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Post by neils on Jul 22, 2012 16:17:49 GMT
Just wondering what the status is with this event for 2013. Is there an alternative location to provide a substitute event of similar gravitas? I would be willing to help in organisation and promotion.
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Post by peasnbarley on Jul 22, 2012 22:24:15 GMT
Hi Neils, simply going by the post regarding Cairngorm Extreme posted under the Catterline Carties thread it would seem very unlikely that SCA, or at least the present committee would consider running another event down Cairngorm. That is not to say that it couldn't happen as there is a group of cart enthusiasts prepared to do something to retain the present number of races in Scotland. I am sure they would be delighted to accept your offer of help. ;D It is too early for anyone to do anything as yet because the situation is not clear until Stephen has published his report and accounts for Cairngorm 2012. Personally I would like to see the dust settle on this season before there is any great debate on a possible way forward. Considering all that S.H. has done for cartie racing over the previous years I think we all owe him that much.
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Post by neils on Jul 23, 2012 21:02:25 GMT
Fully appreciatte Stephens continuing hard work over the years. Sorry various matters had an impact upon this years event. Through work commitments I had to miss out. It was a shame numbers were down on previous years even after the media coverage on bbc etc. I have researched several sites in the Central belt, so far to no avail. still trying though.
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Post by Scottish Cartie Association on Jul 27, 2012 11:14:20 GMT
The current situation with CSEx is as follows;
* For a long time prior to the race I had indicated that I would be stepping down from the organising role after this year's race has been wrapped up. This is still the case.
* Immediately after this year's race the two other senior members of the event team also indicated that they were not prepared to be involved in any capacity in future races. One of those people had, up until that point, been planning to take the lead on organising CSEx2013. * The vast majority of the ~20 marshals needed to cover the course will not be available for future races.
* There were major issues with spectator management on the Saturday, with the police having to intervene to help clear the track so that racing could continue.
* Top speeds were down on previous years, reaching around 60mph at Dead Tree.
* There was a serious accident just after Dead Tree during the finals. Video footage shows that a cartie lost control and spun into the path of one it had just safely overtaken. They collided and both rolled several times, leaving the course and narrowly missing a group of spectators. It is not clear what caused the initial loss of control, but there is no evidence of contact between the carties prior to that. Both drivers were treated at the scene by the course paramedic team and one was subsequently taken to by ambulance to Raigmore Hospital and was kept overnight. One of the roll bars, made of diagonally braced 19x2.5mm CDS tube, was severely deformed by the accident.
* This is the fourth incident on this section of the track. There was a two vehicle incident there in 2010 and 2 single vehicle incidents in 2011. All the incidents involved vehicles leaving the course and rolling at high speed.
* As with all previous races at Cairngorm, someone ended up in hospital as a result of crashing. Once again it was only blind luck that prevented serious injury to the drivers and to spectators.
* The final figures are not available yet but it is expected that CSEx will have cost the SCA around £3200 to stage and will have made a loss of about £150. CSEx has never made a surplus.
* There are serious issues with regard to spectator management and safety, course protection, cartie build specifications and the risks inherent from racing head to head at 60+mph. These issues must be addressed and a solid and properly resourced plan put in place to deal with them before any further racing can take place at Cairn Gorm.
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Post by Organgrinder on Jul 27, 2012 17:33:46 GMT
Lots of serious issues to think about, not only for CSEx, but for other events as well, especially the risks to spectators, (which are even harder to manage in places like Cairngorm where not all the members of the public who are near the track are there to watch the racing).
On a positive note, while I note that one roll hoop was deformed when the cartie rolled, it seems to have done its job in protecting the driver from serious injury. I don't think we should be beating ourselves up too much if, as a group of amateur enthusiasts, we have evolved a set of rules and a standard of construction that results in drivers escaping serious injury in 60mph roll over accidents, especially as most carties have very little in the way of crushable structures to provide added protection. Centa Bavaria's cartie does however have some structures to the outside of the driver cell which were battered and may well have helped.
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Post by Scottish Cartie Association on Jul 30, 2012 10:23:53 GMT
On a positive note, while I note that one roll hoop was deformed when the cartie rolled, it seems to have done its job in protecting the driver from serious injury. I'm don't think that's right. The roll bar's job is to stay structurally sound and maintain safe clearances around the driver. It didn't do that. What kept the driver safe was just dumb luck. It's worth bearing in mind that the cartie in question was generally considered to be one of the best in terms of driver protection. There are many more racing with far less substantial protection and I shudder to think what would have happened if it had been one of them that had spun, rolled and left the track at high speed. Minimum sections for roll bars were discussed last year but we didn't go down that path in the end because it would require nearly every team to do a substantial amount of work and in many cases a complete rebuild. However, it would seem that if racing is to continue at Cairngorm in the way it has in the past then far more stringent build criteria will be required, including specifications of minimum sections and materials, roll cage mounting points (number and method), internal cross bracing, etc. In order to accommodate the extra structural mass a more generous weight limit will be required, with regulations to stop people just heaving a load of ballast in to get to the maximum. But this is only scratching the surface. Other issues need to be looked at too such as minimum harness requirements, arm restraints, neck protection, visibility through canopies in the wet and when they fog up, etc. I don't know who would be competent to draw up a new specification, and I don't know who would be competent to carry out the inspections. And of course none of this does anything to help protect the spectators. I'm not sure how all this fits with what the teams seem to want from Cairngorm, which is unlimited 70mph+ racing with minimal restrictions and rules that allow "creativity" and "innovation", including the fitting water pistols so they can have some "fun". I don't know how many teams would be prepared to build a new cartie which, by virtue of its greater weight, would not be able to race anywhere else, but I suspect the answer is "not enough to cover the cost of running the event".
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