Although I understand how people can make mistakes in the heat of the moment, if you are racing, being aware of the cars around you and not doing anything to cause a wreck "should" go without saying.

I saw the red flag at the start/finish and pulled to the right near the tower right after pit out. In my rear view mirrors, I saw cars blocking the entire front straight. I remember thinking to myself that I couldn't undertand why they didn't pull over to the side. I "assumed" they were worried about "passing" another car.

 

People can hardly follow the rules for yellow and white flags let alone a red flag. Of course ... lots ignore the black one too

Been in several races [especially recently at HSR at the Glen] where flags get ignored b/c of red mist ... for what ... a $20 plastic trophy ...?

I agree with the above statements ... check your mirrors 1st [I also wave my orange gloved hand in and out of the cockpit] to signal cars behind me there is a problem]. If they have been around a while they'll know something is 1.) mechanically wrong with your car and you are slowing 2.) there is something you see ahead and they should slow and look to see WTF it is ... It isn't an attempt to be friendly to spectators or to communicate with passing fauna

 

You would think some common sense would follow a driver into the car, but is amazing how often the helmet cuts off bloodflow to the brain causing moments of complete stupidity. Years ago during a race at limerock, a race was red flagged and the field was slowing to a stop on the main straight. A driver who apparently had a very tight helmet came down the hill at full song and took out atleast 5 other cars. I'm sure he thought he was the greatest man ever to turn a lap judging by the great run he had on the rest of the field. He must have thought all the arms out the window were just waving to the spectators. Just goes to show that you can never assume others on the track are using any common sense and you shouls always cover your butt by being aware of your surroundings.

 

+1 what jase said. a pit-in hand signal does wonders for 'red misters'

 

I don't care if it's a club race, DE, parade laps, or a freakin' autocross -- if the red flag goes out, that means you must come to a safe and controlled stop out of the way.

A quick glance in the rear view mirror is ok, but you gotta be looking ahead, especially if you get the flag in the middle of a corner - last thing you want to is not see whats infront of you because you're so concerned about what's behind you.

That said, I don't understand the need to put two wheels off. If I can get stopped somewhere on a straightaway, and I'm off the racing line I should be ok. If some "Bravo" isn't going to see the red flags as well as my car, he has no business being on the track to begin with.

In the video, those folks who were passing after the guy stopped need to go to flagging school -- espeically the grey 944 stopped in the middle of the freakin' track! The emergency crew aren't looking for a slalom to go through in order to get to the scene...

Here's my red flag story from my early years in DE: Lime Rock, going down the front straight -- I think I was in either the Yellow or Blue run group (Beginner to low intermediate). I notice there is a Yellow flag at the flag station under the bridge just before Big Bend. At that time, DE participants were flagging -- we didn't have pros manning the stations. So I drop my pace down and start looking for what may be up. Just as I pass the flag station, I see the flagger take in the yellow flag. While I don't get back up to my normal pace, I start taking Big Bend at a reduced pace.

After I passed the flagging station, the flagger throws the Red flag. Half-way through Big Bend, there are three cars ON THE RACE LINE coming to a stop. Apparently, the Red flag was first thrown on the trackout side of Big Bend, before it was thrown on the other side! While I had plenty of room to stop (And I stopped OFFLNIE), it was still a bit nerve-racking to see three cars infront of me.

If you are called to be a flagger at some event, and they call for you to switch from one flag to a more severe flag, ALWAYS throw the more severe flag BEFORE you take in the less severe one -- it is very easy to interpret a flag coming in as an "All Clear."

-Z-man.

 

If the cars in front of you were stopped online and you were stopped offline, wasn't the track effectively blocked?

 

Good point. To clarify: They were coming to a stop. As they slowed down, they eventually got offline. It would have been safer for them to get offline sooner, IMHO.

The main issue was that the slowing cars took me a little by surprise since I didn't see the red flag being thrown.

 

The car that caused the red flag passed me going into T3 and carried a bit too much speed into the turn, went wide , into the gravel, once thru the gravel the glorious Summit Point terrain did the rest, the car began pointing towards the woods, then up the embankment, and over.

Here's some video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCiNbYlKqJA