Peter,

Todd is doing fine. Even has his great sense of humor back on track already....... I am sure he will post something when he gets a bit more mended.

 

Thanks, Bob. We've been talking and his hands work fine! He's on FB now, reassuring to all of us!

 

Wow, that is quite a picture. Geez...

Regarding retards throwing beer cans onto cars on track? If I witnessed that and/or was on track at that moment, I would pull off track and summarily beat the **** out of all involved without remorse, to the point where they needed a wheelchair and feeding tube.

 

Agree. A large enough tree or other round vertical shape is a force concentrator that helps overpower a cage and car system that could spread out the same energy into a flat surface. The safety equipment in this case should have been venue based.
SP is my home track and I will continue to drive and instruct on the JC, SC and Main track. I do think BSR needs to reassess how the JC is used and what track based safety improvements need to be made.

I also don’t want to lose SP to government training only ether.

 

Peter,

If you chat with Todd. Remind him he owes me 20 bucks from Saturday. His memory of the weekend is totally gone.

 

Hahaha! People have been telling him things like that ever since he woke up! Lol!

 

This tragedy really bothers me. I just started doing DE and have always been concerned about this from a safety perspective....and I'm not saying that the PCA events that I have been to are unsafe - just the opposite. I'm going to be doing 20+ days this year precisely because I need seat time to be able to build on what I'm learning. I kinda get a little uneasy at the thought of being on track with someone that does 2 events a year really to just do a track event and say they did it and to have the opportunity to drives as fast as they can. For me, its just not a serious enough mentality - particularly when you have another person in the car with you and who's life you are responsible for. I dont know any of the details as to what precipitated the accident, but the link to the event promotion on page 1 of this thread and discussions of possible beer cans being tossed on track are disconcerting... These events, all of them, have to be run with a healthy dose of reality that this can be extremely dangerous given what it is that we are signing up to do, and there shouldnt be anything that diminishes that understanding or its possible ramifications. Very very sad...

 

Yes.

The fastest growing segment of my business is selling easy to use, automated video and data logging packages to professional and volunteer instructors and coaches who are stepping away from riding right seat.

I made the decision to do that a LONG time ago... The cars are very much more capable than they were twenty-five or thirty years ago, when I did ride right-seat. No winners when this happens...

 

While I'm mindful of the danger, I really enjoy instructing from the right seat and I think 0/0 green students are the most fun. The rate at which they learn is much higher and the speeds are usually quite a bit lower. Teaching more advanced students is fun too but sometimes a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

 

First of all, NASA Hyperfest has nothing in common with PCA DE's, so get that thought right out of your head. It's basically a weekend free for all with a couple sanctioned events tossed in. It draws a big crowd of local fools that get drunk and have a grand old time tearin it up on their weekend away from cow-tipping.

In PCA, a driver with an instructor should never be "someone that does 2 events a year really to just do a track event and say they did it and to have the opportunity to drives as fast as they can". If you witness bad behavior at a PCA DE the Chief Instructor needs to be notified and it should end right there. The instructor that is supposed to be in control of the car is responsible for what happens. The words "Pit it, you are not listening to me and I don't want to die" have never been spoken by me but I would have 0 issue saying them.

 

While I'm very jealous that you'll get 20+ days on track this year, I really don't think that only doing 2-5 days/year is inherently dangerous so long as the driver knows his limitations - just like I wouldn't expect to play 18 holes of golf a year and compete in the masters, I know that as an occasional hobbyist participant in the DE program, I won't be setting any lap records when I go out. That doesn't mean that I can't learn anything or have a ton of fun driving at 60% of the car's potential (even if it feels closer to 100% because it is 100% of my potential). I think overall, PCA does an excellent job of maintaining a safe atmosphere and the right mindset to keep things as safe as possible.

Nonetheless, very sad news. My condolences to the families involved, and hopefully changes can be made to the facility to prevent similar incidents in the future.

 

This is very sad. While I am giving up instructing, it is more because of a continual car sickness issue when in the right seat. I have never felt significant fear for my safety because I am in control of how the student is driving and if they aren't paying attention I bring them into the pits. That being said, part of my feeling of security is instructing at tracks which have no nearby trees in the run off zones.

 

As an instructor, I was in the passenger seat with a driver who not only would not slow down, he missed every apex of every corner. After two laps. i told him to pull in the pits. He asked why and I said, "Since you won't listen to me, we'll try to find you someone you will listen to." He responded, "This has never happened to me before." I said, "Well, you won't be able to say that again."

I felt a lot better with my feet on the ground.

 

So sad. RIP and prayers to the family.

 

Sorry if people mistook what I was intending to say - I was gleaning from this thread that the Hyperfest events were a bit more akin to what Gary described, and certainly not in any way indicative of my PCA DE events (doesnt even calling it Hyperfest really connote the wrong impression, or I guess that from what was written, it didnt). Also, wasnt intending to knock people who do just a couple events as year, but rather those that do just for a thrill ride rather than understanding limitations and playing inside them. In all, my point is that while this is all designed to be enjoyable and be a good time that this is driving a car at much greater speeds than many of the participants are used to and that is not a reason to push beyond your limit but to learn where that is and whats happening so you can move the limit further in a controlled and safe way. This is all too close to the limit at every skill level and speed to not take seriously.