RUAPUNA PARK Safety Moves Sought

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31989, 16 May 1969, Page 9

RUAPUNA PARK Safety Moves Sought

Ways of improving the safety of the hairpin corner at the Canterbury Car Club’s Ruapuna Park motorracing circuit were being studied by the club, the president (Mr B. B. Hepbum) said this week.

For the club’s meeting on Sunday the area on the outside of the hairpin, which is at the end of the main straight, was to be bulldozed, and loose material would be left both at the end of the straight and on the righthand side of the track on the approach to the corner to slow any vehicle which had brake failure.

The land adjoining the circuit, beyond the end of the main straight, belonged to the Paparua Prison, Mr Hepburn said, and the club had written to the prison authorities asking for permission to put in an escape road from the end of the main straight and into the prison land. The prison authorities had replied, and a meeting would be arranged to .discuss the matter. An escape road should be

installed at the hairpin as soon as possible, the president of the Canterbury region of the New Zealand Racing Driver’s Club (Mr R. Walton) and the secretary of the region and a Motorsport Association steward (Mr T. Woodfield) said this week. If a driver had brake failure approaching the hairpin at present, he had no escape route at all, and a serious accident would be very likely, they said. Mr Woodfield said he had suggested to the Canterbury Car Club that a track 6ft wider than the circuit should be formed directly off the end of the main straight, covering the 31 yards between the end of the straight and the line of trees at the end of the circuit.

LOOSE GRAVEL This track should be excavated to a depth of about 9in, and then filled with loose, crushed gravel, Mr Woodfield said. Overseas tests had shown that such. a depth of gravel would bring a fastmoving vehicle to a stop in a few yards.

In fact, such gravel escape routes had been installed at some overseas airports to bring overshooting aircraft to a Quick and safe halt. Mr Walton said that if the driver of a fast car had brake

failure at his braking point about 200 yards from the hairpin, he would continue unchecked at more than 100 m.p.h. By the ’ time the car reached the end of the straight it would still be doing more than 80 mp.h. At present there was absolutely nowhere for such a car to go, but if the suggested escape road was put in, the car would almost certainly be stopped safely before it reached the line of trees, he said.

SOLUTION Messrs Walton and Woodfield said that the problem of the hairpin would be solved if the races were run clockwise instead of anti-clockwise as at present This would eliminate the problem of a very slow hairpin at the end of a fast straight. A small barrier would be needed between the esses and the main straight, and a hoarding might be needed at the end of the main straight to keep spectators away from this part of the Rothmans curve.

The clockwise direction would also overcome the problem of the late afternoon sun shining into the eyes of drivers on the main straight. Mr Walton emphasised that the N.Z.R.D.C. was not concerned about cars which spun at the corner, provided it was

levelled. Such cars would be travelling at comparatively low speeds, and would lose further speed in spinning. A car which lost its brakes at more than 100 m.p.h. could go anywhere under the present circumstances, and when the 5-litre Formula A singleseaters appeared in a few months they would be reaching even higher speeds on the straights, Mr Walton said. Messrs Walton and Woodfield said that their main concern was for the safety of spectators, then with the safety of officials and competitors. The lack of an escape road at the hairpin had worried drivers ever since the circuit was opened several years ago. Fortunately, said Mr Woodfield, the lack of an escape road had not yet resulted in an injury accident at the circuit. DISAGREEMENT

Mr Hepburn said that drivers disagreed strongly among themselves on the value of a gravelled escape road, but the club had sought recommendations from airport authorities on the best type of gravel to use. The club was also obtaining quotes for a steel .safety barrier which could be erected on the inside of the hairpin corner, and on the right side of the track on the approach to the corner.

Safety barriers for Rothmans curve were also being considered, but a permit would be required from the Motorsport Association if races were to be run in the reverse direction.

The club had spent many hours on the problem of making the hairpin safer, and the hardest thing was to get a unified opinion from the drivers on the best solution, he said.