on the restart - (JP still whopped everyone's ass at Rockingham by the way)

NB - the above comments are only in gest, I love our series and if I didn't I would question why I've attended nearly every event in 7 years....

[m0rk]

Paper cup on track

there was no need to call the car out... the 'debris' was cleared safely by marshals before the SC got called...

the sceptic might say it was to bunch the field up....

[ready2rock]

i remember in Ascar days in about 2003 there was the "Rockingham Badger", if the race got too spread out round the oval then the Safety Car was deployed to make sure the "badger" was safe :O
Maybe it made a return, but in all seriousness, the cameras used in race control (i know at rockingham not always elsewhere) are powerful enough to pick out a single nut on the track, so they could easily have spotted something nobody else could have seen.