I may be talking to the wrong people, but I know for a fact that the people I’ve been “talking” to were/are racing at the front. It’s a moot point, but a couple of them hold track records that are currently still on the books. There is absolutely an attitude at all levels of motorsport where the competitors do everything they can to push the limits of the rules in order to get a little edge on the competition. I actually have less of a problem with it in Formula One and NASCAR where the teams are constantly at work to exploit gaps in the rules that are being monitored by professional scrutineers. I have more of a problem with folks who cheat in an environment like ours where no one is even looking most of the time (then they feel clever about it!).
I agree with all the folks who think there is a big difference between “cheating” and simply not knowing any better. Let’s face it, the GCR is a pretty thick rule book. Even with the very best intentions folks are going to make mistakes. More than once already I have discovered that something on my car is not quite right. Given my technical ineptitude, it’s very likely to happen again. I don’t want a situation where folks are going to get the rule book thrown at them, or have their weekend ruined, after they agree to participate in something like this. If something was “just not quite right” I would expect the person to make it right before the next race. Actually, I would expect that folks who have volunteered to have other folks look at their car would not likely be the ones to blatantly cheat. So, in a way, the exercise would be more a demonstration of compliance than an actual test. I actually envision the driver and his crew giving other competitors a “tour” of his/her car rather than having folks who don’t really know the car tear into it. Maybe there could be a checklist and the driver would just step through it while other folks watched and asked questions or (GULP!) even made suggestions or gave advice. This would not be aversive, could actually be enjoyable, and could be done in about 30-45 minutes while everyone was sipping on their favorite cold beverage. I don’t necessarily see this as something the race officials would be burdened with. I see it as something the drivers organize and participate in voluntarily.
Jerry, I guess I don’t have a deep enough knowledge of all the cars to know if this is as simple as popping off a valve cover and removing a wheel. I guess we would just have to agree on what makes sense for an exercise like this. I think any effort would make a difference.
It occurs to me that folks could claim that they don’t want to expose “technical secrets” during a process like this. I guess that could kinda/sorta be a justified concern . . .
Anyway, we all make a reasonably big investment to participate in this sport; and I would like to see more being done to promote a culture of compliance. What I see and/or hear about being done, typically, is nothing. I would love to figure out a way to do “something.” Open hoods may be a start . . .
I agree with all the folks who think there is a big difference between “cheating” and simply not knowing any better. Let’s face it, the GCR is a pretty thick rule book. Even with the very best intentions folks are going to make mistakes. More than once already I have discovered that something on my car is not quite right. Given my technical ineptitude, it’s very likely to happen again. I don’t want a situation where folks are going to get the rule book thrown at them, or have their weekend ruined, after they agree to participate in something like this. If something was “just not quite right” I would expect the person to make it right before the next race. Actually, I would expect that folks who have volunteered to have other folks look at their car would not likely be the ones to blatantly cheat. So, in a way, the exercise would be more a demonstration of compliance than an actual test. I actually envision the driver and his crew giving other competitors a “tour” of his/her car rather than having folks who don’t really know the car tear into it. Maybe there could be a checklist and the driver would just step through it while other folks watched and asked questions or (GULP!) even made suggestions or gave advice. This would not be aversive, could actually be enjoyable, and could be done in about 30-45 minutes while everyone was sipping on their favorite cold beverage. I don’t necessarily see this as something the race officials would be burdened with. I see it as something the drivers organize and participate in voluntarily.
Jerry, I guess I don’t have a deep enough knowledge of all the cars to know if this is as simple as popping off a valve cover and removing a wheel. I guess we would just have to agree on what makes sense for an exercise like this. I think any effort would make a difference.
It occurs to me that folks could claim that they don’t want to expose “technical secrets” during a process like this. I guess that could kinda/sorta be a justified concern . . .
Anyway, we all make a reasonably big investment to participate in this sport; and I would like to see more being done to promote a culture of compliance. What I see and/or hear about being done, typically, is nothing. I would love to figure out a way to do “something.” Open hoods may be a start . . .
