Is sand good for bikes? Seems like I'd rather slide to a stop than tumble, no? (Of course, I'd rather stop before I hit a concrete wall. Didn't Jimmy Adamo go straight into a K-rail?)

LOL only if the sand is in bags ;)

Inside joke:
a bunch of years ago, there was a heated discussion on Pelican where someone suggested that cars speed up when they slide from pavement to grass.
It turned into an energetic physics discussion.

I don't like Paul Ricard. Bring back Magny Cours!

Runoff vs. Sand vs. Gravel vs. Grass

Runoff
Pro: Brakes work well on it. Least likely to cause a race to be held up by a crash.
Con: Most likely to allow for track limits abuses.

Sand
Pro: Least likely (along with gravel) for a driver to willingly put a wheel in. Also can scrub speed of an out-of-control car remarkably fast.
Con: Most likely (along with gravel) to cause a long race delay as a car is retrieved. Also can cause further accidents if sprayed on the track.

Gravel
Pretty much the same as sand.

Grass:
Pro: Cheap for the track?
Con: If slick, very likely to teleport you directly to the tire wall.

I found these in-car vids very interesting. Ham-Per-Vet all have obvious throttle control and were not spinning tires, hitting redlines and kept the car pointed forwards. Bot-Gio-ManyOthers did not. Seems like that was important in this race.

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I agree with the enforcement and/or penalty of track limits. How about a gravel border around the track of five feet with paved runoff area beyond? The driver will not want to push and drop two wheels into the gravel but if they did blast through it, they have an area they will not get beached and can continue. Guess the issue is that you would end up with a lot of gravel being brought back onto the track from those excursions.

That's an interesting idea. I like it.

I still think full gravel traps would be good on the outside of hairpins to collect cars that break. But drivers wouldn't intentionally put a wheel there anyway.

1" long hollow detachable stinger spikes on a super slippery white painted track limit line would sort everyone out in one practice session

Sausage kerbs work well, if the goal is purely to control track limits. Especially effective if they are high enough that the front wing is the first bit of the car to hit them. These ones at A1Ring in particular are my nemeses. :o

I guess the key is to put something which will definitely be a deterrent, but not be a car breaker or a race ender if it's a genuine mistake.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1605651805.jpg

THIS is the issue.

I like the Capt's painted metal plates with a built in misting system to keep them wet? Not so sure about the punji sticks.

There's also the issue of getting punted or pushed off track by someone else's mistake. I'm not sure you want to punish a driver (by wall, gravel trap, damaging curb) who has been forced off track by another's banzai move.

Check out the lack of track limits at COTA... IndyCar last year

https://youtu.be/a8XzXMLVS4U

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This. On many occasions on the first few laps, or on re-starts two drivers try to pass or just crash into each other. The cars behind have to take evasive actions to avoid crashing in them. Sand or gravel traps just punish the drivers in the back of the pack.

With all the technology F1 cars have it is already easy to tell when they go over the line. Simply make it a no tolerance track limit. If they go off to avoid another driver and a crash, no penalty since they are taking evasive actions. If they are gaining an advantage in speed from going over the line, then make it a stop and go penalty that the has to take on the next lap. They will all avoid the limit if the KNOW it is a severe penalty but receive no damage to the car or a mess of gravel on the track. It will not affect the other cars that stay inside the limits.

This makes the most sense. Take advantage of the available technology. Best of both worlds - safe tracks that don't punish evasive maneuvers, cameras or other track limit sensing technology to punish cheaters.

That's every race at COTA.

Bahrain practice
 

Mostly dog jokes, Spaniel Ricarardo, Kimi Raikaynine, due to a dog runnin' around loose. Barkus Ericson and more. Barkrain.

Oh and practice was OK, Hope they find that dog.

He's beautiful!!
 

Hope he doesn't get hurt or cause an accidenthttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606514527.jpg

And can find his way home.

They said the dog was found and now they have it safe and she is fine.

Is that further evidence Bahrain is a dog of a track? :)

Maybe this an attempt to show dog racing (greyhounds on steroids) is more exciting than F1?

It's a joke.....please no hate mail.

Holy crap! Anyone who doesn’t like the halo can now stfu!

Been a long time since an explosive fire like that , amazing he basically walked away . Car cut in half but the drivers " safety cell " stayed intact . Unfortunately the replays show he caused his own accident . If I were him I would buy a few lottery tickets . Glad he's ok .

This race is quite ugly .

F1 2020 Thread
 

Astonishing crash. The safety devices sure do work. A car cut in half and exploded on impact and he walks away. Wow.

Just burns on the hands and feet and maybe broken ribs. But alive and will recover.

As David Hobbs would say the Perez car went " kablamo " 😁

Grosjean spent early 20 seconds in that fireball. Cars going through the barrier and bursting into flames didn't use to end well. I think the real miracle is that he stayed alert after that instant-stop crash. No doubt HALO did its job, and what about the medical car staff, Alan van der Merwe and Dr Ian Roberts?

Towards the end, I couldn't believe it when I saw that marshal run across the track with a fire extinguisher; F1 has already had fatalities exactly because of that...

Pictures from Autosport:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606671017.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606671017.jpg

And on a happier note, congratulations to Alex Albon. He missed a couple of podiums last year due to bad luck. But I think you can say this one comes from the expression : "The harder you work, the luckier you get."

Thankful the outcome was not worse. Thanks for posting Won. And congrats on season results thus far.

I do not usually watch F1 but turned it on, for some reason. Amazed to see him climb out of that fireball. :eek::eek::eek: I hope he has a full recovery.

I see solid walls in the future. The car's nose just shot right between the guardrails.

https://sports.yahoo.com/formula-1-romain-grosjean-able-to-get-out-after-horrific-fiery-crash-that-splits-car-in-half-143754725.html

Go to the story link above. There is a video of RK climbing out of the car and over the railing. I haven't seen it from this angle before. Incredible...

There was a lot of luck going on here. The batteries could have caught fire. Probaby better that the engine mounting bolts broke free or he could have gotten stuck in the middle of the armco.

First off, I'm glad that Grosjean is okay. Too bad that was probably the end of his F1 career.

As for the race itself, other than three spectacular incidents, the race was a real snoozer.

Out of all the pictures I've seen this one is the most graphic for me in showing how lucky Grosjean was.

Looks like a very tight squeeze to climb through between the halo and the track barrier and that's ignoring he's just survived a +50g impact, gone through steel guard rails and is on fire :eek:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606692024.jpg

Been some amazing safety advancements in F1 over the years but there is always ways to improve safety. I'm sure a lot of lessons will be learned from this crash once the FIA have gone through everything

Couldn't agree more.

I got up and turned on the TV expecting the race to be half over. I've stopped setting my DVR since its usually a snooze fest.

I'm surprised that the FIA is upset that the armco was able to be pierced, or that's what Toss Brawn said. If that had been concrete they would be wearing black armbands.

Also not surprised that Hammy had to get in the center of the situation by Tweeting about it during the Red Flag period. Seb said he tried to put it out of his mind during the down time.

I thought of Greg Moore.

What about tire walls all round the circuit? This proves things can happen anywhere.

Not meant to disrespect Romain but why did he move over so much?

Also Kimi looked like he could easily have lost control and went into the barrier on other side of the track.

They showed a clip of RG in the hospital and his hands were all bandaged and hanging in slings. He gave a thumbs up type of motion and smiled.

I think that Armcos that run parallel to the track are okay. But the one that Grosjean hit cuts diagonal and very close to the track. He hit it almost straight-on. I kind of wonder if just putting a Tecpro barrier in front of the Armco could have made the accident much less deadly.

You think that is career ending for Grosjean?