Monday, April 27, 2009

Unintended Consequences

It has been well acknowledged that while restrictor plates are intended to cap speeds and increase safety, their practical effect has been to staple race cars to each other, necessitating tight drafting and risky, last second passes. In reviewing Edward's attempted crowd surfing in the 'Dega grandstand, I was mighty impressed at how the catch fencing held up. One of the engineers at my office, however, pointed out that the Safer Barrier may have actually made the impact worse than it needed to be. Have another look at the way the car deflects off the barrier and into the fencing at an awkard angle. If the fence had been aligned with the wall (i.e. no supplemental barrier) do you think the penetration into the grandstands would have been as severe?