I did my first ESCORT enduro on my brand new "pro" license, on the strength of two schools, three regionals, and a double national weekend.
And it was a bad idea.
I knew it was a bad idea while I was doing it, but of course I still did it. I also got lucky and didn't have any "bad things" happen.
I've also been the victim of novices in enduros - most recently the "Hella incident" at VIR, where they do by the way let novices in on their permit.
Traffic has an entirely different dynamic in an enduro. In a 20 minute sprint race, it's VERY clear who is lapping whom, the fast guys might catch the slow guys twice at the most, and groups are generally way more homogenous in terms of performance than in an enduro. The cars' performance also changes over the course of the race, with brakes going to crap, cars slowing, lights not functioning, etc.
Add darkness to the mix. And a greater likelihood of CHANGING weather conditions over the course of one stint. Doing a sprint race in the rain is nothing like going from dry track, to wet, back to dry on slicks at someplace like Nelson. (I did it at the 24 - ask Greg how scared I was. And I LOVE the wet.)
...plus fatigue, long stints, heat, and dehydration. All affect judgment. Without some reserves gained by experience, that can be a major issue.
And its NELSON LEDGES. Room for error in most places approaches "zero," while the cost of that error approaches infiniti.
And the vague suggestion that an enduro is somehow safer because we're all out there milling around at 90% represents a HUGE misunderstanding of what most of us are doing. The fastest laps Pablo has ever turned at Summit and VIR happened late in their enduros - and in the case of VIR at night.
I'm personally impressed that Novices won't be allowed.
K
PS - if you are interested in the Nelson 12 please email me, even if you have in the past and haven't heard back recently. I've been living out of a suitcase for nearly a month and my traveling laptop doesn't have all of my past correspondence saved on it...