RSA67

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKF7-...ature=youtu.be

PCA Club race 2012
Late in Yellow Sprint #1 I was being hunted by another H car. Friday night it had rained but the track was dry everywhere. New to WG, I had used track out rumbles at different points in practice sessions on turn 1 and 10, and while they are not the greatest places to be they are very manageable. In the bus stop as well. I thought nothing of using them on turn 8 during the race and of course the car's weight was on the left side; I went into an immediate and uncontrollable spin as seen in the video. Water had accumulated between the rumbles on top of track out and the roster tail is quite visible. It's what you dont know about new tracks that can hurt you. I'm putting this out there to save others the experience, the car is pretty messed up but I was not hurt, a testimony to good safety equipment.

Gary R.

Same thing almost happened to me on the rumbles exiting the carousel but as I was going fairly straight I was able to catch it. Sorry about your wreck.

Racerrob

I agree with your premise that track knowledge is very important but I dont think the curbs caused your spin. You missed the apex by 2-3 feet and your angle of attack was pointed off track. If you drove it off track there you likely could have got it back on track. I'm not being critical, just pointing out what I see as someone with many laps at the Glen. Glad you were not hurt.

Veloce Raptor

Yes, I was there & told him that being way off that apex is what pushed him so far onto the rumbles while still adding steering. Then when the LR got way out on the deep rumbles that had trapped water, he was a passenger. Even in the dry, that is not a Glen rumble strip I am a big fan of using a lot of...

RSA67

It was a strategy of late braking that was executed to try and prevent the car behind me from diving into the corner. ( notice he went from the inside line to behind me, I wasn't watching at that point). Guess it is debatable if that angle of attack was drivable, it certainly was not when the left side runs thru water..

mglobe

I'm just glad you're ok Rich.

993PET

I was also in that race, I passed by a few seconds after the crash and looked at your car afterwards in the paddock. Looking at the damage it could have been a lot worse for you! I've been racing at the Glen for quite a few years and have seen this exact senario at turn 8 more than once with the same catastrophic results after missing the apex and running wide at the exit trying to keep the car on the track. Heavy impact across the track to the inside is often the result. What are your plans for the car, rebuild?

Good luck in the future

JF

TRT41

Rich- good post as I hope to do WG next year. I hope you get back on track soon.

SnapSlap

Wow, glad you're ok!

pnorwood

Thanks for sharing that video with everyone. Great to help prevent the same problem in the future for others. Missing the apex certainly caused the exessive run out, but the angle at which you met the track out curbing seemed fine with me if everything were dry. Earlier in that same run, I was seeing water splash out of the rumbles in the bus stop. Of course it was not a problem there because the tires doing the splashing were the unloaded side on all four curbs. The track crew cleans the track each morning with tractors with brushes and blowers, but I guess the don't blow the water out of the top of the rumbles where it is evident that water gets trapped from rains over night.

Best part is that you are ok and that all that wonderful safety gear did exactly what it was supposed to.

Coco_951

Guy did the same thing last year, but completely dry. Maybe that turn doesn't like Texans?

Gary R.

That turn, like many turns, doesn't like you to be giving steering input at that point in the corner. If you go wide there you let it go off and drive up the grass with the wheel straight. There is actually a good car's width of grass there, been on it a few times...

Paul 996

Glad that you are ok and the car sounds like it is repairable.

I am not adding any more analysis here. However it was also my first time at the Glen when either the track had water from the night before or in a rain race.

I agree with you that while the Glen may appear to be a complety dry track you may be surprised to discover water still trapped in the gators. They surprised me going into the Bus Stop during the warm up lap prior to the race. That is one reason that I always hit my normal line even in the warm up laps. Had I hit those gators the first time around after the green flag it could have been nasty.

Also, the gators on the outside of T8 are iffy at best. My Boxster seems pretty stable on them with the RA1s but I am trying to barely touch them as I haven't seen much of an advantage there in the data.

John H

I absolutely hate that corner. It seems plain enough but I just cannot seem to get it. Been there 8 or 10 weekends and I don't think I've ever done it "right".

Veloce Raptor

The key for "nailing" this corner, like so many at the Glen, is vision: where you are looking as you enter the corner will have a direct impact on how you exit and the drama or lack thereof you will experience doing so.