txhokie4life

I would have liked to see the 944 to either be more situationally aware -- or realize there was nothing to be gained by tracking that far right. Holding the line when there was no reason to do so is a lame excuse. Providing racing room -- just in case would have been the wiser move.

I would have liked to see the SPB back off even if it meant position is lost. I think you had a reasonable expectation that room was going to be given, but you left yourself no out once you realized it might not. It *could* have ended up much worse -- and for what gain?

Mike

jkb157

I think a drivers history is a good indicator if you can trust the person you are racing side by side. 3 races, rookie season and 2 13ths.

audipwr1

I applaud your maturity and openness to debate btw

After being to recipient of some hits this year - sometimes sh*t happens

Probably not worthy of you losing your license in my view

Paul Solk

Haha, too funny, I am doing my rookie race next month and have a big sticker for the back of the car that says New Driver Please be Patient

All in the name of humor of course

multi21

hahaha that's great!!

Just to be clear, we are only commenting on the rules as they are written by PCA.... the contact was very minor and not a big deal in other series. This is kind of "normal" in NASA racing and in Spec Miata wouldn't even be worth the time to write up an incident report...

Paul Solk

Actually, hasn't WEC adopted zero contact as well? Totally get it. I would also put blame on both. 944 certainly should have been more aware but SPB also had every opportunity to breathe through that section and wait for a better area to pass. I think there was an assumption made by the SPB the 944 had indeed seen him and he went for it. Being behind enough 944's and understanding how much they can roll and move sometimes I tend to give them a bit more room. If this is indeed a slightly challenging part of the track where it is a low risk pass then the 944 may have also assumed the SPB would lift and wouldn't be punching it through and was just focusing on their line or even driving the mirrors a bit, who knows. Either way you can only control your own car and your own decisions and the one thing I didn't see any of even in the appeal was self evaluation or self criticism... There is almost always something you can do differently in retrospect if you are self analyzing. Perhaps that also played a part in the 13?

ExMB

You are making an assumption based on your location, driving knowledge, etc. Who is to say that the powers to be that handed out your 13 are from the area, are familiar, etc, etc, etc.

+1

good hands

This is suppose to be gentlemen racing. If I know I am that much faster than the car in front of me I always try to be patient and make sure it's a clean pass. If I need to wait until a straight away so be it. Not sure there was a lot to accomplish by forcing a pass there instead of waiting for a straight. In cases where there is a car out of class that is suppose to be faster but isn't I tend to be more aggressive if it's slow in the corners. Track awareness is crucial.

Although I'd call this a rub out I'd give the 13 to the Boxster if forced to pick one.

T&T Racing

I would give the Orange SPB a 13 because as a driver, your race track awareness is know where where passing is a low percentage high risk area.

I personally witnessed at MMC DE where the faster car was attempting to pass a slower car on the inside in exactly the corner, with he slower car was keeping the line and the overtaking taking ran out of asphalt and turned into the slower car. The result was the faster car rolled over a few times and the slower car spun on the track. Fortunately both drivers were OK

​​​​​I racing at Watkins Glen in a SVRA sprint race and was aware of three faster cars approaching me prior to the esses. The first 2 cars passed me on the left at corner 2. The 3rd car is behind me and prior to transitioning from corner 4 to corner 5, I check my right side mirror and see no car. I made the decision to maintain the line and then was hit in the right side rear quarter panel. Th driver was trying to make a low percentage,high risk pass and not waiting until I moved right or try to pass me on the left. This was an experienced driver. No 13 to overtaking driver because corner workers did not see incident.

IMO, track awareness on where it is safer to pass is a must, the trophy is only paper and not worth the risk to you or your fellow race drivers.


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LuigiVampa

Its funny but also smart. The "X" for a new driver should signal people that a new driver may not have great situational awareness. But that X goes away after four races which is probably too soon for most of us!

jwasbury

Yes The contact was minor, and yes the PCA rules seem to penalize "racing incidents" more than other series. That said, I'd have checked up and then passed the 944 on the brakes going into hairpin. If he was going 30sec/lap slower that would be an easy move. Raced and driven many laps full course at MMC and top of that hill is not a good place to make a pass. 944 tracking right before initiating left turn for kryptos was rather predictable.

tgsmith4845

Orange SPB. We in the Boxster world don't get to make many passes, so you gotta be clean. Be ready for stupid stuff like this, put two in the dirt, back out of it when you see him turning in, etc. Yes, he should have left "racing room", but he didn't. Assume at your peril. No overlap at turn in.

Turn it around, say you were the car being passed, driving the line, while a Cup car came up on you. If contact, yes it's his fault, but you both have damage.

Great comments here. I (also) applaud your openness to discuss.

996AE

You dont move off line if you dont see the car. It is clear the white car was already on line when the orange car mistimed the run and tried to slip by on the inside. Poor decision plain and simply on the orange car.

Fact one. We do know the orange saw the white car and its line and judge over taking speed.

What we dont know is when, if at all the white cars driver saw the inside move. It does appear that the white car did not see or antisapate the orange cars move.

Rule is the over taking car has to do so cleanly. In this case he didnt. That much is clear.

996AE

I am sure your the guy pointing people by as you leave plenty of racing room for the racers as they pass you.

Drivers leaving room are the unpredictable drivers (off line) that cause these mishaps on track.

brownan

I think the orange SPB unfortunately. I participated in that race at MMC and had some struggles with when/how to execute a pass in that Kryptos section. Passing there is definitely dicey there so in an over abundance of caution, I personally either waited or, if I was being passed, I gave plenty of room (probably too much, as I ended-up slowing myself down pretty materially but I was suffering from spongy brake in the Enduro so no biggie).