Quote Originally Posted by itix View Post
This is British safety for you. On paper it looks great, in reality, not so much.
The sad part is that actually all the debate around chicanes (real or virtual) has little to do with safety.

Having 1 or 2 chicanes on a fast stage can drop a bit its average speed but it doesn’t really minimize the overall risks, as chicanes lowering effect has a very limited range; besides, usually (like in the infamous Australia SS3) chicanes aren’t even placed before the most dangerous stages spots, once it’s obviously impossible to cover all of them.

Natural route risks are a part of Rallysport. Accidents can occur even in apparently safe sectors and drivers always mention that breaking their speed flow on a fast stage by using a chicane can make them loose concentration, leading to mistakes.

We can’t pollute stages with real or virtual chicanes believing that way we’ll make Rally safer. Virtual chicanes mostly seem to be a way for organizers to get cheaper insurance fees, by having lower stages average speeds; that’s not a proper reason to turn the sport into a charade.