Miata Mailing List: April 1998, Message #152

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First, I would like to thank Ken for the great weekend and all of his
efforts.  It was a great experience for everyone involved.

Second, as for the roll bar requirement:

I think Ken made the right choice in not requiring them, and BTW, I have one
myself. Almost all of us want to explore the limits of our cars to some
extent, and a track school with instructors is the best place, both for
safety and excitement, to do that. To exclude drivers without rollbars only
forces them to test themselves and their cars in a less than ideal
environment, and without the benefit of instruction.
As for the arguement that Miatas without rollbars should not be allowed in
timed events-well, we saw people push their cars whether they are timed or
not. The emphasis throughout the school was safety, and I think non-rollbar
equipped cars could safely do a timed event. FWIW, the Touring Car Club
(www.touringcarclub.com) holds track events throughout California, and they
do not require a rollbar for their schools or timed laps within the school,
but they do require them if you are not in a school.

I hope Ken has another event, and I know I will definitely attend. 

Mike Wilber
Black 97  Simone
Team Darn Rattle at 3800 rpm and it doesn't seem to be the heat shield.




From: "Ken" <sundance@dnai.com>
Subject: Why Roll Bars were not required at Thunderhill
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 11:44:37 +0000


Why Roll Bars were not required at Thunderhill

Yes roll bars are safer. And YES many places - including Thunderhill -
requires them for Miatas.
And Yes we could have/should have required them for the Performance School.
BUT - that would have eliminated more than 98 percent of Miata owners from
participating.
If we had required a roll bar to participart and someone who didn't have one
still wanted to - then they would be looking at a $700 to $900 cost for the
school. ($300 for the school, $250 to $350 for a roll bar, probably $200 for
a helmet plus other expenses).

I wanted to open this up to every Miata owner. That was why we had the
loaner/rental helmets.
I especially wanted people who had NEVER been on a track or done an
autocross to have the opportunity to give it a try. Hopefully these people
would see how much fun it was. Then perhaps buy their own helmet. Do some
autocrosses, and perhaps even buy a roll bar.

I hope we can still do the school again and not require roll bars. That
remains to be seen.
In the meantime - I will still try to have the school and NOT require roll
bars. Although non-roll bar students may be somewhat limited in what they
are allowed to do.

BUT REMEMBER - nobody wants to roll their Miata even with a roll bar. A roll
bar doesn't protect a car from damage, just gives the driver and passanger a
better chance of walking away from a roll over.

Ken




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