I read with interest that a competitor was excluded from Hyden for failing a breath test. Just wondering about how the process occurs. Who conducts the test? Who certifies the breath test unit to confirm it's accuracy? Very curious.
If there is 10 or 20 people getting breath tested. And all the other drivers do not get a reading and one driver does. I dont think it maters about certification.
Slow, sadly it does not matter how many people are tested. If the equipment is not certified all results could be invalid. The point I am trying to get at is this. We will not talk about the current situation. If at some point in the future a competitor is DQed due to alcohol consumption, we need be sure that CAMS has done everything possible to prevent such a matter going to court.
Our sport has changed & now there are big dollars involved, as in money spent on cars & sponsorship dollars. Some people will go to any length to prove their case, finding loopholes is something that occurs in our courts every day.
CAMS is a major organisation and i dont believe that they would fail a calibration test such as this. Every body who runs the gauntlet with drinking pre race knows the risk. It used to be just no drinking on race day which meant you stop drinking at midnight if a cams or event official was around and a bit after if there wasnt. We are now becoming a semi professional sport and need to act in the same manner, It is up to the competitor to take control of their own situation with sponsors. Lets face it if there wasnt any alcohol on the breath it wouldnt have picked it up, all the machine has to pick up is if there was alcohol it doesnt matter how much. As we all know these vehicles are amazing peices of machinary and you need every bit of talent available to steer them safely for all involved. I beleive cams know the legal side of things pretty well and wouldnt leave themselves open to litigation like this. Any way time will tell.
i have only been to 4 national events in the last 3 years and i helped drive to Hyden 09 i must say i heard the so called ballot got changed from car numbers ending in 7&3 to 7&4 at the last minute at drivers meeting meaning the guy that got pinned or maybee victimised who is a known bad boy got done positive but iam sure puts more into your sport or as much as any one else that my friends say has ever been put in Western Austraila or maybe Australia.Then one of his boys gets spooked out of the race by an official cause his cars in need of a fuel leak fix at lunch so he is threatened with a penalty and so he pulls out of the race. So its committee 2 this family 1 . These guys must be so proud of their so called west aussie mates. York's .............................
I know nothing of either issue, but surely if there is a fuel leak then that is very dangerous and no matter who it is, they shouldn't run until it is fixed?
Yorky, I agree that this family has been a great asset to our sport both here and internationally.....but, rules are rules, and everyone must abide by them. I would find it hard to beleive they have been victimised, and even if this was the the case, rules are rules!
OK, so Brian got busted with more than or equal to 0.01 blood alcohol level and the rules say disqualification - but was he singled out and intentionally targeted? Probably not a question thats possible to answer I guess...
As for the fuel tank issue - is there anywhere in the CAMS manual which allows a driver/team to be penalised for running with a fuel leak after the car has been scruitneered? Im not debating the whether or not the driver SHOULD pull the car, Im debating whether or not an official is allowed to penalise or disqualify the driver.
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Green Sally up. Green Sally down. Lift and squat, gonna tear the ground.
Rumour has it that he was told to fix it by an official in parc ferme , then when he fronted at the start line he was told he had a 30 minute penalty , so he withdrew from the race.
But why withdraw? Take the hit and argue fairness later - with the stewards. If an official did tell them to do it then he would have a pretty good case.
Is there a duity of care clause in the rules, because of the flamible liquid involved there should be a descreision clause due to the safety of competitors in or around the parc ferme area . Due to the flamibilty of fuel an imeadite repair clause or ruel should be implimeted to repair the leak under the supervision of the chief stuard or corw to make shure no unorthorisrd repairs take place.
Good point Stealth. The time taken to carry out the repair could be recorded with a stopwatch by one of the officials that are observing. That time could then be added to their next lap as if they had started the lap then carried out the repair. All seems fairly straight forward & logical. It won't happen.
Given his age and experience withdrawing seems pointless because time in the car is what everyone needs,to become sucessful.
if the breath tester was certified why couldnt you produce a certification form on the day or show us how many tests the machine had left?
the car cam into park ferme and it was leaking fuel so the scrutineers told beau to get it away from the other cars and tighten the loose fitting, when he approached the line he was given a penalty, after being snitched on by another race team, we know who it was. we are not ones to hold a grudge, wat goes around comes around.
it was a team decision to pull out of the race, over the last 12 months beau has had just as much if not more seat time than any other offroad racer, why would we run a pointless race when the car will only need a quick tranny check for finke, instead a full prep and motor rebuild!!!!WHY WOULDNT HE PULL OUT?
locky i think we have a handle on things your opion seems pointless, maybe everyone should come tell us personally @ finke how to run our race team
hey george who are you? can u p.m me i wouldnt mind giving you a call
cheers
travis robinson #13
-- Edited by travrobinson13 on Monday 27th of April 2009 03:55:55 PM
You guys run a proffessional race team and I dont pretend to know the ins and outs of what you guys do.
I agree that he has had plenty of seat time. More is always good but I understand the decision based on the prep required for FInke etc. The point I am making is that if you felt that the officials had made the wrong call, then there are ways to put your case and if you know you have acted correctly then why not continue? Alot of people were genuinely dissapointed to see only one of your immaculate cars running at the end.
-- Edited by tumbleweed on Monday 27th of April 2009 11:08:28 AM
I must admit (and no reflection on Beau), we've kept racing after hitting trees (as have we all I suppose), roll overs, losing all bar 2nd gear, leaking fuel tank, no alt, throwing up (thought I'd say it before anyone else did!) no lights at night, no brakes etc etc... basically, if it still moved we raced it!
Best one I saw was still phil page at Dondingalong who finished the last lap with no front end at all after tearing off both front corners. Best thing was he turned it into the pits after crossign the line and drove it right into his pit bay! Steering brake legend!
Shame he withdrew, it would have been interesting to see the outcome of the protest after the event.
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Green Sally up. Green Sally down. Lift and squat, gonna tear the ground.
