Strange red flag experience
At my 4th HPDE I had an odd experience with a red flag on track and would like to get some informed feedback. This was the first time I had been given a red flag and don’t know if I misunderstood the procedure or the corner station crew miscommunicated.
Towards the end of the last 20 minute session of the day at Watkins Glen I was approaching turn 9 with no other cars around me when the station worker showed a red flag. I cautiously braked and came to a controlled stop just short of their station tower. After a few seconds he waved me forward, and as I crawled by he said “go to the pit”. I had a passenger and they confirmed we both heard the same thing. So I proceeded at a very cautious 25-35mph and was waved by at station 9a (hand gesture, no flag). As I went past corner 10 on my way to pit lane, still at the same cautious speed, the station worker was still holding the red flag out. Again, no cars around me either.
As I rounded the pit entrance at the last corner I heard someone yell Hey!. I stopped immediately and saw there was a track worker behind the barrier on the other side of the track. He was not in the corner station, holding a flag, or in any sort of position to signal drivers at that moment. He yelled at me that I had failed to stop at a red flag. I just replied ‘I did and was told to pit’. We repeated the same thing back to each other a couple times then he said to stay stopped and walked away. A a couple minutes later a worker walked out the pit entrance and waived me to proceed into the pit.
In hindsight I realize the guy at corner 10 expected me to stop because he was showing a red flag. My thought process at that moment was that I had already stopped for the red flag and given direction to proceed to pit because they wanted us off the track so I was driving to pit lane at a very cautious speed. If for example, I was at corner 2 when red flags came out, stopped, then told to proceed to pit, would it make sense to stop 8 more times at the corner stations on my way to the pit?
Maybe there is a gap in how the red flag procedure is explained. Every driver instruction or meeting I’ve heard says that red flag means come to a safe stop as quick as possible and await direction, but rarely discusses what comes after. I guess it was my mistake too for thinking of red flag as a ‘trackwide condition’ instead of being a literal stop sign.