Geo

Bingo. That is what I was thinking, not military type night vision goggles. Geez imagine wearing night vision goggles and having someone spin right in front of you with their super bright lights shining directly into your face. You wouldn't be able to finish the lap.

Honkity Hank

Unless you had to go without lights at all.

(Please note the above is intended to be humorous, any other interpretation is strictly forbidden)

Adam Richman

This will probably show my ignorance to technology but aren't these driven by some sort of projection? If so, wouldn't it likely be something that would go out of focus due to the rigors of racing? Also, is there anything that makes this "glass" dependent (I presume that ALMS cars use Lexan ??)?

rockitman

makes for safer racing. A refreshed driver is less likely to cause or be involved in an accident if he's not heat exhausted. It will be an advantage for whoever has it for long hot races. Any idea(that makes sense)... in the name of safety, is a good one, imvho.

Greg A

Adam,

You can read this page to see how Cadillac implemented it.

Greg A

Mike Buck

Of course it will make it safer, what driver wouldn't want to be comfortable?!!?

The issue is, the elements (weather) are the same for all the drivers at a given track. It should be a team decision how they want to allow their drivers to cope. Gets hot, you swtich drivers . . . duh! Requiring a interior temp takes away more of the human variable from the racing

Imagine if the NFL required all games to be played indoors on turf!!

I'm not a fan of the cool suits. Last thing I want around my body under my suit in a fire is water . . . can you say steam!!!

SundayDriver

Funny thing about this - there is quite a bit of speculation that this new rule was pushed ahead by Audi for the benefit of the drivers of the enclosed cars. Hmmm, why would they care? Seems there was some concern about the new R10 meeting min weight so a mandatory addition of 25kg - for safety - is beneficial to them.

There is no really solid source, just a lot of speculation but it is an interesting idea.

Adam Richman

Thank you Greg.


I think safety and comfort in this case can be separated from each other. To treat the in-car temps as a badge of honor is overly simplistic IMO. You don't just "switch drivers" cause it gets hot in the car, if you did that, no one w/out a cool suit would turn more than 3 consecutive laps at Savannah in July.

NFL players have "cool zones" and endless supply of gatorade and other fluids, trainers and doctors that can take a look at them after every set of downs (or every down if need be) and get IV fluids when neccessary. Unfortunately despite all that is available to them and despite their tremendous physical training, there is a tragic loss seemingly every football pre-season due to heat stroke/exhaustion. And they are not inside a tin can with a motor heat soaking everything around them.

And I can say steam .... and I can also say 212 degrees and if you are in a fire long enough to convert the water in the cool shirt tubing to steam, you have been in there a horrifying amount of time (and the tubes would be long gone leading into the suit). Not trying to denouce what you have said but I think this machismo stuff is pure crap - you have a chance to not turn your brain to mush and keep out of the side of my car, G-d bless you sir and thanks for thinking about us too.

Matt Marks

Mike B - would the human factor best be served by going back to Nascar in the 60's when the guys raced in t-shirts and jeans only to cut down on the heat? That'll bring back the "tough guy" ethos that's missing in racing these days.

Besides - if you dig around deep enough on the net - you'll find all the references to Kristensen and the other guys doing #1 AND#2 in the suit on long stints. How's that for human factors... (and how'd you like to be the next guy in the seat or the poor schmuck of a mechanic who has to wipe the car down before they load it into the transporter...)

Also, I believe that many of the Le Mans guys drive with IV needles in place so that when they get out of the car, they can get a quick "fill" from the trainers. Clearly, it seems to me that this is a serious issue that perhaps the French are out in front of the curve on.

Now - when PCA gets around to mandating the same thing in stock classes - it'll be funny watching all of the 944 guys trying to fill in the holes they've drilled in their "stock" condensers with JB weld so they'll hold freon again.

Mike Buck

This is not the like the NFL “cool zones”. Too my knowledge, the league does not require the players sit there when off the field. The Gatorade, IV’s and such are all items the teams make available to help the players (the owners investment) perform. Mandating A/C and a 75* temp in a racing car is analogous to the NFL requiring its officials to call time outs every five minutes when a player gets winded. Obviously this doesn’t happen. The coaches cope with these situations by substituting players. The players cope by keeping fluid intakes up and otherwise taking care of their body so they can perform their job. When a player needs a sub, they raise their hand, and come off the field.

I would prefer to see the 75* temp thing implemented as a recommendation, not a requirement. Allow the teams to self-police on this issue. I’m guessing the teams want their drivers, and the drivers want themselves, to survive and perform well as much as anybody.

Was A/C outlawed at LeMans before this ruling? Where do you draw the line between safety and taking away a teams competitive advantage?

Larry Herman

Safety is safety, period. You mandate it so that everyone has to do it. If the rules didn't have specs for roll cages, you know that there would be some made with ridiculously thin walls. Would that be considered talking away a competitive advantage? As races get longer and longer, heat exhaustion is more of a serious problem. At some point, it should be addressed as a safety issue. Looks like that point is now.

Bob C.

Some good points being made in this thread.

FWIW, here's a picture of Johannes van Overbeek in the back of the Flying Lizard garage at 3pm on June 19, one hour before the finish of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.



His feet were in a cooler of ice water, and his core temperature was 106 degrees.

The team had initially planned to leave him in the car until the checkered flag, but his body wouldn't comply. The Lizards had a tenuous grip on the final GT2 podium spot (about one lap over the Narac Porsche), so a decision to come in was not taken lightly. Nevertheless, he pitted at 2:55pm and turned the wheel over to Lonnie Pechnik who had started taking post-stint IVs earlier than van Overbeek during the previous evening. Pechnik was, therefore, a bit fresher.

In the back of the garage, I recall van Overbeek's comments to co-driver Seth Neiman as going something like this (paraphrased):

"I just couldn't concentrate. Every time I blinked, it took a couple seconds for my brain and my eyes to refocus."

FWIW, at 185mph on the Mulsanne Straight, two seconds is about 540 feet.

Z-man

Ok, Bob C's post above hit home, as well as what others have said.

My 'if you can't stand the heat...' comment was out of line. My apologies.

-Z-man.

38D

My cool suit has worked very well for me, but I only go for 90 mins max. I will say that without it, driving a summer enduro would be impossible for me. At the WG enduro it must have been 95 degrees. After 20 mins, I thought I was going to die. By the time I handed the car over at the 45 mins mark, I was cooked...literally. By contrast, I drove the whole Mosport enduro with a col suit and was completely fine. In fact, I was less tired than after a normal hot summer DE run (and that's only wearing jeans/tshirt vs. the giant oven mitt)!

ehall

"This is not the like the NFL “cool zones”. Too my knowledge, the league does not require the players sit there when off the field. The Gatorade, IV’s and such are all items the teams make available to help the players (the owners investment) perform. Mandating A/C and a 75* temp in a racing car is analogous to the NFL requiring its officials to call time outs every five minutes when a player gets winded. Obviously this doesn’t happen. The coaches cope with these situations by substituting players. The players cope by keeping fluid intakes up and otherwise taking care of their body so they can perform their job. When a player needs a sub, they raise their hand, and come off the field."


I understand your intent, and your idea of maintaining the "human element", but a football player isn't moving 185mph. Nor is he able to hurt anyone but himself if he fails to come off the field. Moreover, there is a Doc within 100 yards of any player on the field...AND they still die on the field once in a while. As long as each team is required to use the same components, or otherwise make the additional system equal, then I don't see where there is a competitive dilute.