dougkm
09-05-2006, 11:58 PM
Hello all,
Sorry for the rant.
At last weekend’s SCCA race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA, I was severely wronged by SFR SCCA officials. Their misguided action has ended my bid for the season championship in the ITS class.
I have been locked in a back-and-forth, tied-for-1st-for-most-of-the-season, battle with Steve Borlik in SCCA ITS. Going into last weekend’s race at Infineon, I was in the lead by 4 points for the season championship. On Saturday, the SCCA stewards disqualified me for Sunday’s Group 5 regular and bonus races, but oddly allowed me to race in Group 1. During qualifying for group 5, I had the fastest time, but had an incident in T4 (see below for a description). I currently am on a bogus 3 race probation for body contact -- which all who have seen the videos agree was a bad call by the SCCA stewards (this is yet another story that will require another long write-up, but see below for brief synopsis).
Because of my probation, they decided to throw the book at me (actually more like three books) for the T4 incident. Even if they are correct about who was at fault, the punishment they came up with was completely unfair and nonsensical. Unfair because they should have, at best, simply admonished me, and at worst, sent me to the back of the ITS class, or to the back of entire Group 5 for the start of both GRP 5 races. Their rationale was that I need to “learn a lesson” and that if they allowed me to start from the back of Group 5, I would be even more aggressively in my attempt to race my way back to the front. Interesting logic because during the processing of my case, I was forced to miss Group 1 qualifying (this would have been punishment enough for the T4 incident), which meant I started from the back of that group for ITE. I am also in the points race for Group 1, so by their thinking, I would be “aggressively racing my way to the front” – which I did. I started dead last, and worked my way up to finish just behind Steve Borlik (almost passed him in the final lap, but went a tad sideways in T6). Based on my GRP 5 qualifying and my performance in the GRP 1 race, I am pretty sure I would have beat Borlik in both GRP 5 races, all but securing the season championship.
I guess they wanted to make an example out of me and drill their point home by essentially eliminating me from contention in the chase for the ITS season championship. While I understand that they want curb body contact, I am not the one they should be after. I have been hit several times this season by competitors that claimed they simply “lost control” or unsuccessfully attempted a pass, and those who hit me had ***NO*** punishment. I have seen several drivers routinely bump others or spin too frequently due to overly aggressive driving -- and they seem to do so with impunity. The SCCA stewards really botched this one. And, they seem to be very inconsistently applying “the rules” and also leveling extremely disproportionate punishment along with the bad calls. Unfortunately, this seems to be a common refrain these days with SCCA SFR.
This is my third season with SCCA. I was the 2004 rookie driver of the year, placing 3rd in ITS. I am a clean racer, having competed in over 65 SCCA races, with no body contact that was my fault. I have been hit over 10 times, and none of the drivers was ever punished. The only time I protested someone, the protest was upheld, but I was also put on probation. This has got to be one of the most, if not the most, unfair things that has happened to me in my life.
- Doug Makishima, #10 ITS/ITE Black ’87 BMW 325is
Last weekend’s T4 incident:
I was attempting a pass of SMT #85 from T3a to T4. My closure/overtake-rate in that section was very rapid. I waited, as I usually do, to see what #85 would do at T4 turn in. I expected that he would either 1) take the normal line, in which case I would take the turn tight right behind him and get on the throttle just after the apex and pass on the outside just after T4 exit; or 2) stay wide with a late turn in, allowing me to quickly pass from the inside line on a very early apex, tracking out mid-exit, leaving plenty of room for him. Approaching T4, #85 appeared to slow up considerably just before turn-in, and seemed to be taking a wide and late turn in, so I figured he saw me and was holding up to let me pass on the inside, leaving me “room to race” on the inside. Then suddenly I saw him turn down for the apex sooner than expected, so I hit the brakes and put two wheels in the dirt to give way, but it was not enough and my left front bumper caught his right rear wheel, sending him for an “off and on”. I suppose he never saw me until it was too late.
*The incident that put me on probation:
Two race weekends ago, at Infineon, I was passing a much slower ITC car from T3 to T3a, and the ITC driver did not give me “room to race” at the apex. I checked up, dove right, and straddled the inside berm to avoid contact, but we slightly rubbed (his Rt rear to my Lft front), which unsettled his car enough to cause him to drop two wheels off at the exit of T3a. He pull the car back on the track with out missing a beat. But, then with him parallel to me, he turned into me as an act of aggression and pumped his fist. I had to take evasive action to avoid being hit, and hit Borlik who was attempting a pass on the right (yes, we were three wide between T3a and T4 at this point). So, Steve and I protested the ITC driver, and upon review of the two videos, the ITC driver was put on 3 race probation for “act of aggression on the track”, and -- get this -- I was also put on a 3 race probation for “failing to avoid body contact as it is the responsibility of the overtaking car to make a safe pass”. What?! We were side-by-side between T3 and T3A. I was on the inside, he was on the outside. I am supposed to leave him “room to race” at the Exit of the turn, but he is supposed to leave me “room to race” at the apex. Furthermore, why was the punishment the same? Even if they were right about me failing to make a safe pass, wouldn’t a blatant act of aggression during a race be worthy of a much more severe punishment? So why didn’t I appeal? This is the first time something like this has happened to me, and they convinced me that it was “no big deal”, and that “3 points on my record is nothing”, and that if I did appeal, I could win, but they could also “make it worse”. Well, this setup a chain reaction that has ended my chances for the championship.
Sorry for the rant.
At last weekend’s SCCA race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA, I was severely wronged by SFR SCCA officials. Their misguided action has ended my bid for the season championship in the ITS class.
I have been locked in a back-and-forth, tied-for-1st-for-most-of-the-season, battle with Steve Borlik in SCCA ITS. Going into last weekend’s race at Infineon, I was in the lead by 4 points for the season championship. On Saturday, the SCCA stewards disqualified me for Sunday’s Group 5 regular and bonus races, but oddly allowed me to race in Group 1. During qualifying for group 5, I had the fastest time, but had an incident in T4 (see below for a description). I currently am on a bogus 3 race probation for body contact -- which all who have seen the videos agree was a bad call by the SCCA stewards (this is yet another story that will require another long write-up, but see below for brief synopsis).
Because of my probation, they decided to throw the book at me (actually more like three books) for the T4 incident. Even if they are correct about who was at fault, the punishment they came up with was completely unfair and nonsensical. Unfair because they should have, at best, simply admonished me, and at worst, sent me to the back of the ITS class, or to the back of entire Group 5 for the start of both GRP 5 races. Their rationale was that I need to “learn a lesson” and that if they allowed me to start from the back of Group 5, I would be even more aggressively in my attempt to race my way back to the front. Interesting logic because during the processing of my case, I was forced to miss Group 1 qualifying (this would have been punishment enough for the T4 incident), which meant I started from the back of that group for ITE. I am also in the points race for Group 1, so by their thinking, I would be “aggressively racing my way to the front” – which I did. I started dead last, and worked my way up to finish just behind Steve Borlik (almost passed him in the final lap, but went a tad sideways in T6). Based on my GRP 5 qualifying and my performance in the GRP 1 race, I am pretty sure I would have beat Borlik in both GRP 5 races, all but securing the season championship.
I guess they wanted to make an example out of me and drill their point home by essentially eliminating me from contention in the chase for the ITS season championship. While I understand that they want curb body contact, I am not the one they should be after. I have been hit several times this season by competitors that claimed they simply “lost control” or unsuccessfully attempted a pass, and those who hit me had ***NO*** punishment. I have seen several drivers routinely bump others or spin too frequently due to overly aggressive driving -- and they seem to do so with impunity. The SCCA stewards really botched this one. And, they seem to be very inconsistently applying “the rules” and also leveling extremely disproportionate punishment along with the bad calls. Unfortunately, this seems to be a common refrain these days with SCCA SFR.
This is my third season with SCCA. I was the 2004 rookie driver of the year, placing 3rd in ITS. I am a clean racer, having competed in over 65 SCCA races, with no body contact that was my fault. I have been hit over 10 times, and none of the drivers was ever punished. The only time I protested someone, the protest was upheld, but I was also put on probation. This has got to be one of the most, if not the most, unfair things that has happened to me in my life.
- Doug Makishima, #10 ITS/ITE Black ’87 BMW 325is
Last weekend’s T4 incident:
I was attempting a pass of SMT #85 from T3a to T4. My closure/overtake-rate in that section was very rapid. I waited, as I usually do, to see what #85 would do at T4 turn in. I expected that he would either 1) take the normal line, in which case I would take the turn tight right behind him and get on the throttle just after the apex and pass on the outside just after T4 exit; or 2) stay wide with a late turn in, allowing me to quickly pass from the inside line on a very early apex, tracking out mid-exit, leaving plenty of room for him. Approaching T4, #85 appeared to slow up considerably just before turn-in, and seemed to be taking a wide and late turn in, so I figured he saw me and was holding up to let me pass on the inside, leaving me “room to race” on the inside. Then suddenly I saw him turn down for the apex sooner than expected, so I hit the brakes and put two wheels in the dirt to give way, but it was not enough and my left front bumper caught his right rear wheel, sending him for an “off and on”. I suppose he never saw me until it was too late.
*The incident that put me on probation:
Two race weekends ago, at Infineon, I was passing a much slower ITC car from T3 to T3a, and the ITC driver did not give me “room to race” at the apex. I checked up, dove right, and straddled the inside berm to avoid contact, but we slightly rubbed (his Rt rear to my Lft front), which unsettled his car enough to cause him to drop two wheels off at the exit of T3a. He pull the car back on the track with out missing a beat. But, then with him parallel to me, he turned into me as an act of aggression and pumped his fist. I had to take evasive action to avoid being hit, and hit Borlik who was attempting a pass on the right (yes, we were three wide between T3a and T4 at this point). So, Steve and I protested the ITC driver, and upon review of the two videos, the ITC driver was put on 3 race probation for “act of aggression on the track”, and -- get this -- I was also put on a 3 race probation for “failing to avoid body contact as it is the responsibility of the overtaking car to make a safe pass”. What?! We were side-by-side between T3 and T3A. I was on the inside, he was on the outside. I am supposed to leave him “room to race” at the Exit of the turn, but he is supposed to leave me “room to race” at the apex. Furthermore, why was the punishment the same? Even if they were right about me failing to make a safe pass, wouldn’t a blatant act of aggression during a race be worthy of a much more severe punishment? So why didn’t I appeal? This is the first time something like this has happened to me, and they convinced me that it was “no big deal”, and that “3 points on my record is nothing”, and that if I did appeal, I could win, but they could also “make it worse”. Well, this setup a chain reaction that has ended my chances for the championship.