Mixed emotions for June 24 circuit racing in Wallerfield

[stikid09]

Foreign cars already shipped to Trinidad

THERE are mixed feelings about the second leg of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championships (CMRC) taking place on June 24 in Wallerfield, following the death of a drag racer a week ago. Some of the members of the racing fraternity believe it is a selfish move to hold the championships still, but others think it may be too late to turn back as competing drivers from abroad have already shipped their cars.

On May 27, Sangre Grande native Darren Sirjoo, 28, died after crashing his Lexus Altezza into a steel platform on the popular race track on the final day of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship at the Frankie Boodram International Raceway in Wallerfield. Just one day before, driver Ryan Garcia was involved in a major accident at the same site, but fortunately survived.

Following the incident, the TT Automobile Sports Association made the decision to close the drag strip in Wallerfield, and also shorten the course from a quarter mile to one-eighth of a mile.

A local circuit driver, who chose to remain anonymous, said yesterday competitors from Barbados, Jamaica and Guyana will compete at the event, and with the championships less than three weeks away, cars are already on the way to Trinidad.

“The reason why it is going to happen in my opinion is that Guyana, Jamaica etcetera have already sent their vehicles via boat to Trinidad, so I don’t know exactly what will be the situation if they were to postpone the event. I know many people may think it is a selfish thing (to have the event), and it is in a sense for them to put on the CMRC event still, but it is a technical situation knowing that a lot of people send their cars already,” he said.

The source said it is not the most ideal situation to host the championships after Sirjoo’s passing. “We all acknowledge the loss and it is very saddening. It happened so close to this event that cars are already on the way, that management tried to deal with it in a good way, but a lot of people upset that CMRC still going to happen and we just had a loss on the track. If they didn’t have cars coming from other countries, they would have pushed it back for sure,” he believes.

The popular driver said it is also difficult for him to compete, but he has sponsorship obligations to meet.

“I basically have to meet the demand of my sponsors which is get my car out there as much as possible for it to be seen to advertise for them. I am basically stuck in the middle,” he said.

The source said, however, it is still not a guarantee that the Championships will occur, as a meeting is scheduled to take place within the next two weeks to discuss concerns within the local racing fraternity.

Dragging is not part of the line up at the upcoming Championships, but some of the drag racers are thinking of boycotting the event out of respect for their deceased colleague.

The source yesterday pointed out that the Wallerfield track is not conducive to drag racing but is being made a multi-purpose facility as there is no other venue for the drag racers.

He said safety measures need to be revamped at Wallerfield – especially for drag racing. “The (fatal) incident did occur and obviously the track needs to be revised in certain aspects to ensure safety for all sorts of racing that takes place at the track, because it is not only circuit racing and drag racing – there is also drifting. All safety measures need to be revised and probably improved on.”

Source: http://newsday.co.tt/2018/06/04/mixed-e ... llerfield/

[SR]

Rubbish....any proposed boycott of the event is politcal within the racing fraternity locally. The facility in its current format is geared towards circuit racing not drag racing

[Sundar]

Well let's see if any mishaps occurs at the same spot.

[Keyser Soze]

so instead of that proposed 1/8 mile, whats the logistics involved in pulling back the start area thus putting the controversial dips in the run off area?

[link]

so instead of that proposed 1/8 mile, whats the logistics involved in pulling back the start area thus putting the controversial dips in the run off area?

any so-called 'logistics' approach is only a short-cut.............
the ONLY proper solution is to engineer a 'safer' drag racing environment...........AND HERE IS WHERE THE DRAG RACING FRATERNITY SHOULD TAKE A STAND & STEP UP TO THE PLATE.......the blame-game thing is ole news & stupid politiking will only hinder the recovery of motor racing.......
.
imo , 1/8 mile competition vastly & instantly improves the safety envelope and is the best immediate solution, allowing the sport to continue whilst other supporting remedial work is being done.
Of course, we KNOW that the best scenario is to immediately & completely shut down that drag facility & PROPERLY REBUILD A 'SAFER' ONE......
.
just my .02c

[16 cycles]

so instead of that proposed 1/8 mile, whats the logistics involved in pulling back the start area thus putting the controversial dips in the run off area?

Chicanes by the dips??

[Keyser Soze]

so instead of that proposed 1/8 mile, whats the logistics involved in pulling back the start area thus putting the controversial dips in the run off area?

any so-called 'logistics' approach is only a short-cut.............
the ONLY proper solution is to engineer a 'safer' drag racing environment...........AND HERE IS WHERE THE DRAG RACING FRATERNITY SHOULD TAKE A STAND & STEP UP TO THE PLATE.......the blame-game thing is ole news & stupid politiking will only hinder the recovery of motor racing.......
.
imo , 1/8 mile competition vastly & instantly improves the safety envelope and is the best immediate solution, allowing the sport to continue whilst other supporting remedial work is being done.
Of course, we KNOW that the best scenario is to immediately & completely shut down that drag facility & PROPERLY REBUILD A 'SAFER' ONE......
.
just my .02c

OK, questions again.
Was the dip in the track conclusively responsible for the unfortunate fatal accident on the 27th? (seeing that we have achieved 7 sec runs on it thus far)
Are we still going to ask why a fire tender with proper safety equipment was not present for that event?

There seems to be a lot of speculation and blame shedding going since this very unfortunate fatality with a lot of ridiculous notions being tossed around as appeasing solutions... i, just as many out there just want to know the facts. Yes, the walk over poses a safety risk, and yes, a dip in any road surface at high speed can result in a devastating outcome if one looses control, but could it just be that? loss of control, due to some failure, mechanical or otherwise? could it have just been an accident?
A lot of people using this unfortunate incident to get cold off their chest, is this really the time for that or for fact finding?

[kstt]

With the shorter track, how do you gauge your progress or success with the world racing on 1/4 mile track? Do you have to use a mathematical equation to guess what you coulda, shoulda, woulda clock?

Just a plaster for a cut and not a solution. The bad area should be properly repaired. The accident should be the incentive to do something better not shorten the track or move the track.

[Monk BANzai]

unless the ENTIRE path of the car is contained within a concrete barrier setup...so that in a unfortunate incident of a mishap the accident is contained....then no. Y0u can have 1/16th drags and it will still be a risk. Concrete safety walls should line both sides of the racing surface from the starting area to the end of the shutdown area.

At the risk of making this thread another "CSI" have a look at SKF's run. The cars suspension was VERY rigid while traveling ...he lost control when he cleared the trap sensors and came off the accelerator...the car began is "tour de wallerfiled" and Ryan then grabbed the the shoot..albiet too late..."

Keyser..simliar to Dale's crash? i dunno if Dale lost tyre pressure and caused him to rotate the same way Ryan's car did. But similar result. Here's the thing. Without that concrete "thing" that Dale hit? that car was heading straight into the stands and we would be having a MUCH differnt type of discussion today had dale's car mortally injured any spectators. #plaintalk.

we're yet (those who wasn't there) to see the video of Sirjoo's run. While i understand the need for "respect for the dead" i find it slightly confusing that the vid isnt available so that those in the "know" can analyze and crunch numbers from it.

But to shut down a series? No. To deal with the elephant in the room? yes.

[Keyser Soze]

unless the ENTIRE path of the car is contained within a concrete barrier setup...so that in a unfortunate incident of a mishap the accident is contained....then no. Y0u can have 1/16th drags and it will still be a risk. Concrete safety walls should line both sides of the racing surface from the starting area to the end of the shutdown area.

At the risk of making this thread another "CSI" have a look at SKF's run. The cars suspension was VERY rigid while traveling ...he lost control when he cleared the trap sensors and came off the accelerator...the car began is "tour de wallerfiled" and Ryan then grabbed the the shoot..albiet too late..."

Keyser..simliar to Dale's crash? i dunno if Dale lost tyre pressure and caused him to rotate the same way Ryan's car did. But similar result. Here's the thing. Without that concrete "thing" that Dale hit? that car was heading straight into the stands and we would be having a MUCH differnt type of discussion today had dale's car mortally injured any spectators. #plaintalk.

we're yet (those who wasn't there) to see the video of Sirjoo's run. While i understand the need for "respect for the dead" i find it slightly confusing that the vid isnt available so that those in the "know" can analyze and crunch numbers from it.

But to shut down a series? No. To deal with the elephant in the room? yes.

And that's why I had no comments to make in the other thread about the fatal accident..... I wanted to show some respect to a fallen brother of the sport and not speculate until the facts were rolled out. (still forthcoming I see).
Strange that you brought up Dale's crash; there was mechanical failure in that instance and skill had a major part to play in avoiding casualties as he was heading straight into that gate where spectators were standing that was unprotected by those concrete barriers. He managed to steer the crippled car into the concrete barriers thus avoiding a colossal mishap, and in true Trini form concrete barriers were placed there AFTER the fact from the following event since.

This talk of 1/8 racing is crap to me, but, I am but a cockroach in a massive fowl party...
I haven't been in attendance to any of the North American tracks so can't judge from there, but I have been to Antigua's 'track' with several dips and the infamous 400 ft run off into the sharp left, and a few others in the Caribbean and seen some high powered cars and bikes navigate down them at balls squirming speed and wondered why we complain about our infamous 'dips'...
Do we need to improve the safety at wallerfield? hell yeah! we need a body to objectively by expertly examine what we have and make proper recommendations and improvements to mitigate the outcome of the next accident .... and yes, there will be more. We participate in a sport that is high speed, high risk and a high dependency on vehicles that have millions of moving parts, all of which cannot practically be tested before an event so the reality is there will be failures, some of which may result in unpredictable outcomes.
The solution is definitely not running 1/8 drags or keeping the track closed and shutting down the upcoming series IMO.

[abducted]

What killed Darren and destroyed SKF was the piss poor barriers on the track, nothing else, cars run off on tracks all over the world every day, but there are proper sand traps and continuous barriers to prevent people from dying.