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Rules question, side to side contact on a straight.


Tom A

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Two cars are side by side through a corner and onto the following straight. The outside car (Car A) has a little better exit speed and pulls ahead slightly, with Car B having roughly 1/3 overlap, (Car A rear tire even with Car B front tire).

 

Car A drifts across the track and contacts Car B, Car A spins.

 

This is on a straight, well before braking/turn in for the following corner.

 

Who is at fault?

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If the leading car was finishing a pass, look to figure 8 in App A for some guidance. Fig 8 is very beneficial to the trailing car as it suggests that the trailing car can punt the lead car to prevent a pass, instead of lifting as Fig 7 instructs. We should term this the "Earnhardt Rule."

If there was no pass, look to figure 7.

 

In real life, I think it would depend on how gentle the drift is, how space the lead car left for the trailer (3/4 width) and other specifics of the situation.

I am not sure if there are class specific rules for this situation in bumping classes like SE30 and SM (kind of seems like there should be) and obviously those would be important.

 

There is another current thread with a similar incident and video from both cars, as well as a revised ruling (which seems reasonable).

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