I don't want to speak for anybody else, but this is what I heard. The car that went off there was alright, but since they went far enough off the road they did not find it necessary to put up triangles. Someone saw them but no triangles and assumed the worst, and the next radio guy they hit radioed the red cross.
Makes kinda sense to me.
The decision to throw the red cross was correct in a narrow sense (and supported by rally rules--crashed car w/no OK sign = potential red cross situation) but ultimately a flawed decision based on incomplete knowledge of the actual circumstances. trouble is, once the red cross gets thrown there's no way to reel it back in.
very unfortunate way to have a great stage get messed up more than usual.
Concord Pond rowdies are part of the scene, this isn't new and probly won't go away since many locals see the road closure and hurtling race cars as an excuse to cut loose a bit more than normal. they know the road is closed and it's hard for the cops to get in and therefore don't hold back.
but rather than invite a ton of police in and turn Concord Pond into a "Cops vs Drunks Confrontation" it would be good to publicize how messed-up it is to have rowdies interfere with rally ops and screw up the whole circus. that way it's much less likely to happen again. peer pressure works pretty good, even with drunks!
maybe if the organizers decided to cancel the stage for next year based on the actions of a hooligan few, the reaction would be for the crowd to be a bit more self-controlling once the stages is brought back?
big big big thanks to the MS peeps who helped out, it was fun to hang with y'all and help make the event happen.
