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Steve Richards Motorsport
Official Website of Steven Richards, FPR V8 Supercar Driver |
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Safety in V8 Supercar Land
Generally Safety is an uncool word. The only time we ever really here about the word Safety is when something untoward happens in our lives that has brought about some form of pain and suffering. Whether it’s the application of a band aid due to an open injury or the passing of someone through an accident, in most cases it is a reactive word, acted upon after a traumatic event. This is not the case in our world. The world I talk about is the world of Motorsport and in particular V8 Supercars.
In recent times our world has been rocked by a number of very high profile accidents, both of which have claimed people very close to the V8 Supercar family. Our sport is not reactive in regards to safety, it is very much proactive. You may not ever see it, but our sport very much has ongoing processes, that continually evolve in an effort to minimise the risks associated with the high speed nature of our game.
In 1994 Don Watson passed away after an accident during practice to the Bathurst 1000 that year. Since then millions of kilometres have passed under the Dunlop’s of V8 Supercars in both testing for events and also race meetings, at many circuits both in Australia and overseas, in totally different weather conditions, against hundreds of different drivers.
After any accident the processes are evaluated and questions asked to find out why. This is a collaborative process that involves V8 Supercars Australia, The Confederation of Australian Motorsport (CAMS), the drivers and the teams. After each event circuit comments are brought forward in an effort to improve impact zones, emergency procedures and also improved car safety. In terms of car safety in the last couple of years we have seen the introduction of window nets, improved side intrusion, the HANS (Head and Neck Support system) device for drivers, not too mention extra layers of underwear in the event of a fire and in car ventilation systems to remove the heat and rigour of a 2 hour V8 Supercar race in 35 degree temps.
Still October the 6th 2006 was a sobering reminder with regard to Mark Porter and David Clarke that we do participate in a sport that have factors beyond our control and that sometimes things can go wrong. The best that we can do is learn from these traumatic experiences and continually find ways that we can improve all aspects of Safety on and off the track.
Richo. |
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 | Copyright © 2012 Steve Richards Motorsport, All Rights Reserved.
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