TD in DC

On the very last lap of the second sprint at the Watkins Glen Club Race, my tires got very greasy and I had the worst tankslapper I have ever had exiting the bus stop. Unfortunately, my camera had shut down, so I didn't get it on video, but the data is sort of amusing for those of you who like that sort of thing.

The first graph shows the steering on the lap before the tankslapper.

The second graph shows the steering on the lap of the tankslapper.

The third graph shows the speed, lat gs., steering and braking pressure on the lap before the tankslapper.

The final graph shows the speed, lat gs., steering and braking pressure on the lap of the tankslapper.

Whew.

Veloce Raptor

Yikes.

Perfect for mixing martinis, however!

Professor Helmüt Tester

Back in the early 90's when I was regularly jumping back and forth between fwd and rwd race cars during the same weekend, I had a HUGE tankslapper in the Bus Stop.

Sometimes, you just know that they're due to you not being fast enough with the initial catch, and compound it with 'too much pause' or 'too much recovery', or some other bad combination.

Sometimes, it's just because you've forgotten which end of the car is doing the pushing/pulling.

On this one occasion, I was in a rwd thing and got a little sideways on entry (youthful over-exuberance) and proceeded to 'correct' it with the normal fwd inputs...which is 'stand on the gas and steer the bitch'. That led to a WORLD-CLASS tankslapper than continued all the way out of the Bus Stop until I finally remembered "RWD!!!" and I nailed the brakes and dumped it into the grass at the old 'Chicane' pavement. Had a big giggle and didn't make the same mistake again. Lesson learned: Before entering track, have conversation with yourself about exactly what your driving, and how you're going to clear up the messes you've made WHILE you're making them.

Unless, of course, you're Joey Dunlop. Then just crank up the steering damper and lean forward to get more weight on the front end.

TD in DC

Nothing makes you feel more alive than a good tankslapper at 75 mph

Some of my data challenged friends asked me to annotate the chart. Here are some notes I made. I hope it helps.

gbaker

As my wife likes to say, "As long as no one gets hurt, it's just a matter or money."

TD in DC

By the way, my laps suggests that a "Ranier Dronzek" might have been behind me when I had this tankslapper. Does anyone know Ranier? I wonder if he caught it on tape (I don't think so, but you never know).

Sean F

TD, I have a beauty of a tankslapper in T8 from the Glen race on video. I'll post it somewhere. Anatomy of my tankslapper - step 1) look way too long in your mirrors to see if that F car is going to dive under you - step 2) go way past your braking point - step 3)turn in hopelessly late and hot - step 3)don't put enough initial correction in and try and play catch up - step 4) go four off but keep your momentum and fish tale your way back on track giving up one spot (ironically, to that F car that had me worried to begin with)

Here's the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIuQQshfxsQ

Bull

Nicely done TD!

Had a similar event a few years ago coming out of Big Bend at Lime Rock. I was whipping the wheel back and forth like the Helmsman on a 12 meter, finally caught my thumb, which hurt all weekend, and ended up on track doing about 30mph in the wrong gear and laughing my *** off. The guy behind me came up to me later and said "I thought we were supposed to go two feet in when we lose control". I gave him a lecture on learning to be aware about exactly when one loses "control".

TD in DC

Sean,

Post it here!

Bob,

Funny that you say that. Two things I have learned since my wreck, both of which seem obvious now: 1) sometimes lifting is the right thing to do; and 2) don't go both feet in until there is ZERO chance you can save it -- you should keep your car on the track if you can (because things get really nasty if you go off). Of course, you have to consider other drivers, but I think a lot of people give up too quickly.

I think I was mentally exhausted when the tankslapper happened. Out of all honesty, the entire race was very, very close. It was a blast, but I spent the whole time swapping positions with some other 944 and 924S drivers . . . more than I ever had before. This happened on the last lap, and I was still fighting for position. I tell you though, I sure as hell woke up

Sean F

TD, I posted a link above

TD in DC

I just watched it. Nice Save! Funny how you can live these things vicariously

Sean F

A good example of better to be lucky than good. I was waaaay behind that one.

paradisenb

Very nice save Sean. Hardly messed your trousers on that one. I have not had to catch one at those speeds, yet. Process looks the same, just in fast motion.

Why is it called a 'tankslapper'?

Veloce Raptor

Damn, that was a Code Brown moment!!!!

aeshultz

Tankslapper: From motorcycles - things get out of shape, you're holding the bars and the tank is literally slapping your thighs in larger and larger cycles, until you go Boom, usually over the bars.
BT,DT
Alan