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From: Doug Milliken <bd427@freenet.buffalo.edu>
Subject: Re: Cockpit vs. chase view
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On Thu, 11 Feb 1999, Tony Whitley wrote:

...
> corners coming and end up panic-steering to get round the corner. What I
> miss is the countdown boards a la GP2 etc. I know they didn't have them back
> in the sixties but drivers have always used visual clues for braking points
> (oil drums, straw bales, tyres, etc.).

Watkins Glen (all four race courses, starting in 1948) has countdown
boards (corner markers).  Two stories that may or may not be true:

Using cows as braking points may not be too reliable(!).  This story would
have come from a race held on the first or second circuit (both on public
roads)--I think that it was used as an excuse for a crash!  There were also
actual markers that _didn't_ move, but many of the drivers in those early
races weren't too experienced. 

The markers were spaced pretty far apart on the 3rd circuit (the one
modeled in GPL).  While I was only about 10, I have a distinct memory that
one of the F1 drivers complained that they were braking _after_ the last
marker on the front straight--and they wanted the markers all moved closer
to the corner.  I think that the track added a "0" marker closer to the
corner, to follow the 3-2-1 sequence that was already in place!! 
  If anyone has old photos of the F1 races, I hope that they take
a look to see if this "0" marker was actually used...or if it's my
imagination working overtime.

-- Doug
		Douglas Milliken  <bd427@freenet.buffalo.edu>
		Milliken Research Associates Inc.

