Originally posted by apr67:
I use the Hand in the Air in a Fist to indicated I am slowing down, usually for a double yellow, or when exiting the track.
In my 30 years, a hand in the air means "I am entering the pits" or "I am disabled." A point indicates on which side you expect me to pass- that's it, you are not helping the guy behind trying to communicate any other information. A hand in the air, fist or otherwize, has always indicated either "follow me in" or a wave by. Raising your hand to indicate flags are out is indecipherable and you are only begging to be passed. Let the driver behind observe the flags. If he's trying to figure out what you are telling him, he'll probably never see them.
Stewards who don't understand this have never raced or they raced poorly, and they are looking for an excuse to enforce rules without understanding what might be going on out there.
Most drivers develop the skill to handle an incident, i.e., miss an obstacle on the course or judge how to miss a spinning car and refrain from passing until after an incident. If we are signaled in an adequate fashion by the flaggers, we are given time to accomplish all of this. If we are not, we must handle the situation as best we can. A late flag in my experience is why most often people mistakenly pass on yellow and not that we are disregarding the rules. Sometimes we might be given credit for negotiating the incident even in light of passing a car that has slowed too drastically and has created a more complex situation than was necessary.
Yes we slow for yellows to ensure control of the car, but as we all must know "control of the car" is not always decelerating to a snail's pace.
I recommend stewards consider there's more going on out there than always meets the eye especially the eye of cornerworkers who have never enjoyed a race lap in the driver's seat of a race car. And they need to pay as much attention to training their flag people as trying to find excuses to penalize drivers. Then we might all get along more safely.
At any rate: let the drivers drive and the flaggers flag.
GRJ
I must add that usually brake lights on the guy in front of me is a pretty good indication that he is slowing, and of course my depth perception is still good enough to let me know when I am closing at a faster rate than normal. Hand signals in these events really are superfluous.
GRJ
[This message has been edited by grjones1 (edited May 19, 2004).]
[This message has been edited by grjones1 (edited May 19, 2004).]
[This message has been edited by grjones1 (edited May 19, 2004).]
[This message has been edited by grjones1 (edited May 19, 2004).]
[This message has been edited by grjones1 (edited May 19, 2004).]
