This last week-end at the PCA Buttonwillow Time Trials, I was behind a 911 that went off the track and went "end over end" a couple of times in a gigantic cloud of dust and dirt!
You may have seen cars go off a track before, but if you've never seen one go head over heels right in front of you, at very high speed, I can tell you it's quite startling. It's also sobering.
A few of us stopped immediately and went over to assist. Fortunately, the driver was able to get out of the car (upside down) without any visible injury.
The reason for lack of injuries, which otherwise could have been very significant, was his roll bar.
This little experience reinforced why I have a roll bar in my GT3.
My .02 is, if you're going to a track, it's obviously to go fast. Do it with a roll bar. You never know when s**t will happen. YOU may be very safe, but you can't control everyone else's actions on the track and THEY can get you hurt.
I have the first Das Sport roll bar built for GT3s. It's powdercoated black, and against a black interior, it's looks very nice. Because it's bolted to the shock towers, it will add to the rigidiity of the chassis.
Incidentally, you couldn't ask for a nicer (or more knowledgeable)group of people than those who participate in PCA events.

 

go head over heels right in front of you

Indeed that is very sobering.

At a time trail I suspect you are getting as close to 10/10's as your ability will allow. To be honest the 8/10 pushing 8.5 at DE is what I really enjoy, I know I'm never going to break any records, and don't want to either, I just want to drive briskly in the comparative safety of a track, with tuition from people who really know what they are doing.

While accidents will always happen, and safety is incredibly important, I have only seen a few spins, and a very few dented panels at 3 years of doing DE. I really like the no timing, no competition focus on car control, ability and enjoyment that I see at DE. I know that doesn't mean you can't have a bad wreck there, but the passing in designated areas, and very respectful road manners in an A group DE feel safe and removes the chance of accidentally coming together, which is one of the biggest causes of wrecks at the track.

BTW, how on earth did that 911 go head over heels, Button Willow has pretty flat runoff from what I remember, it must be quite a lot of bad luck to find a spot that will cause you to flip like that.

 

His problems started at Club Corner. He went from the left side of the track to the right between Club Corner and Bus Stop, exiting the track into some hay bails. I don't know exactly what caused the "end over end", but hitting the hay bails probably had something to do with it.