Existing rule:
2.8.7.
If there are two separate red flags shown in a Novice race, the race will be stopped and called final at the second red flag.
Proposed rule:
2.8.7.
If there are two separate red flags shown in any race, the race will be stopped and called final at the second red flag.
Rationale: same as for the proposed rule by
@fast316 above. Red flags take up a lot of time, even if the incident is minor, resulting in laps being cut off races later in the day. If there are two red flags in a race, the race should automatically be called to save time, regardless of whether it is a Novice, Intermediate, or Expert race.
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Existing rule:
7.3.1.e.
Passing under a waving yellow - the passing rider must recede back to previous position or be disqualified from that event. [...]
Proposed rule:
7.3.1.e.
Passing under a waving yellow - the passing rider must surrender the place gained as soon as possible (they indicate this by lifting their hand and waving) or receive a 5 second penalty. If the infraction occurs during practice/qualifying the lap time for that rider will be deleted and not counted towards qualifying. [...]
Rationale: While I understand that passing under a waving yellow is a huge safety hazard, I have always viewed disqualification as too harsh a penalty for this infraction. Cutting the bus stop (
see rule 7.3.1.c.) is technically also a safety hazard, however, the penalty for this infraction is only 3 seconds (for context, from my understanding, the bus stop was implemented to reduce the speed of riders going into C3 at Rad Torque). I think 5 seconds is a fair starting point but could be increased to 10 seconds to increase the severity of the penalty. Based on a quick google search, this is also the rule that MotoGP uses for passing under a waving yellow. Riders lifting their hand and waving to indicate that they are surrendering the position gained makes it clear not only to the passed rider but also corner marshals, race director, and/or spectators that the position was in fact relinquished.
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Proposed new rule:
Section 3 (Operational flags).
Red & Waving Yellow Flag Together. Combination of the "Red Flag" rule and "Waving Yellow Flag" rule. The red and waving yellow flag are displayed in the corner station immediately preceding the race-ending incident(s) (the red flag will still be displayed as normal in all other corner stations).
Rationale: On a race day, racers are instructed to stop at the next safest corner station. To avoid slamming on the brakes, racers may proceed to the next corner station if they just happen upon a corner station displaying a red flag. Having a dual red/yellow flag communicates to riders to proceed with extreme caution in the section of the track where an incident occurred. This is especially important for track attacks where riders are to exit the track during a red flag (and could, for instance, come across a rider/bike laying in the middle of the track). The dual flags may also be displayed at tower to indicate that the ambulance has entered the track, and could potentially allow the ambulance to be released sooner because riders are immediately aware that track conditions have changed following the corner station displaying the dual flags and must proceed with extreme caution. This proposal is not to introduce anything novel, just to combine two existing rules to increase safety during a red flag incident. I would rather have this discussed as a rule change and added to the rule book to give riders a heads up, rather than experiment with it on a race day and cause confusion. I have on one occasion done this during an evening track attack and it was well received.
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Note: this next rule is only to be proposed if the rule proposal above (Red & Yellow Flag Together) passes.
Existing rule:
Section 3 (Operational flags).
Red Flag. The race has been stopped. Reduce speed and proceed safely to the designated location. Do not exit the track unless specifically instructed to do so by a race official. In the event that rider misses one red flag station, the rider must stop safely at the next red flag station.
7.3.1.g.
Failure to respond to a Black or Red Flag - penalty is at the discretion of the Race Director or Race Official.
Proposed rule:
Section 3 (Operational flags).
Red Flag. The race has been stopped. Reduce speed and proceed safely to the tower in the hot pit lane. Do not exit the track unless specifically instructed to do so by a race official. Failure to respond to the red flag (i.e. exiting the track and entering the pits) may result in a penalty (this may not have to be explicitly stated since this is written in a different section of the rule book. Penalties could include being placed 1 position back on the grid on a restart, for example).
For clarity, "the track" includes the race surface and the hot pit lane. "Exiting the track" refers to exiting both the race surface and hot pit lane and entering the pits. Riders are to exit the racing surface and stop in the hot pit lane at the tower as per the proposed rule.
Rationale: IF the rule proposal above regarding a dual red/yellow flag system passes, making riders stop on track during a red flag is no longer necessary because riders are aware of where the red-flag causing incident is located, prompting them to proceed with extreme caution (especially in the case where the bike/rider is in the middle of the track). We would also no longer have to wait for riders to come to a complete stop before releasing the ambulance (as long as riders have at least reduced their pace significantly). Making riders come to a stop at the tower means that they are in a safe location (riders must proceed cautiously through the hot pits already and at Rad Torque many racers practice race starts so it is not unusual to come upon a stopped rider in the hot pits) and it allows race control to easily communicate with riders. In the past, directions from race control have not always been clearly understood by corner marshals, resulting in riders not going where they are supposed to (for example, to proceed directly to gate to head right back on track shortly or to proceed retro track, etc.), which results in lost time. We have also received complaints that stopping immediately on track can be hard on the bikes and cause them to overheat. While racers would still have to stop at the tower to receive directions from race control, they would receive at least a partial cool down lap, or be sent straight to pits without stopping if indicated by race control. Additionally, having riders proceed off track could prevent incidents resulting from racers stopping in an unsafe location on track (especially if they do not stop at a designated corner station) or piling into each other if a racer decides to slam on the brakes, which has frequently been used as an argument against the current red flag procedure. The proposed rule is used by CSBK and MotoGP. The downside to the proposed red flag procedure is that it would be too unsafe to send the ambulance retro track and it may elevate hazards to the racers still on track and to the racers involved in an incident if racers fail to slow down/proceed cautiously in the section of the track under a red/yellow flag (in this case, greater penalties may be given). I would not feel comfortable proposing this rule if we do not have some way to communicate with riders about where incidents are on track, especially if they are severe.
