[chris]

1. Bead seats are good for safety, but compared to foam a lot of trouble to make and relatively expensive. I vote they be optional with some ability to use of foam for people who don't want to pay. I paid $1700 for my Mazda seat and it has not gotten enough use to justify that, nor would $500 be justified for many people who are not sure how far they will get into racing.

2. The halo is a must for safety reasons. I would make sure they are tough. I also expect the new car to have a cockpit design which, along with a halo, prevents or at least minimizes greatly the possibility of head injury due to intrusion by another car.

3. I think it would be very wise if not imperative to allow the possibility of buckling one's own belts. This level of racing should allow this, and cost(time) dictates it. I prefer this since familiarity, i.e., how hard this particular clip is to open/shut, etc., is a safety plus.

4. Tethers are overdue. We have been lucky. With all those wheel assemblies flying over my head I have been lucky. This one is a no brainer.

5. Gee it would be great to not have formula cars that flip if someone misjudges a divebomb pass and slides a wheel inside yours after you turn in. I've been injured in this kind of flip, and have almost been flipped at least twice more in this fashion, but also once at 130 on the banking at Daytona when someone popped as I was going by. I have not yet heard a good way to prevent this. Some things we may have to live with.

6. Nobody has mentioned an on board fire suspression system, but perhaps we should look at this. They are relatively cheap, and standard in lots of race cars. Ever had gas dripping out while being trapped under your car?