Simple yes/no question to all who have driven single seaters here...
Do you want canopies?
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Ian-S wrote:Simple yes/no question to all who have driven single seaters here...
Do you want canopies?
Ideally not.... but I would be a little worried about fogging in the rain, limitations to peripheral vision etc. Hell it was bad enough with a visor. But as an alternative to the consequences of leaving them open and with the benefits of modern technology and materials they should ideally be investigated. Whoops, I appear to have not given a simple yes or no answer.
Just a thought.... along the same line of preferences, how many did not like the feeling of a HANS device when they were first introduced, yet now feel naked in a race car without one?
* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left
“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)
* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
I seem to remember that guys like Rubens couldn't wear the HANS without blistering or just getting discomfort. It sure took a lot of work to get the guys to wear it, but hey - it's doing it's job!
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MonteCristo wrote: ↑2 years agoVettel: Not a fan at all on track. But off track, good guy.
DoubleFart wrote:I seem to remember that guys like Rubens couldn't wear the HANS without blistering or just getting discomfort. It sure took a lot of work to get the guys to wear it, but hey - it's doing it's job!
My point exactly..... it took the authorities to the extent of mandating them before everyone wore them in international level motorport, and now they are almost as universally used as a multi layer fireproof suit by all levels of motorsport, even at lower levels where they are not mandated because of the benefits outweighing the negatives.
* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left
“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)
* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
The original HANS device needed time for testing and development in F1. Nick Heidfeld was the first driver to use one in competition and complained about lack of comfort, etc... from that testing the device was altered to fit the demands of being in an F1 car.
If anything is to happen in single seater racing to better protect driver extremities then there needs to be R&D, not knee-jerk emotion driven reactions from fans like we've been reading since Tuesday. Fully enclosed canopies are NOT the answer. Whereas a program of R&D which includes feasibility studies into various solutions is.
Why not just something rollbar style in driving direction , like two tubes over the cockpit ?
Ultimately, if the debris weighs enough and gets sped up enough it will hit through a closed cockpit too.
Andy wrote:Why not just something rollbar style in driving direction , like two tubes over the cockpit ?
Ultimately, if the debris weighs enough and gets sped up enough it will hit through a closed cockpit too.
I was thinking about this solution too.
Brian Redman: "Mr. Fangio, how do you come so fast?" "More throttle, less brakes...."
There was a formula ford built like that in the 80s, don't think it ever got 'crash tested' tbh.
I was pre-HANS but wouldn't have hesitated ( I had a memory foam type collar that I used at the time).
I am very sorry if you find my posts long and boring, I like to type and often go off on a tangent.
If this is the case, you may click here to solve the problem, or alternatively here too.
Canopies? No. If only for the simple reason of how would a driver, closely chasing another car, deal with the lead car blowing its engine sky-high and throwing back buckets of oil. Been there...done that... HORRIFYING!!! If canopies come to be, you'll need a wiper mechanism or tear-off feature. Is either practical in formula car?
As for forward extensions of the main rollover bar, there was an FF...Crossle, I think...fitted with this feature competing here in Ontario back in the late 70's. It was quite similar to the structures seen on dirt sprinters and supermodifieds. I believe that the extra structure was referred to as 'decap bars'. The story goes that the car was entered in a novice race with closed-wheeled cars at Shannonville and there was a collision with a Datsun 240Z. The Z-car ended up on top of the formula car and if weren't for these extra bars, it was widely regarded as being a fatal. Additionally, there was a fella I competed against from Florida, Tom Gee, competing in a Lola 340 fitted with a cage structure. He sent me a pix of it some years back but I'll be dammed if I can find it on my HD.
Manfred Cubenoggin wrote: Additionally, there was a fella I competed against from Florida, Tom Gee, competing in a Lola 340 fitted with a cage structure. He sent me a pix of it some years back but I'll be dammed if I can find it on my HD.
Manfred, I had a quick look on the Lola registry to see if I could dig anything out.... the nearest I could get was a Chuck Gee, USA, listed with a T342 in 1975, running in FF1600. Sadly no pics. http://www.lolaheritage.co.uk/history/register/t342.htm
* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left
“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)
* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
Manfred Cubenoggin wrote:Thanks for looking, Biggy. Nifty web site showing all the Lolas. Had no idea that it was that extensive!
I'm pretty sure that Tom Gee is a member over on TNF but a brief search just now turned up nothing. Of course, he may use a pseudonym as I do.
No worries. Glad I was able to highlight something of potential use to you as a minor scrap of a payback for the mine of information you have provided myself and the rest of us with over the years.
* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left
“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)
* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
The Sonoma season finale is this weekend, race starts at 10pm UK time. JW's death has really removed all the potential excitement of the battle between JPM and Rahal and really I'm only watching the race to see JPM seal the title.
It's double points and Dixon, Power, Castroneves and even Newgarden are mathematically capable of winning. We're talking Rahal finishing 1st and JPM in 4th or lower for Rahal to win, down to Newgarden getting maximum points for everything and all the other drivers getting nothing.
