SpecRacer.com

Turn 17 at Sebring has been the site of several severe crashes in recent years. Since it is a blind corner, track blockage and crashed cars cannot be seen until the driver has committed to hard acceleration and heavy cornering. This situation is further aggravated by close competition, where a trailing driver’s view of the track is blocked by the leading car. This was the scenario that led to the brutal crash at the end of the SRF Majors Race.
I believe that the recent serious crashes that have occurred at turn 17 could have been significantly reduced in severity with a corner station light system. Two yellow, one green, and one red light could be placed at the end of the back straightaway wall at the current flag station, with another set of lights across the track under the bridge in the drivers’ line of sight (most important of all since there is currently no station there), a third set under the bridge on driver's right, and a fourth set at the track-out point on the front straightaway wall. These lights would be tied together and control the entire corner. The yellow and green could be controlled by any of the current flagging stations, so that no part of the corner is unobserved. Start/finish could control all of the lights as well.
This system would also make restarts much fairer and SAFER, as the lights at the back straight would flash green when controlled by Start/Finish, and drivers without radios aren’t jumped by those who have them.

I totally agree with this!

Sebring is a major league venue and should have had a warning light system years ago. No excuse.

My first race with a lighting system was at High Plains last year and I have to say they're wonderful.

Having driven Sebring several years ago, I agree that warning lights at 17 would greatly improve safety.

However, it can be difficult to convince facilities to add warning lights. If you are lucky enough to win that battle, you face additional battles to be sure the lights are used and remain in place.

After my accident at the exit of the kink at the 2012 June Sprints weekend, a number of people lobbied to have warning lights added at the entrance to the kink. That Winter, lights were installed at the kink, 5, 6, Canada, and I think 14 as well. They were used sporadically during the 2013 and 2014 seasons. I don't remember them being used in 2015. By 2016, I am sure the lights at 6 were gone and they may have disappeared from the other corners as well.

I'll second the comment re: High Plains' light system. I suspect it was quite expensive to put in but it is phenomenal. The way they're installed, if you don't see them, you should probably think about hanging up the helmet...

Let's start a SAVE A RACER AT 17 fund. I paid last year. JOHN annis srf 87

Peter, the problem with the lights at RA is that they are not under the corner workers control. They are controlled from race control, and there is a very real situation where the corner and the lights show different conditions. I'd love to see the lights used, and under local control.

Plus there is the turn 12 issue of location. Lights are drivers left, way in the back, and now the flag station is as well. There isn't a driver on the planet who is looking up and left entering 12.

scott sanda wrote:Peter, the problem with the lights at RA is that they are not under the corner workers control. They are controlled from race control, and there is a very real situation where the corner and the lights show different conditions. I'd love to see the lights used, and under local control.

Plus there is the turn 12 issue of location. Lights are drivers left, way in the back, and now the flag station is as well. There isn't a driver on the planet who is looking up and left entering 12.

I agree 100% on the need for local control of the lights. I was very disappointed that they were setup to be run from race control at Road America. Also agree that the decision to move the flag station to the outside at 12 was a huge mistake.