Glenn R

Take a look at 9:22 on the video. His eyes go down to his right for longer than I would look away at that speed. From the other video, sans wreck, you can see that his lap timer is right about where he was looking. Seems to me like he lost focus and missed his brake point. Or perhaps it is just evidence of the lap timer effect.

ProCoach

A friend of mine, Rasmus Nielsen, a good Corvette driver wrote elsewhere:

Lap 1
T12 apex 44mph
T13 throttle lift 3.5, brake 2.5, VMax 153mph,

Lap 2, a GT3 appears
T12 apex 42 but braked too soon
T13 throttle lift 4, brake 3, VMax 153mph

Lap 3, red mist sets in
T12 apex 39 but over-slowed
T13 throttle lift 3, brake 2.5, Vmax 154mph

Lap 4, red mist in full effect
T12 apex 42
T13 throttle lift 3.5, brake 3, Vmax 153
Rough around T1, T4, T7-8

Lap 5, loss of focus
T12 apex 43 but bad exit with Vmin 38 at exit curb
T13 throttle lift 2, brake 1, Vmax 153

I'd agree with what has been mentioned above; he got too aggressive, made too many mistakes, but didn't listen to himself, lost focus, and stared hard at the GT3s bumper."

Bold is my emphasis. Typically, the very best drivers are almost instantaneous between throttle off/brake on.

Also, they do four or five laps and don't vary the point at which they do this more than a car length (approximately 1/6th the distance between the markers at T13 VIR)

Lastly, from the time they apply the brake to maximum pressure (with decel rate usually commensurate), it usually takes no more than a third of a second, so no wasted time. Lots of opportunity to do better, IMO.

jlanka

I see that he braked deeper (2) on this lap than previous laps. I also see (to me anyway) that he sort of gave up

74goldtarga

Scary, and looks like me playing Forza against AI with damage set to none and I can just intentionally bounce off another car in the corner to slow the car (if it goes bad I put my hands up the same but then hit the rewind button - shorts but no gloves or foam donut). If it hadn’t been the GT3 in that corner on that lap it would’ve eventually been someone else regardless of organizer or run group. Some people just shouldn’t be on racetracks.

okie981

I noticed after the final upshift on the straight before the impact, Mustang boy does something with his left hand to his helmet, and has lost focus after that (probably before) WRT to the impending braking zone and car placement on the track.

ajcjr

are you sure that is real, the way the drivers seat moves it looks like a motion sim. Curious do they have tech at these events?''

so did he need a point by or not, looks to me in some corners he just passed people without a point by

mdrums

I wonder how long this driver has been solo?

I believe eve we all should have to be rechecked out for solo and instructor status and do a private coaching session with a certified professional driving coach to work on both out fundamental driving skills and instructing skills.

stownsen914

Not sure who Team MOTU is, but I imagine they're not too happy with this driver right now. Their Facebook page and Youtube channel are offline.

ExMB

Looks like someone talked to that driver about his postings and possible repercussions.

Manifold

I didn't see the original video, but saw the version that someone had captured. Painful to watch.

GT3 driver made a few mistakes which suggest that he was pushing hard and sort of 'racing' to an extent that's not unreasonable for DE (we all do it), but I don't think he made any mistakes which contributed to the incident. 100% fault of the Mustang driver. I'm not even convinced that the GT3 owed a point-by - the two of them were pretty evenly matched for the lap, with the GT3 doing a little better in some segments, the Mustang a little better in other segments, and the Mustang unable to stay with the GT3 for any meaningful length of time.

Seems clear to me that the Mustang driver blew the brake zone, resulting in the crash. Red mist seems very likely -- I suspect that he really wanted to pass the GT3, and was getting a bit desperate when he started losing touch with him. Beyond the red mist, I'm reluctant to judge the Mustang driver's attitude from a video alone, and would like to know more about his driving history. But as others have noted, the lack of proper safety gear, not taking full responsibility for the crash, not recognizing how close he came to killing someone, apparently not learning from the crash, and then deciding to post the video combine to indicate that the driver doesn't have an appropriate mindset to be on track.

Before the crash, the Mustang driver's driving seems adequate for the Red group, with good pace and no evident problems passing in corners, so based on the driving alone I don't see how the event organizer can be faulted for placing this driver in the Red group.

RPMfan

So, if you’re the Mustang driver, what is the right way to behave in the aftermath of the crash. In this case, he did not check on the other driver. Not a word spoken, nothing. He just loaded up and left, no contact, not even “dude, are you okay?” And no, he didn’t leave for the hospital. He was largely uninjured and just headed home. I’d call that a dick move, but....

ajcjr

So i did one DE and have raced most of my career but im going to do a few DE's in between some endurance racing. When at a DE is it normal for drivers to be up each others @ss? I mean you are not racing why not leave room in case something goes wrong? Do they speak about this in the drivers meeting? Racing is racing and i get it but if you are out there to work on your driving skills, enjoy your high performance car do you need the pressure of some moron behind you thinking he is the next Alonso?

The fact he even posted the video shows he has no respect for the other driver who after watching could have been hurt badly. Total disrespect for a persons life as far as i am concerned. Sorry my italian is flaring up (and yes i am from NY) but after watching it a few times it really pisses me off that some poor guy had his day and car ruined because of this.

ajcjr

Sorry if this is a little over the top but if he didnt come over to me he would have a hard time leaving the track.

Veloce Raptor

If this is true, I am not at all surprised

ExMB

First you blame the GT3 driver. Now you are going after the Mustang driver.

Trying to stir the pot?

Troll