Most Dangerous Corners in the US?
07-18-2014, 12:19 PM
#61
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The most dangerous corners are the ones YOU make dangerous...
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07-18-2014, 10:42 PM
#63
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The only concrete wall near turn 10 is well after the turn on the short straight between turns 10 and 11. The entirety of the outside of turn 10 is lined with tire barriers. As is most of turn 11. The exit of 11 points you right at a concrete wall but this is the slowest corner on the track.
07-18-2014, 11:00 PM
#64
I used to race motorcycles around Sears Point and have lost three friends on that track. So I am acutely aware of the dangers present. It is a track that deserves a lot of respect.
07-19-2014, 03:47 AM
#65
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Nobody said T2 at Laguna Seca yet....
07-19-2014, 01:48 PM
#67
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T2 isn't dangerous, especially now they've put the asphalt run off in. T1 can be much more fun, fastest point on the track, over a blind hill crest. I've seen a car wreck at T1, it didn't stop moving until it got to T2 (where it was upside down).
07-19-2014, 02:56 PM
#68
I just noticed this thread again. It predated the closing of Nelson Ledges, but I haven't heard anything on that front in a while. I wonder what the latest is.
07-19-2014, 04:17 PM
#69
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Also bear in mind the wall at exit of t10 at sp slants inwards so if u do nail it - all four sides of your car will be 4-5 inches pushed in on average some spots even greater. That track demands respect. Mike
07-19-2014, 05:44 PM
#70
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Want to add another place that will bite you big time. Start/Finisn line at Sebring in the wet, you can bounce between the walls like a Ping pong ball.
As for turn 10 at Sears Point it isn't any worse than exiting turn 17 at Sebring and tracking out to the wall at 100+ mph. Turn 11 at Sears if you are pointing at the wall on exit you early apexed the turn.
Peter
Peter
As for turn 10 at Sears Point it isn't any worse than exiting turn 17 at Sebring and tracking out to the wall at 100+ mph. Turn 11 at Sears if you are pointing at the wall on exit you early apexed the turn.
Peter
Peter
07-19-2014, 06:07 PM
#71
DE line or race line? In a race, when I exit 11 and roll on the throttle, I am pointing at the wall.....of course I am not typically taking the classic single apex DE line either. I thank anyone who does for making passing them easier!
07-19-2014, 11:07 PM
#72
07-21-2014, 04:32 PM
#74
Rennlist Member
I wonder if that's the same stuff they use at COTA. I walked up to T1 and got a close look. The COTA barriers are two rows of blocks. The outer facing is continuous. On the inside there are air gaps so the inside row is not continuous. They are pretty deep. There are also cables strung through them IIRC.
On problem may be they have to be designed into the place. It looked like a lot of engineering, I'm not sure that one could just stack these up next to an existing wall.
-Mike
On problem may be they have to be designed into the place. It looked like a lot of engineering, I'm not sure that one could just stack these up next to an existing wall.
-Mike
I think the wreck that is being referenced was the one of a GT3 hitting oil dropped on the track at the end of the front straight at Circuit de Catalunya. He was doing 160 mph when he hit the oil. This is an F1 track so it does have very similar safety systems as COTA.
https://rennlist.com/forums/997-gt2-...t-160-mph.html
My wife and I had dinner with the driver and his wife last year when we were in Avignon. While the picture of the car didn't look too bad it was 50K Euros and several months for the repair. He obviously was fortunate to scrub off a tremendous amount of speed before the impact. I think he estimates he was going 60mph when he contacted the barrier.
07-21-2014, 05:08 PM
#75
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Thread Starter
Prof: I doubt I have as many laps at Nelson's as you, but I have seen more cars climb the tires and end up in the woods than just bruised.
Agree on Mosport, love that place, but, damn!
Agree on Mosport, love that place, but, damn!
Hmmm...no love for the Nelsonring....
Der Professor, having regularly rattled cars off the tirewalls at the Ledges over the last few decades, begs to differ. While they are unattractive, filled with bug sperm / frog snot, and are a breeding ground for an assortment of flying /crawling / slithering pests, they do serve the racer well. A hit to the belted tire piles at the Glen / LRP / Mid-O / RA will be hard and likely tear something important off your car, a hit at Nelson is a more docile whack. Tires launch, frog snot flies, woodchucks are disrupted, but there is no sharp "impulse hit", as the energy is slowly dissipated. Result ? Willie and the tow crew pull you off the wall, and you're amazed how how little damage is actually done.
I contrast that with all the other tracks where I've had "big ones" (VIR, WGI, LRP, Summit, Mosport...jeezuz, is there any place I haven't hit something ?), where I needed a spatula and squeegee to put the remains of the car back in / on the trailer.
Mosport, aside from being on my short "favorite tracks" list, scares the **** out of me. T2, pre-moving the outside wall back (late 90's-ish ?) was soul-curdling pucker-fest all the way down the hill. That freakin Tarzwell guy from Ontario used to regularly tell me how much I sucked at T2. ("yeah, thanks for the encouragement, Bob..."). T4 was a hoot until that lone white birch died...now I got nowhere to aim...but as long as you got to the bottom pointed mostly forward, you weren't going to wad it up.
If you're going "fast enough", T2 at Mosport...still the scariest place on earth.
Der Professor, having regularly rattled cars off the tirewalls at the Ledges over the last few decades, begs to differ. While they are unattractive, filled with bug sperm / frog snot, and are a breeding ground for an assortment of flying /crawling / slithering pests, they do serve the racer well. A hit to the belted tire piles at the Glen / LRP / Mid-O / RA will be hard and likely tear something important off your car, a hit at Nelson is a more docile whack. Tires launch, frog snot flies, woodchucks are disrupted, but there is no sharp "impulse hit", as the energy is slowly dissipated. Result ? Willie and the tow crew pull you off the wall, and you're amazed how how little damage is actually done.
I contrast that with all the other tracks where I've had "big ones" (VIR, WGI, LRP, Summit, Mosport...jeezuz, is there any place I haven't hit something ?), where I needed a spatula and squeegee to put the remains of the car back in / on the trailer.
Mosport, aside from being on my short "favorite tracks" list, scares the **** out of me. T2, pre-moving the outside wall back (late 90's-ish ?) was soul-curdling pucker-fest all the way down the hill. That freakin Tarzwell guy from Ontario used to regularly tell me how much I sucked at T2. ("yeah, thanks for the encouragement, Bob..."). T4 was a hoot until that lone white birch died...now I got nowhere to aim...but as long as you got to the bottom pointed mostly forward, you weren't going to wad it up.
If you're going "fast enough", T2 at Mosport...still the scariest place on earth.