The Corkscrew Classic is up next
The David Love event at Sonoma was a great weekend. Next up, Crossflow Cup races 5 & 6 at CSRG’s Corkscrew Challenge on June 12th-14th. It’s time to get your entry in! We look forward to having the largest field of Historic Fords (HF) and Club Fords (CF) of the year on the Monterey Peninsula. You will not want to miss it. Because the schedule includes an optional test day on Friday, we are going to use season point standings to set qualifying grid order on Saturday morning. Note that the points have been recently updated and are available on our website. CSRG will be providing an all you can eat taco truck on Saturday night, but make sure to go our Crossflow party in the the Katusha paddock before heading over to the taco truck. As usual, the party starts when the track goes cold. We will be raffling off thousands of dollars of products from our generous sponsors, including our newest benefactor, John Grudynski of HyTech Exhaust. Don’t forget, you must be present to win! We can’t all take the checkered flag but we can win at the raffle! We all appreciate our sponsors for making the raffles possible. Please show them your appreciation for supporting our race series.
The Crossflow Cup has gone Legit
Thanks to the legal services from Jonathan Kitchen we are now a Nonprofit Mutual Benefit Corporation registered with the State of California. This gives us nonprofit status, allowing us to have a bank account. The Bylaws have been approved and are posted on the website. We have applied for membership in the Vintage Motorsports Council and look forward to continuing to provide the best Formula Ford racing offered in the United States.
Qualifying Starts, Restarts, Aborted starts clarification
We had some confusion at David Love with our starts. A couple of things happened that were a little out of the ordinary for us. Without blaming anyone for what they may or may not have done, The Board would like to clarify what should happen in the future:
Qualifying
From our rules: “For all Crossflow Cup sessions, the out lap is to be considered Full Course Yellow, whether the workers display it or not.”
Everyone followed the procedure for Qualifying on Saturday, but unfortunately we did not complete the out lap. A car was disabled in Turn 2 that brought us into the hot pit under a black flag. We were then released back onto track after the stalled car was cleared. This is where the confusion happened. Some drivers assumed we were still under yellow, some considered that we had completed the first lap and felt free to pass.
Going forward, once we do one out lap, we are free to pass. If the black flag brings us in after any number of laps, the next out lap is at the discretion of the corner workers and the flags they display. Please pay attention to the flags.
Starts
From our rules:
“When the grid is formed up, we want ONE SPEED to be held until the green flag is waved. Drivers are allowed to look left or right, but competitors should not accelerate or decelerate once that speed is reached until the green flag is waved.”
Just to be clear, stay tight, steady and in position until the green flag drops and the yellow flags are put away. Once the green drops, all competitors are free to race and pass whether they can see the green flag or not, providing there is not a yellow flag displayed. That is why it is very important for the pole to hold steady, in 1st gear at 4000 RPM. All other cars are to follow the steady speed of the pole setter. Drivers at the back of the grid may not be through turn 11 at Sonoma or Laguna when the pole sitter has taken the green. Assuming the yellows are put away, they would be free to race. They will only know that the track is green if we keep tight and steady until the flag drops. It is everyones responsibility to keep tight and steady, not just the front, but all the way though the pack to ensure safe and fair starts.
Overly aggressive starts are high risk. Incidents at the start can take out multiple cars as a result. Remember that we are vintage racing with strict “no contact” enforcement by CSRG at their events.
Aborted Starts
When a start is aborted for whatever reason, please do your best to fall back in order, two abreast. If you have mistakenly passed someone, give the place back. If you have been passed, do not pass anyone to take your original position back. It is the passing driver’s responsibility to give the place back. If there is an issue, we will sort positions out after the race. If a car has fallen out of order, due to driver error or a mechanical situation, the driver should fall into position where they can but not pass any other competitors to resume their original position. We will repeat the start as per the start procedure by keeping it tight and steady.
Restarts
When the Safety Car is brought out during a race, please do your best to close all the gaps throughout the field. Remember that it will be a full course yellow: be in control of your car, keep up the pace, and close the gap in front of you. We would like to have all cars in single file and nose to tail when the safety car pulls off track. If you are the lead car: keep tight behind the safety car until it pulls off then keep your speed constant until you see the green flag. We are not free to race until the lead car takes the green flag. The safety car pulling away does not imply racing has begun. Like with all other starts, once the lead cars have taken the green, the rest of the pack is free to race assuming there is not a yellow flag displayed.
Thank you for participating in our series as it is not possible without YOU!
See you in in Monterey and remember,
The Party Starts When The Track Goes Cold