It's on the RSO agenda for this evening, I'm sure there will be lots of discussion. I don't know what kind of outcome there will be without involving CARS, the event stewards, etc, but we'll see.

bobjim wrote on 09/22/5 at 20:58:24:


I think all you have to do is ask if the team in question conducted themselves according to "the highest standards of behaviour and sportsmanship . . . ". What might officials feel is necessary in response? If it's on the RSO agenda, it's not going unnoticed.

I've heard some of the discussion, and am following this with a lot of interest.

Jeannie

I have been away for a wild but i see that the trailler incident is still a hot topic  

I will take  a few minutes to explain wath really happens on that saturday morning

First, my brother and i did continue the rally because we want to do all he stage at defi or any other rally that we enter

Second, in Maniwaki when Yohan Tessier was DNF it was because he had been pull in the control by another compeditor  he did not get in control on is own power it,s not the same situation .

Third, when the car broke in tremblant the saturday morning Ian and George (who are the big loser in this case according to the guys name jimbob) offer us to pull our swift to duhamel whit their car.
After a bit of discussion between me, my brother, Ian and georges we decide that it will be more safe to put the car on Ian and George trailler and go down to Duhamel as quick as possible because we knew that the crew at service can fixe a lot in 20 minutes .    

What Ian and george did that morning buy putting our car on the trailler tow the car in Duhamel  show what rally is all about, it show the true spirit of the sport we all love .
So a big thanks again to Ian an George.

If some of you guys feel that we should give our championships points  back just take them back we dont really care, we don rally for fun, to meet nice people who have the same paassion.
We are not rallying for championnship, trophee or money just for fun

So for your next discussion about the subject keep in mind that the trailler we use was Ian and Georges trailler we got in and out of evry control on our own power.
Is there a difference between being pull by another compeditor during a transit or beieng trailler by another compeditor during a transit ? If the awnser is yes please explain

It's all the time i have for now but i will be back later to see the progress of the discission

Julien Cloutier
Co-Driver
AJC RALLYE

Well, I have heard of competitors with a bad gearbox or whatever being towed through the transit after the stage by another competitor car, which isn't a problem. Now, another competitor towing you with their rig is another area altogether. Combine that with the fact that the team in question is already DNF, they're no longer competing then, and that can really be considered outside assistance IMO. Then again, they're the ones who have the only reason to question it, so, if they helped, I guess they don't mind it coming down to a battle at Pines  

Thanks for the clarification, Jeff. Lots to think about, especially the fact that all teams need to know and abide by the rules!

Jean

But the justification is that, say your car and another competitor are equally damaged (say..... turbo is dying, cv joint is nearing death, engine is close to seizing)..... you drive the transit, continuing to damage your vehicle (perhaps you don't even know there is a problem), while your competitor gets their car towed during the transit.

Both of you start with the same times you had at the end of the last stage, but your car is now less reliable than your competitor; he now has an advantage over you.  You both drive the stage, your turbo blows out, or you break a cv joint, but your competitor manages to finish the stage, and then baby it back to the finish.  Meanwhile, while you were setting a faster stage time than they were, you are now stuck on stage waiting for a tow.

Suddenly it seems that the battle has also moved to strategy for transits; you'll have every team loading their cars up onto trailers to transit.... atleast then you won't need road insurance on your stage rally car, since you won't be driving the car through transits.

*thumbs up*

Rules are there to ensure as far as possible a level playing field for all competitors so (within their class) they can compete equally and so that the winner will be declared based on a fair competition.

When a competitor knowingly breaks the rules to gain an unfair advantage or result over his fellow competitors, he is, in my opinion, doing several really unacceptable things:

- he is attacking his fellow competitors in a way that they should not have to worry about

- he is demeaning the specific competitions

- he is demeaning most other competitors who don't want to be seen as involved in a sport that allow cheaters to win

- he is demeaning himself and other members of his team

There are all sorts of discussions about the needs to raise the visibilty of the sport and to attrack new sponsorship and new competitors.  How are we going to do this if we are perceived as no better than a bunch of really immature children fighting things out by ignoring rules when it is to our advantage and winning by whatever, legal or illegal methods needed ?  I am not sure that too many sponsors would want to associate with championship series that are won by breaking the rules rather than by playing by them ?

Maybe there are rules that are not the best or are now out of date.  Fine.  Have the discussions, and then in the appropriate way, vote to change the ones that need to be changed.  In the meantime, the competitions have to be run using the rules in place at the time.

Every competitor and rally official has, in my opinion, a very heavy personal responsibility to attempt to ensure that the rules as they exist for a given competition are followed.  Other competitors should not have to enforce the rules by filing protests.  There will be times when there is a real question as to the applicability or an interpretation of a rule in a specific circumstance.  In such cases, hopefully the competitors involved first, then the organizers, and finally if needed, the stewards will seek to sort the problem out.  But this should be the exception not the normal way of doing things.

In situations where a rule is broken inadvertently or without intent, hopefully the competitor breaking the rule will do the responsible thing when it is drawn to his or her attention.  The competitor would acknowledge that he/she didn't fully understand the rule and having broken it and having achieved a result that he/she was not entitled to, would ask that they be excluded from the final results.  This would be the complete opposite of the demeaning results suggested above - it would be fair to other competitors, it would enhance the personal reputation of the competitor initially at fault and it would serve as one illustration that these competitions and the sport can be carried on in a mature and honourable fashion.