+1,000,000!

If you don't know where the edge is, or how the car reacts when the edge is approached slowly or, more importantly, quickly, DON'T PUSH until you DO! The casualness that some approach driving really quickly is chilling...

My experience matches Steve's. There have been more incidents and damage, plus more CAR-TO-CAR contact in HPDE's since March of 2020 than I remember happening up to that point. I don't know what is going on, but it's true in entry level DE all the way through to the WDC battle many of us followed this past weekend.

People need to drive WITH their heads, not ON them...

 

Enough to impact track insurance rates ?

 

About a week ago I was driving on the highway in the middle lane and saw the driver in the left land and driver in the right lane simultaneously start moving into the middle lane. I blew my horn to warn both these idiots and not only did they both keep doing what they were doing, the driver in the left lane flipped me off as he continued doing what he was doing.

Hearing a horn used to mean "danger" but now people seem to double down on whatever it is they are doing when they hear the horn. I was trying to help these idiots and I got a middle finger for my troubles.

I think Covid has made people stupid and angry.

 

I think covid has made people a bit stir crazy and tired of hiding in fear, and that has resulted in an increased desire on track to get an adrenaline release and more recklessness.

As far as inevitability of crashing in general, there's an inherent tension between wanting to not crash and wanting to turn faster lap times. Even though DE isn't organized as racing, 'advanced' drivers tend to be competing with themselves to achieve personal bests and competing with others as well. Yes, I know the goal is to be smart and go faster without increasing risk, but the reality is that, if everything else is held constant, faster lap time does mean higher risk.

 

"Enough to impact track insurance rates ?"

Great question - short answer is yes. I see some competitors have increased rates this , stopped writing certain cars and now I hear stopped writing certain tracks. While we have not limited tracks or had a rate increase in 8 or so years I can tell you if all the the crashing continues you will see some serious changes in the ability to buy insurance at a reasonable rate.

 

No "tension," but more risk, for the former.

I do NOT believe the latter is true. At least, not at the highest level...

 

Another way to look at it is that every time an insured driver crashes, that claim cost will be passed on by the insurer to all insured drivers. It's in EVERYONE'S interest that drivers not crash!

 

How can there not be more risk if, all other things equal, a driver is closer to the limit? If drivers in the top DE run groups were limited to driving 8/10ths, there would be almost no crashes due to driver error because there would be so much margin to make corrections.

 

"if everything else is held constant, faster lap time does mean higher risk."

That the whole problem in a nut shell "Constant" . If we don't improve your lines on track and the basic fundamentals then pushing the speed will 100% increase risk. My whole point is we have to all do a better job learning and remembering the fundamentals

Example- biggest rate of crashes and probably most dangerous. Driver is tightening his hands at track out to stay on track.( Could be car set up with car rear being to tight but lets take that out of the equation) Driver continues to equate getting better by carrying more speed into and through the turn . Driver finally drops a wheel or more at the exit after increasing speed thinking hes getting better . Outcome is he yanks it back on and hooks 90' into inside guardrail (worst case and biggest hit) , hits outside wall or goes for a really scary ride needs to check his pants
Key issue for Driver - never realized he was turning in early which led to running out of road at exit. Super easy fundamentals .The driver may have even known the formula but was unable to rationalize on track because there brain was being overloaded with the idea of nothing else matters but speed.

Driving way over your head = inability to think and rationalize while you are driving and/or you just didn't have the training to know it in the first place
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My whole point is we have to all do a better job learning and remembering the fundamentals

 

Interesting perspectives. I have seen a lot of crashes at DE recently, probably a combination of lots of factors (higher attendance, more powerful cars etc.). It also seemed to rain at a lot of the events I was at this year which always rolls the dice.

I would say there is a difference between going off track, and putting the car into the wall though and actually crashing. If you run wide at T1 on NJMPTbolt you end up cruising across the grass, flagger waves you back on all good. You went over the limit, learned something, and gathered valuable data about what it feels like to (as is probably the case in T1) understeer off the track. At some point something like this will happen to every driver who spends enough time pushing the limit, so pick corners that are forgiving to leaving the pavement to push it. Would I recommend this at T11 of the glen? No

Alternatively just drive at 8/10ths and you will probably never have an accident barring mechanical/fluids on track/ tangling with a Corvette.

 

I don't know any drivers that can accurately calibrate their "8/10" for braking, acceleration, corner entry, apex speed and exit! Partially, because they don't know what THEIR "8/10ths" is.

I've seen a lot of cool-down laps offs/crashes, too.

 

"the driver in the left lane flipped me off as he continued doing what he was doing."

Lol me and that driver have a lot in common when it comes to you

 

From a training perspective, I'd say there's a problem with the emphasis being much more on how to turn a faster lap rather than avoiding crashes. We're not really emphasizing the fundamentals you're talking about because focusing on going faster is fun, being safer is kind of boring and party-pooping. We always say "be safe" but rarely spend a lot of time talking about how to do that.

 

Oh for sure, it takes some experience to know what your limit is. Perhaps 8/10ths on one day may be 10/10ths on another day, lots of factors go into it (sleep, focus, ambient temps etc etc.) Working upto your limit for that day, event, is best done cautiously.

Most avoidable crash I saw this year was a guy who floored it on pit exit in the rain at WGI, first laps of the first day so it was full course yellow. Lost the back end and went straight into the wall.

 

Sure, but you know what I meant. If I'm driving my idea of 8/10ths, it feels so slow and boring that I feel I'm just wasting tires, pads, and gas. I wouldn't even bother driving on track if I couldn't reach for my limits (which means taking elevated risk).

Crashes and offs happen on cool-down laps because level of attention typically drops way down.