smlporsche

There sure was enough offs to keep the wrecker guys (and body shops) very busy....

Not sure if it was just first event of the year jitters coupled with the very wet track conditions or what. Glad my student and I made it throught he event.

Going to be signing up for the FSR event and looking forward to sunny skies...

RdRacer301

I must bow to PCA Zone 2 for organizing such a great event. This had to be one of the best DE events I've ever been to (not that I've been to many). First time with such a relaxed passing rules. Nine 30-min sessions in 3 days. Wow, I just loved it, even when things were a bit... soggy. Big thanks to my instructor, Paul from Atspeed. Cheers to all the great people I met. Hope to run more PCA events when I get the chance.

Eddie (Black Subaru in Blue group)

iLLM3

I'LL BE THERE!!! Did they announce another "Rumble At The Oak Tree" event? That was amazing last summer!!!!!!!!

Brian_77_3.6

"Rumble At The Oak Tree" will be the last weekend in June. Same format as last year. Check the Zone 2 web site for more info.

CCA

I'll be at the FSR event. May do the Rumble or may be Chin in early July, not sure which yet. Had fun last year at the Rumble even though I had a cold and a couple session got cut short, which was fine with me since I was under weather.

bella1

Well I for one am sorry to be part of the off track crowd. I had the bad fortune to hit a pool of coolant dropped by a BMW at the 5 brake marker in turn one. Track was dry and Black Run Group just after lunch on Saturday. I saw the waving yellow flag and was beginning to slow when I hit the coolant. My car passed the flag station in the dirt, went airborne over turn 1, and slammed the tire wall doing about 80-100 MPH. Once I came to rest, I saw the BMW also in the tire wall about 20 feet away. After the tow truck pulled me out, I was able to start my car and drive back to the paddock on the grass. I saw the maintenance dude putting kitty litter down and brushing it off with the tractor rotary sweeper.

I have made PCA aware of the incident and have in car video showing what occurred. There was nothing I could do. Something needs to be done about insuring that the cars on track are in better condition than this BMW. I have not seen the tech sheet or the report made by this driver to the Chief Instructor. It appears the Chief Instructor did as much as he could to investigate, but I am not privy to this information. Sure it could happen to anyone but are we certain that all participants are doing what is necessary to make their cars the safest possible?

The tire wall contact was a square passenger side hit. Thank goodness I had a Racetech Seat with Halo. It was a very hard, violent hit moving the tire barrier about 10 feet.

I am OK healthwise, but I am very concerned about these issues as we move forward in Drivers Education.

sbelles

I'm glad you are OK Alex. I came on it as you were hitting the tires and got sideways in the brake zone but by sheer luck I was able to straighten it out and weave through all the mud and a few parts. Otherwise I would have joined you out there.

bella1

Thanks Scott for the wishes. I am glad you saved it. I have the video on you tube and will be taking it down tomorrow. Search vb996 and you will find it.

FTS

Sorry to hear about your incident Alex, glad you are OK and I hope the car recovers quickly as well. I do agree with you on the tech inspections both before and during the events, this is especially striking given that we lost one of our instructors the previous weekend on a similar cause.

Trj

Coolant is a major issue on the track and one that you have no defense against. A car can be properly maintained and checked properly before an event and still have an issue..... How about not allowing antifreeze in the warmer months? It is not a total cure but will cut the possibility of an incident by 70 percent or more....... Had that been water leaking out, there would have been no issue. This was a scary incident in the fact that the driver ( Alex) did nothing wrong and still could not avoid the problem. This could have happened to anyone and thank God there was not someone in his passenger side seat which is where all the impact occured.

Jeff Curtis

Alex, did you take down the video already? I canot, for the life of me, figure out how to search for USER name...although searching VB996 did turn up a cache of your video...total of 16, nothing on VIR T1.

sbelles

Same here.

TedA

yes...saw Alex's video in the gargae on Saturday. He did nothing wrong and was along for the ride. Had he not gone backwards perpendicular to the track when he crossed it again there is a good chance he would have rolled...big time. Also, if he gets the video posted look at the lateral movement at the top of his seat at impact. It will make you think twice about your safety gear.

Alex, sorry for your car but I'm extremely happy that you are OK.

Rceron

Glad to hear you are ok. I too have the same safety setup (racetech with halo and hans) and would like to see the video.

Jeff Curtis

No doubt, considering recent events/incidents that an anti-freeze rule needs to be implemented. I understand this would not be a "catch all" rule that would 100% guarantee a thing...but it could certainly reduce the percentage of issues.

Alex, just viewed the video - WOW, that was horrifying...you definitely went for a ride and that was a pretty good hit indeed. Glad you're OK...cars are fixable, often times, people are not. Were you a bit sore later on? ...I know I would've been. WOW.