BobbyC

As an add-on to the other thread on how many track days...

How many Offs have you had on track. Just dropping a wheel or two does not count. We're talking about the more egregious ones.

I've had 1 - T4 at VIR. My dumb fault ..fortunately nothing broken.

LVDell

What did you do to go off at T4 (left hook)???

smlporsche

My only one was at VIR also.

Blew my water pump at the top of the uphill esses where you transition to the right of the track to get ready for 10.

Car went sideways and according to my traqmate I went off into the grass pulling 1.4 G's at 93 MPH. Put both feet in and got control of the car about 30 feet from the corner worker (you should have seen how big his eyes were !)

Put the car in gear and made it back to the pits with no real harm done...

BobbyC

If you recall that NNJR at VIR thread...I was mad as hell, not focused, came in too hot and spun. Fortunately, only a cloud of dust and no impact.

LVDell

Ah, almost forgot....the infamous (or should I say notorious) NNJR thread. Cloud of dust is always just fine as long as nothing is hurt (except the ego of course )

schwank

1. Last year. Hot day, and with 5 minutes left in the session, it started to rain but only on the back side of the track (Portland). Came around to brake in T10, and the back end just got loose. I let off the brakes and just let it go right through into the infield grass. There was a car right behind me so I slowed a bit on the grass to let him by then rejoined. No harm, no foul.

dmw44

Thankfully, only 1. Turn 13 at Sebring. Ended up half on half off track backwards. Saw lots of dirt and grass flying, corner worker waving yellow flag, 2 cars I had previously passed drive by. Must have been oil on the track!

smlporsche

I also went off with a student in a 930 tube frame car with a RSR motor. It was his first time with this car on the track....
Once again at VIR. The car was handling beautifully and his whole reason that day was just to shake down the car and start getting comfortable with it. He took instructions very well and was only driving the car about 6 or 7 tenths which was appropriate for a car with this much potential.
Comming off the back straight at the top of the carousel we blew by his braking point at which point I stuck out my left hand and clenched it while telling him to BRAKE! We only had about 50 ft of pavement left and when he deicded to turn the wheel to make the right hander I grabbed the wheel and let him go straight off which allowed him to regain control. Nothing damaged. Just a little more respect for his great car.

Bull

Well now, this is where my memory gets really fuzzy.................

Veloce Raptor

Hmm, let's see....in no particular order:

- Rammed off track & then back on in Grand Am Cup race at Barber by Tom Nastasi on a restart, followed by locking brakes & skidding into a sand trap like a dumbass

-Rammed from behind twice at Mid Ohio in a World Challenge Touring race, sending me way of ftrack in the Keyhole & at the very end of Thunder Valley

- Spun on my own coolant in an off camber downhill at Motorsport Ranch (Cresson/Ft. Worth, Texas) after my radiator finally gave way after 70,000 hard miles

- Spun off track big-time on dead heat cycled MPSC's at TWS after not warming them up enough (driver error)

- Went straight off at TWS after cording both front tires

That's pretty much it!

RSRRacer

7 or 8 since I started in 2001.

3 were in one session alone when I was trying to get used to an older race car with no ABS

sbelles

That's my only off as well. Seeing how far I could trail brake into 4 on a wet track. Not very far. The car was a muddy mess but undamaged.

1AS

Isn't the real question, "how often do you go off?"
I don't really see how you learn the limits if you never go off. Some of the spins that still keep 4 tires on asphalt instead of grass are pure luck, not skill. Are those counted as "offs"?
I started autocrossing when I was 18 (called gymkhana's then), then road racing at 21. I'm now 59. I've probably had 15 trips through the weeds, for a variety of reasons. These include oil on the track, coolant on the track, evasive action, locking brakes, broken suspension, failure to recognize how little grip cold asphalt provided, trying to see if keeping my foot palnted would allow me to exit the corner faster, failure to recognize how much faster i was entering a corner in a 427 Corvette than in my Fiat Abarth, losing track of which corner I was entering, terminal understeer in the rain, crossing the racing line in the rain, trying to drive a real Can Am car in an autocross, and general exhuberance and stupidity (more than once). What does that prove? Nothing.
I think guys who go off multiple times in one day, guys who go off on the cool down lap, and guys who repeatedly go off where there is significant danger need some introspection. Otherwise, it's part of the learning process. Disagrement welcomed. AS

1AS

No slur intended, but didn't you think that was a little much? I've never been in a race with ABS, so that seems strange to me. I've had it happen once in a car (Lotus super 7 with grabby brakes in cold weather-usually a Super 7 can't lock its rear brakes), but not more than once in a session.
I'm a bit curious about how you were adjusting to that, since it seems that most do quite easily. Has experience with abs caused you to maximally brake, and let the car figure it out vs. react to locking one tire or another? AS

Bull

Okay, you started this racket a couple of years before me (literally), but did you have to remind me that they were called Gymkhanas back in the pre-historic times????? (it does allow me to continue to tell our autocross Chair that I have never done an "autocross" and refuse to start now). Anyway, certain things should be appreciated and learned from, but not counted.