Rear wing surfing

[marcus]

Watching the mexican race I noticed a few mechanics taking a ride on the rear wings in the pit stops.

as the car takes off from the stop a mechanic seems to jump up on the rear wing and push it down until the car takes off down the pitlane.

looks absolutley crazy and I havent seen this before but im assuming its to try and get more grip when launching the car.

But surely the officials will have something to say about this as it is not very safe in my view

[marcus]

well now Ive watched some more stops it may be just me seeing things or some are doing it more than other s perhaps ?

[Testure]

Hey, I noticed the same thing. I also guessed that maybe they're trying to get some more traction through the rear tyres. Dangerous, though...

[marcus]

oh good its not just me then

[luke]

I noticed they really shove the cars out of the pits but that's just normal.

[1200Datto27]

Are they maybe trying to ensure that the rear airjacks are compressing fully as well?

[marcus]

possibly , it doesnt seem to be happening as much now , just aone or two at the start of the race , who knows ?

could be jacks or could be traction

[luke]

I think it's just to get the car out as quick as they can.

[Silk Cut Jaguar]

I noticed it to, I guess it is just down to helping with traction like other people mentioned.

Looks fun though.

[esorniloc]

They should cut that out. It could be very dangerous, if there was someone else coming in behind!!!!!!!!!!

[Mackmot]

In motor racing you do whatever it takes to win until someone stops you from doing it. Even then you try to get away with it anyway. Danger never comes into it.

[jondownunder]

I definitely noticed it on two occasions - never seen that done before. Seems very dangerous as you all said.

[Flatspot]

Actually the camera work seemed to catch more of it this race than usual but pay close attention they do it all the time especially if they have big pit boxes like Mexico City and no one in front of them.

We were watching Dominguez' team practicing it one evening in Denver after qualifying and saw a couple of pretty good endos. Not safe, but it looked fun.

[1200Datto27]

All you would need is to hook your radio belt up, and your stuffed.

[brightline]

I seem to remember maybe Tommy Kendall saying that the Newman/Haas mechanics have done that for a few years, to help increase traction and get heat into the tires. So there you have it.

I did notice quite a few teams employing that tactic this race though.

[Omega99]

Yeah, Brightline, I remember TK saying that earlier this year. It makes sense. It's like 200lbs of downforce to help them get away.

[macdaddy]

It's obviously very dangerous, and I hope that next year's rulebook addresses it.

[Flatspot]

I really doubt that it will macdaddy. This is really nothing new. It's been going on for years. It seems funny that most haven't noticed it until this race :confused: :confused: :confused:

[Snrub]

Most teams still don't seem to do it. I believe it was Junky's team who did it first, surprisingly I don't know that Bourdais' team does it. When TK talked about it, I believe he said Junky's team was able to quantify it in terms of performance. Anyone remember what he said? (0.1s seems to ring a bell) Keep in mind that these cars weight 1540lbs. I don't know what the weight bias is, but let's say 40% front, 60% rear. That means there's 924lbs on the rear wheels. Increasing that to ~1100lbs would mean a pretty substantial improvement in a car's 20' times.

[macdaddy]

Macdaddy's Proposed Rule # 41-2-7(a4):

No more than one team-member may come into physical contact with a moving car as it exits its pitbox, and that member must be:
- Stationed entirely behind the rear wing.
- Have both shoulders at least 12" behind the rear wing.
- Have at least one foot on the ground at all times.
- Within the confines of the pitbox at all times.

[macdaddy]

Failure to adhere to any of these stipulations will result in the following penalty:

The team's crew chief must supply macdaddy and three guests with an all-expenses-paid** trip to the next race.

** - Includes beer.

[Flatspot]

I've heard about your beer consumption habits macdaddy. Are there any teams that could afford the penalty?

[macdaddy]

It would certainly be a deterrant!

[marcus]

bugger , with a penalty like that why the heck we we want to deter them ???

[Amar7605]

Originally posted by macdaddy
Macdaddy's Proposed Rule # 41-2-7(a4):

- Have both shoulders at least 12" behind the rear wing.

Now how in the hell are they going to enforce this, macdaddy?

I can just picture the official whipping out rulers.

"Sorry, Mr. Newman. Your man was only 11.5 inches behind the wing. I'm afraid that Sebastian has a stop-and-go penalty."

BTW, wouldn't jumping on the wing bend it out of shape or change the aerodynamics or something?hrug: