There's a whole variety of sensor tricks one can play.
One of the simplest is a pulse sensor. Connect the closed nosecone via the inflation hole and measure air pressure. Hit the nosecone and there will be a pulse (like the vacuum pulse that operates the fuel pump).
An accelerometer can measure abrupt accelerations, an abrupt acceleration indicating impact (an enabling the clerk to sift out the 'I was hit and ran into the guy in front' because the record would show the negative and then the positive impact.
The problem isn't about detecting the impact, plenty of cases come before the CoC now where impact is detected. The problem lies in reliably 'proving' that the impact was deliberate and not caused by forces outside the driver's control.
Even then the real problem lies in the driver / parental determination to win by impact. I watched the final of a race at Clay, where the leader was followed at extremely close quarters (12 to 18 inches going in to Billie's) for most of the race by numbers 2 and 3. On the last lap, number 3 tried to go round the outside of 2 and appeared to make contact with the leader. The leader was then upset into Number 2 and finally shovelled off the track in the Esses.
While my first conclusion was "Punted" and "Unnecessary", I guess I could make an argument from 3 that the leader had slid uncharacteristically wide at Billie's and impacted the nosecone of 3 leading to the accident. 3 could also claim that as he had 2 inside him, he had left more than enough room to start his overtake manoeuvre.
And that from observation at 20 foot range. As far as I know, it didn't go to the clerk.
Was the racing exciting? Up to that point, yes. Would I want to see drivers having to stay further apart 'just in case'? Not really.
Now I could not detect whether the impact was deliberate or not. I suspect the leader thought it was unnecessary but 'racing' and only provable if all those involved had been prepared to admit guilt.
The problem seems to be that a lot of drivers / parents in Cadets are prepared to exploit that window of uncertainty. I expect that in the average full grid of Cadets you could get at least five LEDS come up just on the rolling and first lap. ( I would have got three just leaving the dummy grid, the guy in front bogged down, I touched him, the guy behind touched me and the guy behind him filled out the train)
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