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Refresher on RX Course Design
Refresher on RallyCross course design.
At times, a review of proper course design is warranted. This is one of those times. Section 4.1 is titled Common Sense and RallyCross Courses. Section 4.2 is the nuts and bolts of course design.
At a recent event, the course was designed where the outgoing and incoming leg of the course were tangential to each other. Each side touched the other on the outside edge of a curve. There was one line of cones between the two sections of the course. While this certainly does not meet the requirements of 4.2 in regards to maintaining 25 feet to solid objects (50 feet from one car to the other) it is also a bad idea from a common sense view. While it is possible to time the starts to reduce the possibility of vehicles going head to head, the only way to ENSURE meeting the rule’s intent is by not starting a car until the previous car is past this point in the course.
All course designers must keep all the rules in mind. This situation did not meet the most basic considerations of 4.2 and also failed the common sense test. All safety stewards must also use the same level of scrutiny when evaluating a course. If you have a course featuring anything like this, it requires that the first vehicle be past the area in question before the next car is started. It is not a question of timing and never should be. The hazard must be clear before the next vehicle is started.
RallyCross Safety Committee
At times, a review of proper course design is warranted. This is one of those times. Section 4.1 is titled Common Sense and RallyCross Courses. Section 4.2 is the nuts and bolts of course design.
At a recent event, the course was designed where the outgoing and incoming leg of the course were tangential to each other. Each side touched the other on the outside edge of a curve. There was one line of cones between the two sections of the course. While this certainly does not meet the requirements of 4.2 in regards to maintaining 25 feet to solid objects (50 feet from one car to the other) it is also a bad idea from a common sense view. While it is possible to time the starts to reduce the possibility of vehicles going head to head, the only way to ENSURE meeting the rule’s intent is by not starting a car until the previous car is past this point in the course.
All course designers must keep all the rules in mind. This situation did not meet the most basic considerations of 4.2 and also failed the common sense test. All safety stewards must also use the same level of scrutiny when evaluating a course. If you have a course featuring anything like this, it requires that the first vehicle be past the area in question before the next car is started. It is not a question of timing and never should be. The hazard must be clear before the next vehicle is started.
RallyCross Safety Committee
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