yellowline

He's not saying they would or should write it off like the car was a $5 bill. He's saying they would understand risk, and they'd buy a cheap car if they valued their money more than having fun. To do otherwise puts an inherent liability on what you bring to the track.

It's not like he got smashed on a street corner by an illegal immigrant on a cellphone in a hit-and-run. It's like crying in tackle football- YOU voluntarily entered it, DEAL WITH IT. That's why my uncle keeps his 996 at home and got a 944S for DE- he has money and assets and he protects them. He lets me AX the car, so he's prepared to lose it. (He also understood that he doesn't have skill to bring 320 hp to seriously use on the track, which is lost on the Vette guy, but I digress)

I'm not saying expensive cars shouldn't be tracked, but I am saying people should be conscious that there's a reason insurance companies don't like covering these events- because big accidents happen. And they should act accordingly. If you value your money so much that you start to take out your loss on others, stay home.

billthe3

I was trying to think of a way to title the thread so that it sounded like it was going to be pics of the vette losing a race to the 944 instead of being taken out by it, and whooped was the best I could think of. And I agree about the tone, it is rather poo-poo of me - the only reason I did it is because he was acting like such an *** towards the 944 afterwards.

As for sounding like I was bragging, I have no association with the 944 that caused the wreck, I only happened to take pics. I was sitting in my car waiting in the grid to start our session when the accident happened (we had to sit there for a good 20min or so while they cleaned the track). So its not like I'm glad that I caused another car to be killed (seeing as I had nothing to do with the accident), I was just still ticked at the attitude of the vette owner when I posted the thread.

billthe3

On a different note, I uploaded some videos of me doing laps on the track. Links in this thread https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-944-951-968-forum/309688-for-your-viewing-pleasure.html

VaSteve

Gotcha. Glad it wasn't you or your car involved.

The 944 is a damn fun car on the track. When you catch up on a faster car you know you *earned* it. I need to upload my videos from the weekend.

Z-man

Perhaps said Vette driver was a bit pissed because folks were taking pics of his carnage after he shunted it into a wall.

IMHO - it is just plain rude to take such pictures. If you just wrecked your car, how would you like it if strangers are all over snapping pics of it. It's just not good karma to do such a thing, IMHO.

Regarding street tires at the track - they are definately a better learning tool than R-compounds. You can feel the street tires progressively loose traction more so than most R-compounds. And as stated before, R's have more grip, which means there are higher speeds in the corners - not all newbie drivers are afraid of speed - many of them drive over their heads. (I've instructed a few of those - NOT FUN.)

Would have R-compounds saved the Vette? I doubt it - there are no tires that can overcome the sudden loss of traction due to spilled oil or coolant.

-Z

billthe3

I can understand that (I did feel sort of awkward taking the pics with the guys standing there, but they didnt' seem to have any issue with me taking the pics). Would you say that looking at the car in detail afterwards would be as rude though? Just wondering what you think - the people standing there talking with the owner when I took the pics were poking at the bumper pieces and looking at the interior and whatnot.

Z-man

Yep - that's probably more rude than pics.

If I hear that someone had an 'off' the only thing that I say to the owner/driver is that I am glad that he's ok. I also say that sheet metal (or plastic in the case of the Z06) can be more easily repaired than soft tissue and bones. I generally don't ask about the condition of the car, nor do I oogle the carnage.

-Z

SS S2

Let's not loose sight of one thing...this is a day on a race track where high speeds and dirving your car at, or close to, the limit is the name of the game. Call it what you want, but Yellowline hit the nail on the head. Unless the driver did something intentionally, you have to roll with the punches and deal with what happened. It's just back luck.

Z man is also right there in saying that photos of the carnage/aftermath is kind of tacky. However, a lot of people can benefit from the photos and learn the value of being as careful as possible while being a visual reminder that HPDE's are dangerous and can sometimes result in a crash.

Let's face it, we all push our cars and abilities at a HPDE. You have to know that you are not racing , but cars can break under these conditions.

Like the sign/waiver says: HPDE's invovle high speeds and are dangerous to attend. Participate at your own risk.

Wrecksimple03

HEY! Thats my 944 that blew oil, thanks for the post bill, and nice to meet you. i didnt know this thread was out here until tonight.

anyway,
i felt horrible for the Z06 driver, i understand how pissed he was, and i guess i understand his bitterness towards me. On the other hand we were at a race track and any car you bring to the track you run the risk of wadding it up, no matter what car it is....my engine is blown but i ran that risk by running it on the track. I had no idea my engine was going bad, in fact i had just done an oil pan gasket a couple weeks before and everything looked fine.


I got off track as fast as i could safely, between 4 and 5 people were encouraged to pass on the left, with that in mind I wasnt abrupt while exiting the track...that being said there were many cars in front of the vette that made it through fine and there was enough time for the officials to put out the slippery flag. Apparently the vette driver never saw the flag and continued normally through the corner not expecting the oil to be there. what happened was very unfortunate, but thankfully nobody was hurt.

As for my car, the engine is already out, looks like the #2 bearing/rod let loose, there are two holes in the oil pan on either side. Now im looking for a replacment engine.

Wrecksimple03

forgot to add, here's the in car video of the blowout, cant see the vette though

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR31dTYiys0

judd944

dang, that vette had a long time to see the flags. I assumed he was right on your *** when you blew the engine.

Riff

Sorry about the blown motor.

One other question, they let you out on track with your radar detector in place??

billthe3

Hey Tim - hope you don't mind that I posted this without asking you first or anything.

Wow, after watching the video, I didn't realize the vette crashed after that much time. I was in the middle of lining up on the grid when it happened, so I didn't get the whole timeline of events.

Get all the oil off the back of the car yet?

aeronautica86

that sucks; good thing nobody got hurt

Thats really childish that the vette owner was being so hostile towards the 944 driver; on the race track, bad stuff can happen, and in this case it was no one's fault. I know that if I were that 944 driver and I had just blown my engine, only to be yelled at by some *****, there would be a certain vette driver leaving the event looking about as good as his car.

StoogeMoe

Watching that video changes my mind about the vette driver completely. Although the driver of the 944 could have pulled off the track a little sooner, it looks to me like the engine blew at the corner exit, not in the apex like I imagined. I counted nine other cars that got through the oil. I assume there were flaggers there, and there was plenty of time to display the oil flag. The vette driver was probably mad because he was such a dumbass that he didn't see the flag and didn't slow down and take precautionary measures.

I had assumed that the vette guy was right behind the 944 when it happened. In that case there's not much you can do. But this was clearly avoidable. All sympathy goes to the 944 owner with the blown engine.

____________________________________
1986 944 NA - Guards Red - 91k miles - minty
1983 944 NA - Platinum metallic - 5500 mi beginning a new life
1985.1 944 NA - Guards Red - donor car
1984 911 Carrera Coupe - Guards Red (gone, but not forgotten)
"If you're not living on the edge, you're not living"