PRSWILL

Boy I'd be looking into repair costs and fix it. Buy it back under a salvage title and turn it into a track car. Based on the stickers on your window, looks like you enjoy the track!
Make this your opportunity to build a real track machine!!!

BradB

This was painful to see and read. It could of happened to any of us. Don't beat yourself up any more. Move forward. Hang in there.

EMBPilot

i thought track insurance covered this?
can someone explain (to a non track person)?

glad you are okay

Cactus

Great write up with a tear jerker for an ending

Mark in Baltimore

Very sorry to hear that you lost the car. Glad you're okay.

My old driving coach Chris Cervelli once told me (at a wet Road Atlanta race) that racing in the rain was essentially waiting for something bad to happen. That credo can apply to racing in general, but Chris said that he knew of some friends who used to love racing in the wet but who had bad accidents that were attributable to "chance" factors such as a hydroplaning.


OP has track insurance but probably did not have an agreed value policy.

M. Schneider

+1 ... You ain't kidding. I've practiced/been tutored out at Road Atlanta plenty over the decades. Ain't no way I'm scoot'in around the course in heavy rain .. let alone in a 911 coupe.. A First Class Top Gun 993 driver I get it ... (throughout a '00 2-day 996 class condition was rain @ Road Atlanta w/Hurley Haywood ... up there with the best - in the rain.. ) ... Never again in the rain for this "I know better" 911 owner.

When driving the German autobahn's its amazing the number drivers whom do not adjust there speed - lower. To each his/her own . . . .

P.S. .. Rain conditions underscore the need for tier one rain/tires on our daily driver machines. Michelin Pilot Sports rule ... for our DD fleet.

Techno Duck

Sorry about the car, but glad you walked away from it. I did a day at Lime Rock in my E36 M3 a few years ago, it was pouring the entire morning and i was one of 3 cars that was brave (or dumb enough) to go out on the track. It was a learning experience to say the least, the pucker factor was at max going into the downhill turn onto the main straight, a turn that i dislike even in the dry. I look back at that track day now and think it was not one of the smartest things ive done!

Just throwing out some thoughts as ive been following the 993 market for the last few months. Prices seem to have leveled off this year and ive seen some nice looking cars priced fairly taking a while to move. I think right now you can get a really good condition 993 in the mid $50k range. If your willing to go ~$30k for a Cayman or Boxster, perhaps consider taking out a loan for the balance on a 993 (figure around $20-25k). Not every place will do a loan on an older car but ive done it with USAA on my '88. If you have good credit your looking at ~2.75%. Of course i wouldnt track the car until it was paid off... auto-x, go for it.

This will get you back into a 993 and you wouldn't need to worry about prices going up higher.

MarinS4

Having spent 5 years in a body shop in my youth I think you'll find it's not totaled. I would not hesitate to fix that type of damage.

The parts cost may push things over the edge but I would fight for a repair if I were in your shoes. Trying to replace will be a MUCH tougher journey.

Spyerx

Bummer. 987.2 Cayman s are really really good cars.

dbbarron

From a fellow PCA member who races NER/NCR AX with the OP and was there at Palmer on the day of the incident, 993 will be sorely missed. We are all thankful everyone walked away unscathed.

Foxman

Well said. +993 from a fellow PCA/NER member who regularly gets beat by the OP and was also there at Palmer that day. The OP and the car, both first rate. The car will be sorely missed indeed. It performed admirably and did exactly what it was designed to do. It gave its life so the driver could live. Thank goodness. It was also driven the way it was meant to be, by a very good driver.

For those suggesting the car was reparable, it perhaps misses the point of this thread, but it's understandable. When I saw the car at the track, I thought the same as the damage appeared to be only nominal. A closer inspection, however, sadly revealed two serious bends in the frame (front and rear). The mechanic who inspected the car is one of the best Indy's in New England, so no need to second guess this one.

I look forward to seeing what ride the OP picks for this next chapter in life. In the meantime, the door is open for my car anytime at Fort Devens.

jdistefa

Sorry that happened to both you and the car, but glad you were tracking it.

Figure out a way to buy another one. Every other option will be inadequate (despite the fact that, yes, a 987.2 is a really good car).

tribaltech

When I purchased the insurance, my car was already saved with the coverage based on a two year old appraisal of the car. I tried to change it, but there didn't seem to be a way to do it, so I just pressed the checkout button thinking nothing will happen anyway. Dumb move.

Foxman, thanks for the kind words.

Exactly. Believe me, that was my first choice as well.
I actually made an offer to buy back the car from the insurance, but LA Dismantlers must have outbid me. The price point they paid for it would have not made this a good transaction for me adding the cost of repair on top of that.

sdm100

Not sure I understand. You stated ...I really thought this was the car I would spend the rest of my life with. but yet you went out in heavy rain at a track that has little if no run off in less than desirable conditions. If I felt that way about my car I would have stayed in the pits. As one professional racer put it nothing good happens in the rain. Would not have mattered if it was a 993 Cayman S etc Plamer is not a track that one would take chances in the rain. Sorry for your loss but the risk was certainly there and the you paid the price unfortunatley

Paddy

Agreed. Call Jack Ford at EuroPros in Maryland. I'll send you a PM.