Run-off area

A run-off area is an area on a racetrack for racer safety. Run-off areas are usually located along a race course where racers are most likely to unintentionally depart from the prescribed course. There are different types of run off areas like gravel trap, AstroTurf and tarmac. Run-off areas are an alternative to catch fences.

In motorsports racing there is a concept called the racing line which is defined in lay terms as the optimal path around a race course that will allow the racer to complete a in the least possible time with the highest possible average speed. The racing line is a function of the track's layout and the combination of a particular type of racing vehicle's (such as a car versus a motorcycle) capabilities and the physics of motorsports racing.

Because the physics involved in a motorsports event generally propels the racing vehicles along a certain path, and since the racers tend to work with the forces acting on the vehicle and make course changes while not suddenly confronting the forces in play on the vehicle, their locations at certain points along the track can be predicted and their course of travel extrapolated. As a result, in areas where a vehicle is more likely to depart the course (i.e., immediately after a corner as opposed to alongside a straight-away), course designers will place a run-off area.

Race tracks have evolved over the years, as have motorsports in general, and through the concerted efforts of certain racers and supporting organizations, safety has become a top priority amongst race organizing constituents such as sanctioning leagues, sponsors, tracks and team owners. Prior to safety being brought to the forefront of the racing world's consciousness, it was often an afterthought and many racers were injured or lost their lives due to accidents that were either themselves preventable or due to the lack of proper safety measures that, had they been in place, very well might have made a difference. Once such example is when World Champion motorcycle racer Wayne Rainey crashed in the accident that would eventually leave him paralyzed from the chest down. In that particular accident he rode slightly too aggressively into a turn and crashed. As he slid into the run-off area's gravel trap, he suffered a broken back. In that particular case the gravel trap had been raked in an effort to more quickly dissipate the kinetic energy of off-course cars. The change was unfortunately left in place for the motorcycle race in which Rainey suffered his back injury.

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