Circuit chief executive John Tetley has staunchly defended the safety of Queensland Raceway by outlining the extent of his work in response to the high profile Sean Edwards fatality last October.
Tetley has launched a firm rebuttal after a $60,000 tyre barrier was installed at turn three as a temporary safety measure for the V8 Supercars meeting earlier this month.
“The reason why that tyre wall was put in was because CAMS insisted on it,” Tetley told Speedcafe.com
“The inference that we haven’t done upgrades and a $60,000 wall was required is completely erroneous and it puts us in a bad light that we are not willing to tolerate.”
Tetley says that in response to the shocking death of England’s Porsche Supercup driver Edwards at turn six, the run-off area has been lengthened and an elaborate island tyre barrier supposedly called an ‘arrestment and deflection barrier’ installed.
When penetrated, the barrier essentially works like a motorcycle chain where inside each of the tyres is a pipe that has hinged bars or link bars.
“So if you hit it in the middle it will surround you and if you hit it on edge it tends to deflect the car away,” Tetley says.
He claims that it has already been responsible for saving a driver’s life after being installed soon after the Edwards calamity.
“We developed some years ago a hinged barrier which we have deployed in places we are confident there may be a head on crash,” Tetley said.
“The beauty of this barrier is that it wraps itself around the vehicle or deflects the vehicle.
“When it wraps around the vehicle it arrests the forward progress of the car.
“As a result of the Sean Edwards incident within three days we put one of these barriers four metres away from that same area where Sean died.”
Tetley says he is electing to submit engineering details and drawings of how the barrier works to the FIA Safety Institute.
“I am choosing to sent this to the FIA safety institute because of my passion for the sport so they can have a think about it and see how it works,” he said.
“It is not perfect but I can tell you its miles ahead of other barriers.”
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