[fiery enzyme]

One thing though, he sure had good reflexes.

[Vid6639]

Well it's there in today's newpaper along with the pic and they are taking this incident pretty seriously.

The organizers are even planning on shifting the SSS next year so crowd will be lesser and they can concentrate on safety more.

[svsantosh]

MOTORSPORTS K-1000 RALLY

SSS may be moved out of city

Safety Norms Force K-1000 Organizers Into Overdrive

Shrivathsa Sridhar | TNN



Bangalore: The promoters of the K-1000 have said that the crowd-pulling super special stage of the event may not take place inside city limits from next year, due to safety concerns.
Over 5,000 spectators were witness to chaotic scenes at the Manyata Tech Park on Sunday, as Arjun Rao Aroor’s drifting Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia nearly took out a photographer who got too close
to the action during the SSS. While Aroor was hardly at fault, the photographer will have been thanking his stars the MRF man regained control in time and hit the brakes instead of him.
The near miss has prompted Bharat Raj, CEO of IMG Sports, one of the promoters of the K-1000, to re-think safety standards at the rally. “Lady luck was with that person on Sunday. We had double barricading for the outer circle of the track, but not for the inside curves. However, that area was supposed to be blocked to the media too. We constantly kept telling people to get behind the railing but it was tough to control the crowd. Many jumped barriers to get pictures,” he said.
Aroor’s MRF teammate and winner of this year’s K-1000 Arjun Balu felt that in terms of absolute safety requirement, the event did fall short. “The stages at Sidhalagatta were alright. I personally didn’t have any problem. But the SSS was something else. I viewed the footage of the incident and things could have gone horribly wrong on another day. MS Dhoni’s presence added to the frenzy,” Balu said. “These things can be expected in a rally but it’s all fine until something happens. Trouble only starts when something does take place.”
Raj agreed that the presence of the Indian cricket captain and Kannada actor Shivrajkumar added to the problem. “Dhoni and Shivrajkumar ensured that more people were present at the venue. Keeping this in mind, I may move the SSS out of the city next year.
“ If we do hold it in the city, we will issue special invites to try and control the number of people at the event,” said the vice-president of the Karnataka Motor Sports Club.
Raj said that deploying more policemen and crowd stewards apart from putting up extra barricading will be on the agenda ahead of the 36th edition of the rally. “We will work out a proper package for next year. We expected more crowd trouble at the SSS this year but we were pleased with the police assistance in dealing with that. We will learn from this experience.”
Red Rooster lodge protest: The Red Rooster Racing team, which had a rather forgettable outing in the K-1000, on Tuesday lodged a formal complaint with the FMSCI over MRF’s alleged use of three extra scoops (air vents on the bonnet of the automobile) during the rally. As per the rules, each car is allowed to have only one scoop per car, while the MRF cars allegedly had four. “We complained about this to the race technical committee but I believe they shot themselves in the foot. They told us that the vents in the MRF cars were not scoops. However, we have now officially lodged a complaint with the FMSCI,” said Red Rooster Racing ace Vikram Mathias. With the complaint now official, the final points table for the K-1000 will not be issued as a decision on the matter is pending.


NEAR MISS: Safety standards will come under scrutiny following a close call during the super special stage of the K-1000 on Sunday. Team MRF’s Arjun Rao Aroor, who misjudged a sharp right-hander, nearly took out an eager fan who ventured too close to the track

[vinayvtec]

I think the Red Rooster Racing team was one who gave the aggressive drift, then the MRF guys started. My friend Niju was able to capture it, it was very close and the so called cheer girls had a red sand compact after this Red Rooster guy zoomed…

[jasond31]

I believe that it was not the photographers fault nor the drivers. There is a safety area and barricades around the track. I don't think the organizers can afford or organize better safety around the track.

I think the main problem was the security. Other than the police who helped with crowd control (only general crowd as they were unaware who should be let in) there should be people(knowledgeable about motor sport) who are aware about the safety norms and their only job should be crowd control (like bouncers). Not the race marshals who are involved in time keeping etc.

In addition to this there should be a special area for photographers and media at a point where they can capture the action but still be out of harms way. The organizers had planned a media sitting area. In addition to this if they have a area for media to take shots of the event with a waist high barricade around it everything will be fine.

Taking the sss out of city limits will not help the sport.

Getting in celebrities like Dhoni is good for the sport as it helps with awareness, promotion and bringing in sponsors and money which are very much needed.

Other than the media which should be in a specific area (near the jump which was on a straight and perfect for photos with the Red Bull arch in the background for example) no one should be allowed near the track!

This will solve all problems.

[Shan2nu]

To make such SSS events safe, we need to workout something like the "Race of Champions", where you have a stadium packed with spectators and yet, everyone is far enough not to be affected by such driver errors.

Maybe BCCI can donate one of their cricket stadiums. LOL

Shan2nu

[zteg]

Any body here got the pic of arjun aroor rao.? I remember a guy by that name who was my classmate in school. Just wanted to confirm whether it was him!

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by zteg

Any body here got the pic of arjun aroor rao.? I remember a guy by that name who was my classmate in school. Just wanted to confirm whether it was him!

Here you go : 2008040861 | ARJUN RAO AROOR | Driver Profiles | Profiles | Rally India

[zteg]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

Here you go : 2008040861 | ARJUN RAO AROOR | Driver Profiles | Profiles | Rally India

Oh great!!!! Its indeed him. Feels proud to know that my ex classmate is a celebrity. Way to go Arjun

[IronWolf]

Hey! Your friend just ran over a guy the other day.

And in India to fuel the Media hype I am sure he would be under trial for Manslaughter.

Lucky day for both of them.

[zteg]

Originally Posted by IronWolf

Hey! Your friend just ran over a guy the other day.

And in India to fuel the Media hype I am sure he would be under trial for Manslaughter.

Lucky day for both of them.

Part of the game brother . By the way he was my classmate from 6th to 7th Std and schoolmate from 7th to 10th
He was one of the tallest in the class.

[angelfire]

Originally Posted by IronWolf

Hey! Your friend just ran over a guy the other day.

And in India to fuel the Media hype I am sure he would be under trial for Manslaughter.

Lucky day for both of them.

I would say ALMOST ran over . It would have been a different scene altogether if he did and the sport would have taken a beating. And Guys, Its a Rally for heavens sake, The driver was doing his job and so was the photographer. Am sure both are aware of how dangerous the sport is. No one to blame here. No offense to anyone.

Cheers

[beejay]

From the way things are on in this thread I understand that the camerman might have been a bhpian.
My honest opinion,
it was stupid of him to be so close to the barricade. He should be happy to have escaped a nasty injury. You cannot blame the driver, he did not do it intentionally and was just doing his job.

[Ravveendrra]

I have read the thread and one thing no one has mentioned is whether the lensman was allowed to be where he was i.e. whether the spot he chose was an area open to the spectators/public/press. He was too close to the path marker. One cannot call tape strung between two sticks a barricade. This is a common problem at all events, sports, motor sports etc. People ignore the designated areas and barge into areas into which they are not allowed.

Spectators should confine themselves to the stands.

It is not possible to hold all events behind 15' high razor wire fences. Instead of confining themselves to areas earmarked for spectators, a lot of people jump barricades, bamboozle the security staff etc. to get close to the action. There are very good reasons why certain areas are marked as safe for spectators. By moving out of these areas, the spectators put themselves and participants in danger. They also hamper the smooth conduct of events.

Cheers,

[srijit]

Originally Posted by Ravveendrra

Spectators should confine themselves to the stands.

I'm sorry, but this is not F1. This is rallying. What is the point of confining people to stands?