The Place

Push starts...........................is that pushing the starter button?

Starter button, blimey you lot are spoilt In my day we used to keep fit by pushing the thing around the paddock umpteen times and then being too knackered to climb aboard

Controversy,I`ll give you controversy,I reckon push starts are no more because all these blokes with their overweight,over engineered car engined outfits,could`nt push start `em cos they are too bluddy heavy

As Mrs Merton said "Time for a heated debate"

Now this is more like it......

Yeah, If you can't push start it then you shouldn't be racing it

Now where's me paddock starter??

petercaughlin wrote:Controversy,I`ll give you controversy,I reckon push starts are no more because all these blokes with their overweight,over engineered car engined outfits,could`nt push start `em cos they are too bluddy heavy

As Mrs Merton said "Time for a heated debate"

It's the 1300cc twins with 13:1 compression ratios that are the problem for "Dickie Heart and the Palpitations"

Bob B wrote:push starts, great stuff, from the days when outfits were chairs and passengers had bruised shins Add to that balloted grids and there is a recipe for great racing

Hmm push starts, "passengers had bruised shins", - and also frequently broken legs as I recall Bob - by being shunted from behind when the damm thing coughed when you dropped the clutch. They are "fun", but clutch starts are much, much more fun because you don't need eyes in the back of the head just at the most crucial moment. Also less chance of having "fun" barreling into the first turn only to find "the bit on the side" is still standing on the grid because he/she didn't have the gift of telepathy to know exactly when you were going to get the motor to catch following his/her concerted pushing efforts (do passengers concert their efforts????).

Also remind me about the "fun" of the time at Snetterton when we were all kept waiting on the grid for over half an hour (yes really), and then told at a moments notice that "we are about to go", no 2nd warm up, nothing, how surprising then, that my entry money was all for nowt as the bl***y thing (two BIG cylinders on 11:1) refused to push start because it was stone cold.

Like balloted grids though, makes people "earn" their stripes instead of being "given" them.

Obviously not wanting to be controversial in this ever so uncontroversial topic, where people are clearly not writing to goad others into action, I have some experience of pushing big heavy car engined outfits and I've seen proper motorcycle engined outfits being frantically pulled back to get on the right compression stroke and locking the rear wheel up! So, from what I've seen - give me big and heavy every time! Also I would far sooner see a lightweight crew working in perfect harmony, showing true race craft, to get their outfit to the flag than watch two gorillas doing a three metre dash - jump and hope. It will be great to see all thirty plus crews up and dancing at the CRMC AGM Dinner/Dance without a wheel chair or crutch in view (that's crutch as in two aluminium sticks).

As far as ballot starts go - to date, and clearly there are a lot of people yet to reply, but to date 100% are in favour of ballot starts. So, whatever your opinion please PM me.

Peter,

You forgot to mention the fact that I am also bald.

Simon,
Funnily enough as a full bearded person for over 45 years i was also going to suggest that anybody without facial hair is obviously not a proper "bloke" and in my opinion should only be allowed to start from the back of the grid,but I did`nt want to appear to be too controversial.

This is getting better as I have a beard. People keep asking if my head is upside down.

does that mean dave likes phils beard so he can't tell when he's speaking to the hairy arse !

Push starts - definitely! and pulling your number out the bag was good too...but why were the quick guys ALWAYS on the front row - whatever the number they pulled out??! (and noone ever did anything about it!)

Hi DAD remember mallory and the big windle?????
couldent push the thing, marshals gave us a shuv in the end so much for light passengers lol

Geoff's suggestion for push starts sounds like fun , but If we're looking for entertaining ways to kick off a race, why not go the whole hog and introduce Le Mans starts
(It might be what Colin/Ian need to give them the edge on John/Nancy , though don't think it'll be long before they get their share of the spoils )
The new slimline Bhudda would be up for it

Definatelay how many laps we gotta push it.

Buddha.