Ben Sale's white 1990 NA6

Postby **beavis** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 11:21 pm

Okibi wrote:Wanneroo now has an electronic system but they remove the receivers and batteries so they don't get stolen and only use them for race days, perhaps it's the same at Winton.

It's a safety feature, they should bloody use it.

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 11:55 pm

I was also wondering why they didn't use the lights... A lot of the problem in my mind was due to the positioning of the flag points, two of the four they chose are out of the line of sight of the driver. Using the numerous lights around the track would help a lot. Interesting that at Wanneroo they render the system inoperative for all events bar race days. If they system is there for safety surely it should be made operational for all events.

Nice video Brendan! Was disappointed that for whatever reason the camera didn't roll when I had my off, would have been some good footage!

Postby **Okibi** » Wed Aug 10, 2011 12:20 am

The problem with Wanneroo is they don't have power to the flag points so I guess batteries need to be recharged, solar panels on the roof of the flag point would be a cool solution. The race track is due a major upgrade, perhaps running power is part of that plan. Looking back at your footage could you see the flags getting waved?

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Wed Aug 10, 2011 12:39 am

Thats a good point, I would assume Winton is the same as it's not a track where huge amounts have been invested in the facilities. Though if it is battery powered there is no reason that access to charged batteries could be part of the track hire providing that they are returned to the charger at days end.

I watched the footage from the red flag incident on the day as a number of us were in disbelief. One flag point I can't see on the video as it is so far out of line of sight. The one to the far left along the straight after the 3 tight corners on the back of the track was waved (I probably should have seen it despite it being out of the way but was busy with the bloody Elfin which couldn't go around corners) and the one on the straight before the esses at the end of the lap was being held static unlike the one at the start finish straight which we all saw.

Guran · Postby **Guran** » Wed Aug 10, 2011 8:08 am

In the interests of restoring the reputation of your members, it might be worth drafting a combined letter from the whole team to AROCA expressing your concerns about the visibility of the flag points, especially in poor visibility conditions. The lights system is designed to deal with these situations and perhaps there is a reason why they were not used? Red flags must be obeyed for serious safety reasons, but the drivers need to be able to see them first.

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 12:17 am

I think something like that is happening, when it comes down to it, essentially we should have seen the flags... But there were a lot of other factors which contributed and they should be looked at.

I thought I would post a few more amusing photos of my car here. In one session (of course the one the camera wasn't recording...) I touched the white line turning into turn two, the car slid and I ran out of road to recover it. In the dry this would have meant just running wide and running over the grass, but as it was wet the car accelerated when it hit the grass and after a lot of throttle to stop the car from sliding towards the wall it finally stopped a couple of 100m later out in the mud. I did however have the presence of mind to take my brand new race shoes Alex gave me off before I got out of the car so they weren't damaged.

So this is where I ended up parked

And this is what it looked like when I got back to the pits.

The day before Winton was World Time Attach Challange at Eastern Creek which was a lot of fun to spectate and look at all the awesome cars and score a heap of stickers.

A couple of highlights were this 13b powered NA.

A familiar car from Targa

And Cyber Evo winning with a 1.28.8

Today I re painted the front lip matt black and put it back on the car, it looks much better than it did! The question for the moment is, do I take the numbers off or not... I'm of two minds, wouldn't mind opinions.

Randy · Postby **Randy** » Sat Aug 13, 2011 8:19 pm

It looks good with the numbers on. I'd leave them on for now.

As for what happened to us on the day I'm not going to comment. The more I hear how many people actually got a warning in regards to the red flags and they received no penalty the angrier I get. Especially as the guys who finished first and second in front of me were both warned about the flags as part of the entire group that missed the red flags!!!

C'est la vie.

mxfive95 · Postby **mxfive95** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 3:56 pm

I'd keep the stickers on for a while, although you might get a lot of commonwhores trying to drag you lol!

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 12:18 am

Thanks guys..! I kind of like them a lot too... It's alright, it just gives me an opportunity to laugh at the commonwhores when they do =) I'm going to have to have a play if they stay on though as I had it pointed out that one of the numbers is not perfectly straight so now it's driving me mad! I think they'll look good with what I'm planning to do with the car soon... Will do a photoshop mockup soon to get some opinions =)

The more I think about it and talk to other people involved the more it pisses me off too. The inconsistency in the decision is so frustrating, as are the locations and lack of waving at the flag points... But sadly nothing we can do to change what happened. From what I'm hearing at least some action will be taken as a results so hopefully this doesn't happen again.

Thursday night I held my first official club run. 16 cars and 23 people came which I thought was amazing for a weeknight in winter! Also, the run had a very different group of people and a very different feel to other club runs which was the aim. I wanted to achieve something a little more relaxed, laid back and fun, basically just a bunch of people going for a drive so I was very happy with the way everything went =) Looking forward to seeing the photos! =)

CheyneX5 · Postby **CheyneX5** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 12:59 am

They are coming

just need to find a moment to sit in front of my computer to upload them :p

emexv · Postby **emexv** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 7:30 pm

Well done on the run Ben. I heard it went very well, just wish I could have made it.....next time

davidau · Postby **davidau** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 10:43 pm

CheyneX5 wrote:They are coming just need to find a moment to sit in front of my computer to upload them :p

Thursday night run I will say again it was amazing and I believed everyone had a really good time. Com on CheyneX5 photo photo =P

CheyneX5 · Postby **CheyneX5** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 11:06 pm

Photo's are uploading to FB as we speak

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 11:07 pm

Really glad you enjoyed the run mate..! I was really happy, looking forward to the next one and seeing the photos =)

Below are some shots of a sticker I was thinking getting made up for my car.. It's Japanese for Other Side Productions. As far as size, positioning and in general what do people think..?