(FEEDBACK) FORMULA DRIFT Atlanta 2010

[Bebop]

ahh, I read your statement into saying that if driver A hit driver B on the first run Driver B had to fix his car in the alotted 5mins for the second run. But with the clarification, it is very easily done yes.

No...

Im saying if driver A hits driver B in such a way his car cannot perform or is not safe enough to to run the second half of the battle (if incident occurred in the first) driver B automatically moves on to the next round and must fix the vehicle before his next battle.

I don't like 5 minute rules, seems like the teams are being babied and makes slower action for the fans. Top 32 is like a hour if not more long, you break something in top 32 if you move on you got a whole hour to fix it at the very least. That is a eternity in motorsports, why must we keep slowing down the action and coddling the teams with the 5 minute rule.

[e30pwr]

lol @ track timing, I was at the track at 8.12am saturday and probably 8.45am friday just to get a good spot for the tent. I love spending all day at the track watching the F2000 series run and just hanging out checking out the pits. I think the early open time was for the pits, After the drifting started Saturday I never went back to the pits.

and flattering use of my shot, there will be more here in a few minutes...

ninja - yes thats what i finally got through my head, haha. i think the 5min rule needs to be stuck to really. it seems like it is enforced very loosely. As well as getting runs back to back. Thats one thing that stuck out to me was the dead time between runs just because the cars weren't staged or were just chillin. Although that could be needed cool off time.

[J-Rod]

Hot-Lanta does it again!!!!!! You guys/gals rip!!!
Driving-Insane!
Weather- Stunning
FANS-----!!!!!!!!!!RIDIC-U LUS!!!!!

Love love love the Atlanta crowd I'm so stoked to be part of a historic and progressive sport and sanctioning body!
We're only at round 2.... 5 more rounds to go and so many more tires to burn!!!!

See ya in Jersey!

[Bebop]

needed cool off time

Maybe its just me, I was raised on road racing and open wheel. It just seems that the sport has grown so much over the pass few years but this aspect of it still seems a bit amateurish. Make these car go side ways at 100+ mph, poor out smoke, and be reliable.

[AndyFD]

Awesome event. One of the best years here at Atlanta. Props to all of the drivers that where initiating super early and trying to get their cars backwards without spinning (Conrad, Dai, Tanner, Tuerek). Way to step up level of skill on this track and can't wait for number 8 next year.

Thanks Drifting.com for the tickets and being able to come home and watch everything I saw live on the stream is a dream. Loosing the TV deal is the best thing to happen to Formula D from a fans perspective.

FD never lost any TV deal. We will be on Versus again this year.

[Bebop]

thank you Andy

was going to point that out but didnt want to sound sttuuuupid

[my 1 88 u]

FD never lost any TV deal. We will be on Versus again this year.

Oops. Let me know the schedule and the DVR will be set.

[courantcom]

I also didn't understand the point of opening the gates at 10am even though the track didn't go hot until 2pm, and eliminations didn't start until 4p. They should just open gates at 3p, gives media and vendors an opportunity to sleep in

You can always sleep in and just show up at 3pm. hahaha! I wish there was more opportunities where spectators can stroll through vendor row. But when you stop and think about how the scheduling goes (like a break would be good between top 16 and top 8, etc.) there really isn't enough time to do that.

Understand from a vendor's point of view that if spectators aren't given the chance to see what they're displaying then vendor space isn't worth the $$$. Maybe vendors can find a way to "simulcast" the action from within their booth so that people can spend more time in their booths AND not miss 100% of the action.

[courantcom]

I think having to fix what other drivers cause is sketch. that would make the teams have to prepare for a lot more work than needed, when they could just add a light bar in the cockpit facing rearward during the preseason prep. I have a hard time when i place myself as a driver that has been hit and now I have to affix some lights on my car within the 5mins that is alotted(iirc) for the repairs to be done to the vehicle.

Do you then think that "at-fault" drivers should fix damage that they caused instead? I mean that just sounds awesome! If a team loses because they are ill-prepared, then so be it! Races are sometimes won and lost due to simple little things. Preparing for something like this is easy in my opinion. I carry a wireless "tow bar" in my tow truck. It's a simple device. There's a small transmitter that's wired into my tow truck's tail light wiring that transmits to the tow bar and relays the signals, brake lights, etc. Any race team can do this and stash the light bar in their battle wagons. If they need to use it, they just take it out, turn it on, and fasten it to whatever is left on the rear of the car.

As interesting as this may sound, drivers still need to face some kind of consequences when it comes down to racing. If driver A disables driver B during a run due to an OBVIOUS driving error, then I think it would be awesome if driver A simply stands up and says, "I'm sorry for causing this...and to make it up to you, I will retire from this race." Hahaha...well, there are a couple instances where I can think that would be appropriate...but it really isn't "racing". This isn't going to happen.

There are many variables when it comes to racing, and the best thing to do is to prepare for the unexpected. If Dai's car violated a rule and should NOT have been allowed to continue in competition, then that should have been a call that Formula D should have made. I haven't seen this year's rulebook, but from what people are saying, it WAS indeed a violation. Therefore, it should have been given the 5 minutes needed to "repair" it. If they couldn't make some kind of brake light work within that time, then...so sorry, so sad.

If the rule needs to be adjusted where violations can be under exceptions, then that rule needs to be adjusted immediately in writing. Like, "Competition can continue without delay if and only if accidental damage occurs during a run where things like lights and non-safety related body panels must be removed for the vehicle to continue in competition." This way, cars that get into an accident can run without bumpers covers if need be...or without a trunk lid, or a front fender perhaps.

Decisions like this will just force Formula D to yield to another questionable ruling in the future, like if someone's front or rear brake light were to magically not work during a run. If a "penalty" is to be applied, then apply the penalty IMMEDIATELY and/or give the race team the opportunity to fix the problem, OR accept the penalty and continue on. Like, over radio communication, tell the team that the officials will allow the car to compete as-is with a 50 point penalty. Then, the race team can decide right then and there if they want to continue, or to retire. I can imagine this being announced over the crowd PA and then the crowd just hushing down waiting for a decision on the edge of their seats!

Now, if the rule adopts my suggestion, and a car actually manages to barrel roll during a run and scrubs off the front brake light on the pavement in the process BUT the car can still actually continue and compete, then HELL YES!!! Let it RUN!

[Bebop]

lol that just blew my mind

[boxmod]

trying to penalize dai for someone hitting him is kind of the weak way out of having to battle. yea the tail light not working (because the didnt exist) is against the rule. extend some courtesy to a fellow driver and remember, it could have been you- would you really be happy if you got DQ'd because someone else hit you? especially since the car was mechanically sound.

to keep drifting fun sometimes drivers have to deal with something broken on the car and just drive the wheels off of it anyways, competition should be more focused on being badass driving instead of minor rule complaints. I know that these guys are good enough drivers, and know the track well enough to drive vs someone without taillights if need be.

dai had HUGE speed coming in, more than anyone else i think.
**in the end, its FD and the starters job to prohibit a car they deem unsafe/unfit for competition (after contact). they allowed him to run, there should not be a penatly in that case, it was clearly visible to the starter that there were no taillights.

GO DAI!

[Slapshotnerd]

Do you then think that "at-fault" drivers should fix damage that they caused instead? I mean that just sounds awesome! If a team loses because they are ill-prepared, then so be it! Races are sometimes won and lost due to simple little things. Preparing for something like this is easy in my opinion. I carry a wireless "tow bar" in my tow truck. It's a simple device. There's a small transmitter that's wired into my tow truck's tail light wiring that transmits to the tow bar and relays the signals, brake lights, etc. Any race team can do this and stash the light bar in their battle wagons. If they need to use it, they just take it out, turn it on, and fasten it to whatever is left on the rear of the car.

.... or a V-LEDs.com tail light on the top of the rear roll bar (for verts) or the back window (for other cars).

If the rule needs to be adjusted where violations can be under exceptions, then that rule needs to be adjusted immediately in writing. Like, "Competition can continue without delay if and only if accidental damage occurs during a run where things like lights and non-safety related body panels must be removed for the vehicle to continue in competition." This way, cars that get into an accident can run without bumpers covers if need be...or without a trunk lid, or a front fender perhaps.

From my understanding, this is EXACTLY the same rules violation that Rhys faced in '08 in Wall, NJ with the Solstice. His car was damaged and the brake lights didn't work any longer, and one of the teams protested for non-functioning brake lights. The mistake Millen (and his team) made was not informing the steward that the taillights were damaged from contact. But, in this case, the damage was obvious. I still feel that there needs to be a functioning brake light of some sort in the rear at all times, even after damage. Especially on a course like Atlanta where braking is part of the course and braking early / late could drastically affect the trailing car's ability to follow the "moving clipping point" as set forth in the rules.

That's my opinion.

[Bebop]

Currently watching the live feed of the top 16

At the end of Dais battle with Pat, I heard radio chatter about someones brake lights not working. Also saw someone from the FD staff looking at the rear of the car.

hmmm

I didn't really see the rear lights pulse at all during the battle, then again its a old S13 and it wasn't 100% dark yet. The third brake light was definitely not functioning.

Listen to 48.00-51.00 of the top 16 live feed and you will clearly hear someone on the radio clearly saying the lights are not working.

EDIT AGAIN! LOL

from 49-52 into the live feed there's a very interesting conversation, first the say the lights don't work then they say yeah they are fully functional. I'm starting to question if the light issue was result of Dmacs hit or if it was a issue prior.

Something smells mighty fishy...

[my 1 88 u]

dun dun dunnnnnnn

[b_hydra]

I'm not going to get into the taillights discussion, didn't have the benefits of replay at the event and haven't fired up the on demand since I got home.

This was my first time seeing an event at Road Atlanta -- fantastic. GF and I ended up there for most of the day on both Friday and Saturday. Road Atlanta is a beautiful facility and things were fairly smoothly run the whole weekend. If I had to gripe, I'd say that the Pro Am stuff ran a lot slower than the actual competition, particularly between tandem rounds. I definitely wasn't entirely prepared for the sun or parking my bottom on the cement grand stands for two whole days, but I guess I'll know better for next time.

It was a bit of a hike to the pits from some of the seating areas, but given the nature of the course, it was inevitable. I really enjoyed walking through the 1 of 1 car show that Fatlace put together. I'm not sure I ever expected to use the words 'tasteful' and 'restraint' for cars on display, but the organizers picked some really nice examples. The pristine Z20 Soarer was quite a surprise. Seemed like the schedule was quite packed, would have liked more time to browse the pits, but I ended up watching a lot of the open practices, so I think I kept myself busy.