tkerrmd

well in my first outing at Sebring with the RWD conversion things went pretty well. In the advanced open passing run group with Chin was setting up to pass "TurboStan" on the inside of turn 17. as I apexed on the inside near pit in close to the hot pit wall, came up on TWO cars going into the pit.
not sure if I lifted a little but that, being off line and that DIP caused me to loose control.
I thought I was going to go sideways into the barrier but got really lucky.
comments welcome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_d4-3hjah4

MTosi

After you started to slide and you got close to the pitlane wall did you lock the brakes? because it looks as if there was all sorts of correction in and I was getting ready for the car to snap the other way. Anyway its good you didn't hit anything or anyone.

DrJupeman

I don't think the two cars going into the pit had, or at least should have had, anything to do with your spin. They were pretty far ahead of you. Looks like you might have pinched it a bit in combination with a bad luck bounce.

It doesn't sound like you lift until the car starts coming around, fwiw.

ArcticGT3

Hi Tom,

I agree with Dr Jupeman: it does not sound like you lifted. I wonder if you kept your eyes on the cars that were pitting and as a result did not open the wheel enough to go along with staying on the gas.

Armando

gums

It's very bumpy around there, and you can see the car bouncing. I think you held way too tight instead of initiating your track out, there's a ton of room out there and you lost it in the middle of the road, likely initiated by a bump, but this one was catchable.

tkerrmd

thanks, after looking at it a thousand times, dont think I lifted (and really not my style) looks like the rear end got light hitting the dip and bouncing?

appreciate the comments, one my save me in the future!!

Brinkley

TK,
That was close! A couple of things, first look at your steering wheel input when the back breaks loose. I know, I know there is a car to your left however, I'm wondering if you could have un-wound the wheel a little more and little sooner and still given the other turbo room. Think of the 12 hour race two years back, final lap P-car vs. Ferrari, without the fender rubbing. I think if you would have tracked out slightly wider he would have tracked out slightly wider and maybe just maybe that would have made a difference. The other .02 is that after running Sebring almost once a month since 2002. I believe the track has developed more ripples or bumps in that exact area. I have noticed in my own car that I have had to catch power-on oversteer due to pumps, not turbo power. Again, just my thoughts.

mark kibort

You know what im going to say. But, you can see both of your hands are off just about the amount of extra steering that you had going through the turn. if you were 10-2 you (picture your hands on the wheel in that position while watching the video) you probably would have had less input and more control as the rear started to step out under power. You can kind of see that one coming as you went in to the turn that you were not getting the correct feed back from the wheel with your hands off position like that.
Just an observation.

VERBOTN

Yikes that did seem rather close to the pit wall. Recently I had some feedback from someone with way more experience than myself to leave a bit more room to the inside of 17 creating more of arch. Way more experts to contribute than myself I am glad you came out of it without collecting the wall.

tkerrmd

a good observation, thanks.

aeshultz

Tom;
A little aside - but what is that data overlay?

Bryan Watts

That's silly...at no point were his hands in a position that caused him to have less control over the car. With his hand placement, he had MORE than enough room to make the needed correction (and actually did a pretty good job of collecting the car without spinning or shooting back to the inside). Are you saying that you can actually see the amount of feedback he's getting through the wheel and that that feedback is somehow very different because his hands are 1-2 inches from the 10-2 positions? How do you do that?

I still don't know why you harp on 10-2 so much when your videos in your own signature show you with some of the most non-standard hand positioning I've ever seen in a race car.

carreracup21

Looks like you rear shock settings might need a bit of softening. Car kind of jumped / hopped on those inside bumps, and out it came under power. The stiffer the set up, the quicker you have to be with your hands to catch a loose. I think it doesn't hurt to start opening the wheel earlier in that turn, and every time you hit a bump open the wheel with slight little flick so you are not abruptly reloading the suspension on landing.

PedroNole

TK-

First, I think you just probably focused on the cars ahead instead of on the track for some reason. I bet if you look at your other laps, you are well wide of the spot you were in when you started to spin. Just goes to show you can't lose focus in some places there.....

Second, I thought you did a great job of collecting the car. Man, that pit wall comes up quick....

Don't overthink this one.....

RJFabCab

Even with the tight line, I think TK would have cleared the 2 cars off to the right just fine.

I'm with Jupe... tight line with a bad luck bounce.

Nice no drama catch, Tom!

BTW, what the heck is Turbostan running for him to pull on you like that in the beginning of the clip?