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International Karting Industry Buyer's Guide |
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| THE RACERS EDGE | |||||||||||||
| RACING
IS A JUDGMENT CALL
By John Kaiser While rule books set out the exact dimensions and specifications for a race car (or kart) to the last thousandths of an inch, the race itself is a whole different kettle of fish. Judgment calls are the order of the day and the officials responsible for making these calls have one fatal flaw: they are human. While officials are supposed to be impersonal, impartial and unbiased when they are officiating a race, they cannot help but have their personal likes and dislikes. No matter what decision they make, someone is going to disagree with it. That’s life. No one is perfect. We have all made wrong decisions in the past and we will all make them in the future. Officials are just like anyone else; they make their calls based on what they see, and “see” is the operative word. There is no way that an official can determine intent unless it is blatantly obvious. An official cannot feel a kart getting loose, he cannot feel the brakes fade and he cannot tell if a driver is trying too hard. He can only watch the proceedings and make a call based on what his eyes tell him. Besides the responsibility of calling a race, there are other factors in the back of the mind of an official that could influence his judgment. Perhaps one of the drivers involved in an incident was none too nice the week before; maybe one of those involved in an incident never won a race; maybe his wife is mad at him. These thoughts and many others will affect the calls an official makes without him ever realizing it. He/she tries to make the call based on what is seen and most of the time he will make the right call despite all of the outside influences that (may) affect his judgment. For the most part, there are two officials at every track that take the majority of abuse — the Race Director and the Tech Inspector. Although racers will argue, swear and yell at these folks, it does not normally do any good, and in fact may prejudice them in the future. The Race Director is in the position of having most of the judgment calls that are made in the course of an event. He must decide whether a car was spun out or spun on its own. He must decide if a car on the outside pinched down. It is not an easy job, but there are ways to make it easier. A Race Director should make a call immediately. Normally, a human’s first instinct is (usually) the correct one. The call should be made without conferring with anyone besides other officials. No one expects any one person to watch the entire track all the time; it is physically impossible anyway. Officials near an incident should assist the Race Director whenever they are asked to do so. Unfortunately, the coin of officialdom is a two-sided one. There are those officials who will make calls based on other influences rather that what they actually saw on the track. There are those officials that believe if they do not make a call, the incident will go away and everyone will forget it. In either case, they are wrong. Officials who make judgment calls cannot afford to let what happened last race, last week or last month affect the call they make on current incidents. They should judge each incident on its merits, or lack of merits, and then go on with their business. Racers who get upset at the officials for making a call as they see it, tend to find reasons to support their point of view. They will tell anyone that listens how they were wronged. They will go to great lengths to display their displeasure while still on the track. They have been known to hold up races while they voice, signal or otherwise signify their disagreement with the decisions made. There should be no tolerance for this behavior. Stiff fines, banning the offending team and other equally serious punishments should be handed down to those who act up. The people in the stands came to see racing, not petulant behavior from someone in a high-powered kart. If racers would accept
the decisions of the officials without rancor, and if the officials would
make each and every call based on the circumstances and what is actually
observed, and if calls are consistent, then, and only then can racing move
forward.
About the author: John
Kaiser writes for “Motorsports Weekly”. The article is courtesy of “INEX
Magazine”.
END
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Kart Marketing Group, Inc. Post Office Box 101 Wheaton, IL 60189 USA Telephone: 630-653-7368 Fax: 630-653-2637 Email: karting@msn.com |
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