orthojoe

We've discussed this before. Pitting in sends the wrong message. Why are you punishing the victim? FIVE of us got screwed by this guy. The guy had a talking to afterwards, 4 of us moved to the open passing group afterwards, and no 'incidents' were made.

Bonus is that I have footage of it and get to call the guy out. All the best mods in the world,
http://sharkwerks.com/porsche/997-gt...chen-sink.html
but no faster than a stock subaru BRZ. That tells you the whole story:

deputydog95

While you're pitted in you can speak with the track officials at pit out who can get on the radio. It's literally a thirty second stop and then off you go. They blue flag him and you put some distance. Win win. Riding his bumper for 20 minutes clearly didn't fix it. All it did was raise your blood pressure. You did get a funny video though

This won't be the last time you run into someone like that. I had a student last week end in a brand new Ferrari 458 challenge car. Typical ferrari owners.... Tons of $, huge ego, zero talent. This is the car he and his wife chose to learn how to DE in if that gives you a reference. We had trains of boxsters and caymans piling up behind us till the passing zones. It was awful..... Had to keep them at 50mph on the straights so we could get everyone by. But for me pointing at the mirrors, they wouldn't have even noticed. I'm sure there were more than a few shaking fist videos of us.

orthojoe

I hear you and see your logic. I have to fully admit, though, that during the whole situation in the back of my mind I wanted to get good footage. I was really disappointed to discover afterwards that my rear view camera wasn't functioning....That would have made for nice commentary as well...

orthojoe

No, and it wasn't my first time either. Making threads like this is my contribution to helping the world end this kind of ailment. LOL.

deputydog95

drl

66 posts, 5 pages....i'm starting to feel kinda sorry for the guy with his pimped out 3.9

ILLCOMM

Just pit out and ask to be put back on the track in an opening! No need to carry all the frustration around the track.

Carrera GT

This thread is entertaining and the video is a fun, though pitifully mean-spirited creation. It would be a lot more productive if it didn't have the "pompous a-hole" title and sarcastic texts. It would also be more credible if there were visible flags. I didn't exactly scour the three laps in the video, but at a glance, I didn't see any, let alone the "dude, get out of the way" gestures that a corner worker will make (common at the cyclone, hanging out of the tower and waving the flag in the nose of the driver.) If the Boxster driver made even one attempt to be in position to take a point-by, or if the 3.9 driver didn't give a point-by straight after the mad hand-waving nonsense, perhaps there'd be something to it.

Let it serve as a warning and reminder that people lose a sense of common courtesy and can become arrogant and irrational on the track.

The 3.9 driver didn't do anything wrong. Zero. 2:15 for an intermediate group or advanced with point by (I agree that's a bit of a contradiction) is a normal pace for Thunderhill.

Even the Veyron driver did little, if anything, wrong. I wouldn't even get a $1M car on track, much less surrounded by randoms. The Veyron was in traffic and a little timid but decent pace through 5 thru 8, just overly cautious down the screw.

Both drivers both gave a point-by appropriately at what was probably in their eyes the earliest opportunity. They were in run groups circulating with cars in front of them and behind them. When the 3.9 driver didn't have a car in front of him, aside from being miles ahead and "parking it" at the apexes, he gave a point-by.

The GTR driver did the right thing: get on pace for a pass, inside line to the next apex, get in the door mirror, avoid any risk of contact no matter what, take the point-by, assert the pass before it becomes a braking duel.

The best advice in this thread: cool off, roll through the hot pit, ask the starter for a gap. At Laguna, it's possible to "know" where the train is, wait for it to come down through T10, pull out in front of them and see if you can lap and catch the tail. In a 20 min session, that's not necessarily as easy as you might think.

The worst, egregious and irresponsible advice is to aggressively tail-gate. A DE is not open track, not w2w. I'll take a pack of slow drivers in preference to even 1 hot head.

ps. Waving your hand above the roof line is red mist and the corner workers would be concerned about the aggressive driver, not the newb apparently color-blind to blue flags, if there were any.

Randy M

I'm not impressed by either driver. It's a DE, not racing. Producing a video like that is very unsportsman like. Whoever made that video...you don't own the track. I don't care how superior your skills may be. The guy in the 3.9 should have let you pass but you should have also pulled in to slow pit and create space so that you could have taught the passenger something instead of just showing him how much of a douche you are, and how not to behave at the track. You were showing off, you didn't teach that guy anything.

I'm an instructor for motorcycle track days. There are always two types of people at the track. Those who are there to learn and have a good time, and others who are there to show everyone else how freaking awesome they are. The latter are always the ones who cause problems.

RSRanger

I am in agreemwnt with the last two posts above.
Enough of this nonsense.
Bottomline the guy SHOULD have given a point-by, YES.
Now the issue that he's not a fast driver well that's his level and comfort zone regardless if he has a modded GT3. So the guy has a fast car he needs to develop into and progress. Sorry that not all of us are "pros".
Oh and btw where are the corner workers (sleeping?)? They should have given a passing flag and if ignored repeatedly a black flag. Bring him in and have a talk.
Next time since you're so fast then stage first. That way nobody will be in your way.
IMO this thread went south and sour plus missed it's intended purpose.

Ranger (LRRP)

FinHenke

Have to agree that it´s not cool to bad mouth people, their cars or driving ability on public forums behind their back.

orthojoe

Was it mean-spirited? Yes. Some enjoyed the humor in it, you didn't. I can't win them all.
Was I 2-3ft of the guys bumper all 3 laps? No. I had enough common sense and cool to not ride the guy the entire time.
Were there enough instances where I made it obvious he should move over? Absolutely.

That was the goal of the video. Thank you.

Didn't do anything wrong? Seriously? How about having too big of a head to allow someone to pass you? 2:15 for a car with that kind of hardware is certainly not 'advanced'. I believe other GT3 owners who drive on that track will agree.


Watch the whole video if you want to get the point. This run group allows for point-bys at any point of the track. I suppose if he was running in the novice group, there are 3 areas allowed for point bys, but he only used 2 of them. If he were in the novice group, you might have a point.

The GTR driver is a good friend of mine, and he will be the first to tell you that I ran just as close, if not closer to the drivers bumper than he did. I cannot come up on that 3.9L GT3 down a straightaway like that. I'm in a boxster. It's just not possible.

Which is why I'm not inches off his bumper the entire time. While the captions suggested otherwise, Ben and I were laughing about the situation. The wide angle view of the gopro lens makes the car seem further away than I really am, so while I wasn't inches off his bumper, I wasn't 3-4 car lengths behind either (except for the straights).

I was trying to catch the attention of the corner workers who had obviously fallen asleep.

Am I being a jerk for a making a video like that? Yes. Do I have my reasons for doing it? Yes.
If you ever met me in person, I consider myself very sociable and laid back. I believe other rennlisters here who have met me in person would agree.
No, I don't own the track. However, neither does the 3.9L GT3 owner. That is the point. I'm not surprised that you're not impressed by my driving. It's not that impressive. I'll be the first to admit I'm not. That wasn't the point of the video. I'm not the kind of guy with a big head that doesn't understand that there will always be people faster and better than you.

You should also know that my passenger is actually one of the more talented drivers in the bay area. He was there to coach me. I have lots to learn still, and wanted him to give me some pointers. He wasn't there for me to show off. It's hard to impress someone who runs 1:59 over the top at Thunderhill in a stock Boxster Spyder.

I would agree with you. That wasn't me, though. It was the 3.9L GT3 driver that had to show how freaking awesome his car was.

I'm not faulting the guy for being slow. I'm faulting him for not showing proper track etiquette because his ego was too big to let a boxster pass. There's nothing wrong with being slow. The fanbois always love bring how "hey, at least he's out there", or "hey, he's still learning", but also love to ignore when someone is absolutely in the wrong run group or being rude on the track.

Damn it, the video is NOT about how I am fast. I AM NOT FAST. The video is about showing common courtesy at a track. Period.

It's not cool to act the way the 3.9L GT3 driver did either. I'm returning the favor.

gt2urbo

i agree with most of your statements ortho. and agree with some of deputy dogs opinions too( about pitting to make time ) .
if it was me id let u by right away. at new track i like to snaiil around a few laps following all different cars seeing what they do. i would have let u by . right way. it is possible he didnt notice you. maybe high beaming would help get his attention or the corner workers? not sure about that protocol.
i think you should however move to a more advanced run group.

I was in the POC TT for the last year . we tried no point by for the first time in the begining of 2012 we had nearly a 30 sec difference from p1 cup cars to slower cars like boxters, in the advanced tt run sessions. and we made it work very well. infact so well that we continued no point bys all year . no point bys take more concentrations/awareness and courtesy which in turn makes it easier and safer to pass. i was nervous to enter advanced groups until i realized that its actually safer and fun.

tasman

I agree with the go thru the pits thing. I also agree that the GT3 driver had ample opportunity to give a point by and for some reason did not. Anyone can go fast down the straight. I am not a fast driver. Consider myself a careful middle of the packer. I try to plan ahead on the straights and if I see a more quickly driven car or cars through the corners is catching me I make a plan to let them by. If so I dog it on the straights to let them by. Don't want to mess up their day just so I can hit 148 instead of 135 on the straight. I also do hate it when someone comes flying up to my bumper in a series of corners where there is no place to let them by.

Bottom line common courtesy goes a long way at the track.

orthojoe

Thanks, fellas. I agree with you. I've done the pitting thing before to get away. However, even when doing that I've been able to catch back up to the offending vehicle. I will spare you that video. I'll do it still, and mostly it works. Just not always. I decided to make an example out of the guy this time instead of pulling off.