Editorial - Rules are Rules

Firstly an apology for the late arrival of this editorial, my excuse, on this occasion, is that the editor with his good lady was on holiday. I feel that Tony Cotton's piece 'Parts Department’ could have provided a more than adequate substitute, but now I have time to apply fingers to keyboard and it seems a pity to let a month pass without writing an article entitled ‘Editorial’.

In the past I have extolled the virtues of knowing the regulations by which we race, lack of secure knowledge would appear to be something that affects motor sport from the top, to our club level.

The latest McLaren transgression illustrates the point. It involves the current World Champion in radio communication with his pit because the field was running behind the safety car, and the situation arose because the car he was following had run off the track, and then rejoined behind him. The only reason for the call was that he needed reassurance that the action he had taken was correct, was legal. Given some of the steward’s decisions, from the 2008 season, he had valid cause for concern. As the situation developed, the driver's original decision turned out to be correct, and the return call from the pits offered incorrect advice. The driver took the advice from his team and when it became obvious that it was incorrect, McLaren tried to fudge the issue.

The attempted justification, that followed, was one of the classic incompetent lie. As a school teacher you never expect the child in front of you to tell the truth, or at least not the whole truth, the best that a teacher can expect is an incomplete version of events, with the child being selective to favour his or her own case. Their attempts at self justification distort the story, but at least the schoolchildren usually know that the incident is not on video, ready to be broadcast in a form that contradicts the child’s or the team's story. It is this aspect that makes this incident a contender for the most incompetent lie in recent years (but one must admit that the current farrago over MP's expenses is providing many challenges).

Recalling famous lies from the past, at least Bill C., to the best of the public's knowledge, did not make a video recording of his relationship with Monica L.. One must go back to 'Tricky Dicky' to find someone who contributed to his own downfall by audio recording his own conversations, and then offering an explanation completely at odds with the contents of his own recordings, the replaying of which introduced a new phrase to the language 'expletive deleted', and resulted in his resignation from the Presidency of the USA.

The fact that the current World F1 Champion is not confident about how some of the rules are applied does not set a precedent that the club competitor can use to excuse similar lack of knowledge. To race successfully the driver needs to have a working knowledge of the regulations, that control behaviour on track. We have not used safety cars very frequently in the past but they will be used this season. The Safety Car Regulations are printed on pages 5 & 6 of the 2009 Yearbook. It would help everybody involved in a race meeting if drivers have a working knowledge of the regulations, including those for when a 'Safety Car' is deployed.

The MSA, like the Royal Yachting Association ("RYA") produce an annual document that most competitors of racing yachts and sailing dinghies receive. Both MSA and RYA documents have ‘official style presentation’. The difference between the two activities is that a visit to any good bookshop will yield several volumes offering the competitor a user friendly interpretation of the sailing rules, while a visit to a specialist motor racing shop will provide no equivalent. A couple of years ago I started to write what I hoped would become a brief user friendly version of racing regulations, unfortunately this project remains unfinished, but I think there is a need for such a document. Not least to assist those new to the sport. I have not seen the ARDS pack recently so hope that it has been updated in a way that makes these points irrelevant.

Looking forward mixing with you at the BBQ at Mallory.

Patrick Huston.
19/05/09.

Patrick mentioned safety cars. Here's how NOT to do it at Pau, 17 May 2009.

*We "older members" stick with what we know. Leave IBM compatible stuff to Stephen. And we don't like Apple Macs either. We don't like any green waterproof clothing.

Lewis Hamilton and Dave Ryan (Telegraph photo, but curiously originally titled Hamilton-Whitmarsh)

Bill Clinton greets Monica Lewinsky. (No flippant captions please! - ed)

RYA Racing Rules