The idle musings of a former military man, former computer geek, medically retired pastor and now full-time writer. Contents guaranteed to offend the politically correct and anal-retentive from time to time. My approach to life is that it should be taken with a large helping of laughter, and sufficient firepower to keep it tamed!
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Polish spectators seem to have learned . . .
. . . to stand further away from rally courses than their counterparts in other nations. Given that their drivers seem to crash just as often, and just as hard, that's probably not a bad idea - as this Polish TV footage illustrates.
What's with the obstacles in the middle of the road in several of these? Clearly, the plain road itself is quite enough of a challenge without adding piles of tires, too! :D
Standing far away from the road is as close as I'd ever be. And whatever happened to pre-driving these courses, so the navigator can warn the driver to slow down for the sharp turns?
I guess the old saw "To finish first, you must first finish." hasn't been translated into Polish yet.
The professional racers on the WRC circuit will have last years pace notes and do a 'recce' (reconnaisance) of the stages the day before and write their own pace notes. That is a luxury that amateur club ralliers don't have since they have day jobs. At the club level, most courses are laid out by the local club who also supply the pace notes, so the club ralliers go into each corner depending on their interpretation of someone else's notes. If I hand you a pace note saying "Slow, second left" do I mean 15mph or 20mph? Both are slow speeds but a car at 20mph has 77% more kinetic energy than one at 15mph. That 77% extra energy has to be decelerated or deflected (steered) in order to navigate the corner successfully.
I read somewhere that a Pole named Prawo Jazdy has somehow managed to accumulate hundreds of infractions in Ireland for speeding, and dangerous driving.
Smarter? Better survival instinct??? :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat's with the obstacles in the middle of the road in several of these? Clearly, the plain road itself is quite enough of a challenge without adding piles of tires, too! :D
ReplyDeleteStanding far away from the road is as close as I'd ever be. And whatever happened to pre-driving these courses, so the navigator can warn the driver to slow down for the sharp turns?
ReplyDeleteI guess the old saw "To finish first, you must first finish." hasn't been translated into Polish yet.
ReplyDeleteThe professional racers on the WRC circuit will have last years pace notes and do a 'recce' (reconnaisance) of the stages the day before and write their own pace notes. That is a luxury that amateur club ralliers don't have since they have day jobs. At the club level, most courses are laid out by the local club who also supply the pace notes, so the club ralliers go into each corner depending on their interpretation of someone else's notes.
If I hand you a pace note saying "Slow, second left" do I mean 15mph or 20mph? Both are slow speeds but a car at 20mph has 77% more kinetic energy than one at 15mph. That 77% extra energy has to be decelerated or deflected (steered) in order to navigate the corner successfully.
Al_in_Ottawa
I always was taught to brake before the turn, at least 25%, maybe even 50%, of these dopes braked in the turn. Whoops!
ReplyDeleteIn thought this was just a normal commuter driving in Warsaw.
ReplyDeleteI would have voted the Poles the worst drivers in the world until I went to the UAE.
Gerry
I read somewhere that a Pole named Prawo Jazdy has somehow managed to accumulate hundreds of infractions in Ireland for speeding, and dangerous driving.
ReplyDelete