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Ugh. Don't get me started :)
I think (personally, not officially of course) it is one of the silliest rules
ever foisted upon us. But alas, I am neither the Autocross or Time Trial
chair, nor am I the local President, or any of the other advisers that all
seem to think it is the safe thing to do.
Most people think it is probably safer to have the top closed if you roll.
Others disagree. Who is right ? I have no idea. I just know that I
have never seen a convertible roll at an autocross (our time trials are
essentially just high-speed autocrosses). Is it POSSIBLE to roll a
convertible at an autocross? Of course, anything is possible if you
work hard enough at it! We had a guy roll a WRX a few years back,
and he had to work his butt off to flip it. You shoulda seen it.
Anyway, the national DE committee decided two years ago that tops
needed to be closed for non-arm-restrained open-top cars for PCA
driver's education events. This got pretty much forced onto the regions.
It was NOT an insurance decision, but a liability decision. And for
SOME reason, even though we have no national-level committee for
autocross, we (PCA local or national, I am not sure which) decided it
would be fantastic if the rules were the same for both events. So now
we have to run top-closed at autocrosses and time trials too.
As for me, I quit autocrossing my convertible (not because of that, but
because my convertible was an understeering pig of a car that couldn't
make autocross turns without a 3-pointer and a tug boat involved).
So sorry you have to put up with that. If you want to lodge a protest,
you probably won't get very far. They sure quit listening to me :)
James