jbrennen wrote:Agreed, and especially because folks like me who come from SCCA events may have heard that directional and pointer cones do not count for penalties.
Yes, SCCA national rules specify directional and pointer cones as not counting as penalties, only the upright pylon cones are counted. However, directional and barrier cones can count as DNF if ignored and 4 wheels go outside specified course boundaries.
Our Zone 8 rules are different, though. This is what they say:
If cones are used to mark the course, the penalty for hitting a cone during a
timed run is an additional two (2) seconds per cone added to the applicable
lap time. If a competitor knocks over a pylon or moves it completely
outside its outline, the penalty will be incurred. All pylons will have the
same penalty. The Event Chairperson is responsible for ensuring that
participants understand what cones are included as course markers. Grid
and pre-grid cones may count if that is announced prior to timed runs.
Four wheels off the designated course will constitute a DNF (did not
finish). Four wheels off in a warm-up or cool-down lap will result in the
first or last timed run being declared a DNF, respectively.
According to this, the Event Chairman could specify that pointer and directional cones are not penalized, but traditionally (in the past), all cones that are used on our PCA courses and marked with a box have been considered course markers and included in penalties if displaced. The staging lane cones adjacent to the start and the braking run-off area cones immediately after the finish have been included. Pre-grid cones have often been ignored, especially in the multiple lane area where people may be slowly changing lanes or pulling on and off the course during staging or between runs, but all of this could be at the discretion of the Event Chair according to the rules.
Since the three pointer cones were collected while the car was sideways, it's pretty much academic whether it was a one-cone penalty, a four-cone penalty, or a DNF. That run was a throwaway.
Yes, with the level of competition in most classes, a single cone penalty pretty much destroys your run as far as being competitive. There might be a case where that isn't true, though, so we should clarify this issue for all drivers and apply it consistently.
A car hit one standing cone, and that was all that the car hit. But the standing cone was deflected into another standing cone and knocked it out of its box. I called it as a two cone penalty, which I assume is the correct interpretation.
That is exactly the way I would have called it.
AX Chairs are welcome to chime in here and correct any misconceptions, or establish a "new norm" for future events as desired. I don't really care about what the details of the "cone penalty rules" are as long as they are openly communicated and understood by all.
TT
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 12:11 pm
