5 replies to this topic

[ans]

From Aussie racing legend, Peter Brock:

This weekend the V8 circus descends on the remote West Australian circuit of Barbagallo - formerly known as Wanneroo.

How remote?

Well, it is a little way out of Perth and it's the sort of place drivers traditionally don't get a good look at very often.

I remember back in the 1970s, when Bob Morris was having a bit of success in a Torana A9X, and he had never checked Wanneroo out.

Well, a race was scheduled there so fellow driver Alan Grice offered to take a special trip out to the track with Bob for a flying lap to show him the braking points, and things to watch out for.

Now, Gricey is a renowned stirrer and Bob should have been on the lookout, but he meandered around in his road car without any of us telling him any different.

It was only when Bob lined up for the formal practice session that he realised he'd been had - Gricey had taken him around the track anti-clockwise, the wrong direction.

All the intelligence Bob had gathered about the track had been completely useless.

We all had a good laugh, Bob included. He still reckons he owes Gricey a payback.

source

[Dudley]

If you're daft enough to fall for that and never noticed track markings etc you deserve it

[275 GTB-4]

Good one!! BTW the locals tell me that they have run meetings in both directions around the track

[Lukin]

Yeah they do run both directions there. During motorsport events they build an artificial chicanes on the main straight to cut speeds to the new turn 1. This is as the run off area is designed for cars coming the other direction and only have 3-4m of run off, nowhere near enough for cars hurtling to the left hander at 200 km/h plus.

I have heard however that the police use the track in both directions as is for training pursuit drivers, that is without chicane and will no run off from high-speed corners.

Although it’s not related to the topic, Barbagello is probably the best track in Australia for viewing. While not a technical track, it is possible to see about 60% of the lap from most positions, which includes esses, a sweeper and a long downhill straight into a tight turn (said to generate 5g from V8 Supercars) and the ability to go there with the BBQ and the esky makes it a great place to watch motorsport.

[MarkWRX]

During Driver's Schools at Summit Point, in West Virginia, the instructor's would put little orange cones at the apex and brake points to give driver's visual clues. They are supposed to remove them on Saturday afternoon.

One Sunday morning, we (the corner workers) noticed that the cones were still out. We asked the instructors to come out and pick them up but they didn't seem to keen on the idea. So we moved them. Each session. First we moved the brake markers out, so that we had drivers going embarassingly slow through the turns. Then we moved the apex markers. At turn 1, we moved it early, which would put the cars over the curbing. Then we moved the brake markers up.

By the second session, most drivers figured it out and started relying on their instinct. The instructors liked the idea and in subsequent driver's schools, they would come out between sessions and move the cones themselves.

Mark

[MaxScelerate]

Originally posted by MarkWRX
During Driver's Schools at Summit Point, in West Virginia, the instructor's would put little orange cones at the apex and brake points to give driver's visual clues. They are supposed to remove them on Saturday afternoon.

One Sunday morning, we (the corner workers) noticed that the cones were still out. We asked the instructors to come out and pick them up but they didn't seem to keen on the idea. So we moved them. Each session. First we moved the brake markers out, so that we had drivers going embarassingly slow through the turns. Then we moved the apex markers. At turn 1, we moved it early, which would put the cars over the curbing. Then we moved the brake markers up.

By the second session, most drivers figured it out and started relying on their instinct. The instructors liked the idea and in subsequent driver's schools, they would come out between sessions and move the cones themselves.

Mark

Wow, that's a great one !!

I remember, I think it was Phil Hill (not sure 'bout that) that told of something similar in an instruction book, warning people to try and feel the track instead of relying on some sort of markers for their braking.. Anyway, he told of two racers, one of which used to walk the track and drop a few big rocks on the side of the road, when he thought it'd do a good mark. The other guy, after a few races, simply went around in the evening and moved them a bit further, or closer.

I don't remember the details, but I always thought that the narrator (again, I think it was Phil) may have been a protagonist of that little joke. As the victim or the joker, I don't know.