Startline Procedures

[Melz]

Taken from dragster.com.au

Originally Posted by

Under the new Starline procedure that is effective 1/9/2006, will all competitors be advised and or reminded of the new rules prior to the ECN'S.
Does this rule change apply to both qualifying and competition?
what is a resonable time to Pre stage and what will happen if the driver of the vehicle who goes into stage prior to his or her apponent going into pre stage?
Copy of new procedure below.

General - Startline Procedure: Effective 1/9/2006, ACR Section 5.25, Staging, will read “Once a vehicle reaches the front of the staging lanes for a run, it must be prepared to fire and race as directed by the Starter. In order to be a legitimate race winner, a Competitor’s vehicle must self start, stage under its own engine power and receive the start. This rule also applies to single runs. Both Competitors must be pre-staged before either may fully stage. The Starter in his or her sole and absolute discretion shall allow a reasonable amount of time for Competitors to pre-stage and initiate the full staging process. Failure to pre-stage or stage upon the Starter’s instructions is possible grounds for disqualification. If a Competitor has failed to stage within ten seconds of his or her opponent being permitted to do so, then that Competitor may be adjudged to be “sandbagging”, and the Starter may initiate the starting sequence, at his/her discretion. The non-staged competitor is disqualified, and no further penalty shall be exacted. The application or use of any device, apart from visual observation of track equipment, that permits the driver to gauge the position of the vehicle in relation to the startline, or independently initiates the start, is prohibited. All staging must be carried out in a forward direction, reverse staging may result in disqualification. Deep staging is prohibited in Group Four competition

A bit of an interesting read, thats going to be hard to govern, and places a lot more responsibility on the starter.