Back in the March 12 issue of Speed News, we ran an episode of “What Would You Do” as the Move of the Month. We now have another look at the incident from a car that gained a position as a result of the incident. In this video, which has a glorious BMW V8 soundtrack, driver Ralph Warren sees the leader get a bit sideways and lifts off the gas to see what develops, then takes advantage put himself in third place. The race director’s ruling was that the lead car was at fault for the contact and he was repositioned after the race. We’ll have more footage from Warren in the next couple of weeks.
Image courtesy of Ralph Warren
The 07 car did lift to see where the out of control car ahead was going but he also accelerated and ran into the back of the lead car. This is obvious and there should not be any questions about it.
Jean Genibrel, I’m the driver of the 07 car. I absolutely lifted. When the lead car finally gain control, I went back on throttle and went outside. At this point, the tank slapping leader was in-control going straight and the setup for the next corner is on the left. Despite this, the lead car attempted to pinch me off even though he was now offline and did not need to track out anymore.
Just curious: The BMW drive has the option to execute 1 move to block, and if your driver’s side wheel is not at his door, then you don’t have a right to that space. Am I missing something?
Yes, you are missing something. Blocking is illegal and you can not move in response to a driver making an overtake. Also, at a minimum, you have to give racing room. I don’t know if the squeezing was malicious and if the lead driver knew there was an overtaking car on the right. Let’s assume he didn’t know. You have to keep your line and try to be predictable after having a moment, which he wasn’t. Race director made absolutely the right call.
From my perspective there is some ambiguity here. After the lead driver regains control, he makes a very smooth and predictable transition track right. He has predictably chosen his line. Granted, the time between recovery and transition is compressed, but we are racing drivers and we should have the situational awareness to react accordingly. You had every opportunity to avoid contact as a result. I would concede your point if he made a rapid or unpredictable move to the right to block you after recovering, or if he had made more than one move to block as defined in the CCR. If you had your front wheel next to the driver, then you had a right to that space, which is not the case in this instance. It’s not a squeeze according to the CCR.
I don’t understand why the race director made this call, as it contradicts everything in the CCR.
The only mitigating factor is that the lead car recovered from a tank slapper. If the lead car had driven this line without losing control and you made contact, you would be at fault.
From the CCR:
25.4.3 Right to the Line
The driver in front has the right to choose any line, as long as they are not considered to be blocking. The driver
in front loses the right to choose his or her line when the overtaking driver has their front wheel next to the driver.
As an example, once the lead car loses the right to choose the line that driver cannot “squeeze” another vehicle
off of a straight away claiming the “three-quarters of a car width.”
25.4.4 Blocking
A driver may choose to protect his or her line so long as it is not considered blocking. Blocking is defined as two
(2) consecutive line changes to “protect his/her line,” and in doing so, impedes the vehicle that is trying to pass