Found at: http://www.rallystar.co.za/article/articleprint/5069/-1/68/
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TO CHANGE OR NOT TO CHANGE - THAT IS THE TIPP-EXED QUESTION
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Author: Leon Botha
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Publishing date: 12.07.2010 09:57
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If I accidentally write “Ole” or “ma my verdomme man skop de donderse bal in…” then you must know that I wrote this while watching the “yellow card” infected final of the Soccer World Cup.
Since I last spoke to you about the stages on the Volkswagen Rally, I had a peek or two at the video we made of them while sitting in the car waiting for a roll-back to come and pick us up, after the engine finally blew about 180kms South from Pretoria!
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Enzo and Guy handling a jump perfectly
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When you (if you are one of the lucky entrants for the event) drop the clutch and click the sequential gear lever running through the box on Friday the 23rd July 2010 and you go into the first call which is: "long Left 6 opens 70 caution short Right 6 into danger Hairpin Right through dip bump…" and so on, you will sure as hell feel the adrenaline pumping. You will immediately know that it is going to be fast tricky and testing action.
You will also immediately get the feeling that the outcome will not be only in your hands. You will realise that a lot will depend on luck? You will every few seconds have to make up your mind while approaching a corner at close to 180km/h how much traction you will get through the next corner on the ever changing surface that will, depending on the rain, still be loose in places.
Some of the repairs will deteriorate after the first run and with an expected 40 cars over the route, you will find some tricky spots that will change from loose to rutted for the second run.
That however will be the smallest of your problems.
Going through the videos of the Route while preparing for the final print, I had a look at a specific instruction in stage 4 on the outside portion of the Oval stage.
You get to a very fast "Right three up" and then into what seems to be an easy "fork R3 over a jump up". On the third test run I nailed this specific bugger because I was worried about the effects the jump would have on a car at high speed.
Needless to say, Schalk and I looked at each other going sideways through the air both acknowledging that I was right to suspect the intention of this jump.
Then obviously knowing what the specific jump would do and feeling satisfied that I added the necessary cautions to it, we did not really try hard during the video.
Then I had a look at this specific call on video and I was shocked to see just how easy and calm the actual spot seemed on video. It hardly looked like anything that would even put you off-line, let alone make you land on the outside of the track looking in!
This made me think back at the accident one team had on the Rally of SA after changing my call of "danger" to a simple "caution".
I then realised how easily that could happen while looking at a one dimensional video image.
The fact that no one knows what to do with situations when calls are made in the "clear" while on rally-day you can hardly see three metres ahead of you due to mist? Much like the situation Hergen Fekken had on the Sasol where he hit a rock on the inside off the road because he made the mistake to follow the “visible line” on the side of the road which led him into, what was simply a clearing next to or off the road.
If it was clear on the day, as was the case when the notes were made, he would easily and from a distance have been able to see a small bank on the inside just behind that rock – which would have kept any driver wide on the road instead of going in for a slight cut? Unfortunately there is nothing you can do about a situation like that! One can surely not be expected to write notes for clear view and some for figgy situations?
I have to tell you about this one (there are many similar) incident.
A certain crew sat together before an event and made some changes to the calls I sucked from my thumb. They wisely changed a Left 7 to a Left 4 (at least the direction remained the same?) – this in layman’s terms means two gears up and is quite a bit quicker than what a Seven would be.
So come rally day, Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama did well until they discovered that their Left Four was actually not an easy corner at all. The surface was loose and the corner did actually ‘tighten’ nicely to a "seven" at the speed you came into it.
After going off and damaging the car, Columbus asked da Gama, “what the hell does the notes say?”
Da Gama replied, “It said left seven but we changed it to a four.”
“Well, Botha was wrong, that is not a seven it is an 8!”
Shows you – I can make mistakes!
Jokes aside – we are at a very difficult point in rally time. I like to call it the “risky period” while training upcoming drivers. It is the moment when the tempo goes up but neither the trainee, nor I really know what will happen next? How any crisis will be handled or if the person can catch a car?
In the case of the experienced drivers it is where they go and hunt deeper for spare seconds - where we have no idea what will jump out of the bush!
They use notes which they tried to change into "pace notes" while only looking at the DVD, after accepting that I was conservative making the calls, which is not necessarily always the case. I have to take care that I do not slow anyone down unnecessary.
They look for possible extra cuts deeper into corners, possible "in's" where there are not really space, and then worse of all, assessing calls in isolation.
My job is actually only to call a Six a Six nothing less, nothing more. Problem is that I have no doubt that this will cause some real hairy incidents if not accidents.
So I take many other factors into consideration.
Some of these are speed and surface on approach (which changes as the cars go over them) any factor that will upset the rhythm before, in, and after the corner, the next corner, and all the related factors.
This unfortunately changes the calls to favour "pace notes" instead of simply being "Route Notes".
There are two reasons for this - the first is because I have been requested to try and help by some senior role players, and secondly because not doing that will probably cause havoc amongst some of the more private teams?
I would actually like to add cautions and dangers - but needless to say some drivers actually change my "extreme dangers" to a mere "caution" or in one case I heard about a rather inexperienced "route note" driver whom instructed the navigator NOT to call any jumps, as it slowed him down unnecessary! "My dear gawd...", like the Yankees say!
Fact is that my guess is better than yours. I truly did not fall too hard on my head (shit thinking about it, I actually did – but lets ignore that for the sake of a sane argument) two and half years ago when I came off that bike, and I do actually have a good idea of what happens at the speed you guys travel on rallies. I still do the same speeds fairly often at Rallystar. I have a few times tried to get the "works teams" to at least lend me something with a decent suspension in to see what their cars do and how they handle over jumps as that will only be to their benefit, but if I say that I was not even afforded a reply - I am sure you will not be surprised?
They will rather sit around tables crying snot and tears about the costs than do something to curb it dramatically for all concerned.
For your own sake, I appeal to you to take good care and consider all the factors before you delete anything that could be useful for you to know, after you have hooked seventh and you are travelling close to the speed of light!
We have investigated every incident where a call may in any way have been suspect, where you could have been right and I wrong, but I am happy to report that changes were the "natural" cause more than anything else, misinterpretation of the call by the driver came into play a few times and then sheer bad luck played its little part as well.
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Habig and Pitchford in easy flight.
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So far, touch wood and take a Valium or two for the nerves (not you - ME!) those who used the notes unchanged, except for "useless" information which are aimed to assist some privateer cars with "inferior" suspension and handling, came home safely and in good time whereas the Tipp-Ex cowboys came short here and there - luckily on their own notes.
So - if you are in doubt, rather lean slightly to the conservative side than ending your event dusting each other off!
You will have to get the perfect balance to be really quick in the Volkswagen Rally - perfect lines, perfect balance and perfect speed will come out tops.
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