Whose was in fault for the crash? Is nosecone penalty enough for any caused incidents? Is pushing justified and to which amount? Driving standards are always a big talking point since the limit for penalising is up to the stewards who follow guidelines and rulebooks. It’s proven a heated discussion since our last visit to the Rotax Max Nordic Challenge this past weekend and we will open our perspective of fair racing that we keep promoting.

Defining Fair

Fair is as subjective as a perspective. Everyone has their own version of an incident. But fairness between drivers is mainly equal treatment by the stewards, and also by the other drivers. Stewards have the power to set the boundaries which can’t be crossed, whether they’re looser or stricter. Some say pushing from behind is okay and others don’t agree. But when pushing is allowed, where is the limit? Is acknowledging your presence equal to pushing people off to gain a place? Or is losing a single place equal to losing many?

Setting the Standard – Respect

At the same time, drivers set the standard on track with their own decisions. Never do something to others that you don’t want others to do to you. That’s probably something we’re all familiar with from childhood. And if anybody drives dirty against you, it is only fair to make them pay, right? While this all seems fair, what will the initiator think of being pushed off themselves, and what do the stewards think of that. When both sides get penalised for their actions, the standard is set higher and the drivers cannot continue this behaviour or the consequences will be even more severe. The stewards set their boundaries. When no penalties follow, it will be a question of how the situation is handled by the stewards. If both sides are asked to the stewards, accept the blame and shake hands for no penalties but clean driving from then on, it’s fine, they’ve proven their point and stewards were not too harsh on them either. But when no action is taken, whatsoever, it’s a sign of lowered standards. No one sees a problem in driving dirty.

It gets even harder when the stewards have overlooked clear violations, they get repaid and the initiator starts complaining about unfair driving. This is called complete ignorance and disrespect. While not many, there are people around who don’t understand the fundamentals of drive fairly against others and get treated the same. You get what you breed. So I ask everyone to treat each other fairly and celebrate racing in its pure form.

Matter of Front Fairing

Another issue we’ve run into lately is that there’s nothing wrong when there’s no nosecone penalty. They clearly haven’t pushed hard enough to affect the kart, right? Or on the other hand, when the driver knows that they already have a nosecone and just keep pushing everyone else for free, because they will already get +5 seconds that should be enough of a penalty. But that kind of behaviour shouldn’t be overlooked. No situation of poor driving standards can be considered better when you find out that the guy behind had a nosecone anyway. The victims still lose, however many there are. Every situation has it’s own severity and outcome. So be it 5 + 5 seconds or 5 + 10 if necessary. Otherwise we just let them get away with it.

Drive hard but fair. Never let the bullies get away with anything. When the stewards don’t make them pay, show them that you’re not the guy to be messed with. And set the driving standard high if you ever want achieve anything, be respected and have awesome battles. Great racing, everyone!

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