Originally Posted by pu911rsr

As someone who has raced and run DE's for many years - I can say I'm no longer comfortable driving street cars on race tracks, I'd much rather have a full cage, race seats, and belts. Today's cars are so damn fast compared to what used to run years ago. I'll agree that controlling your own pace and having the best gear available all helps but if someone drops a load of oil or antifreeze in front of you being in control of anything goes out the window. The other thing you can control is where you drive - some tracks are much safer than others. Let's face it you can get killed in your street car anywhere anytime- it's a risk we all take w/o thinking about many times/day.
Phil

Originally Posted by z06801

We're lucky now things are much safer
https://youtu.be/yba5kOOXJaM

Originally Posted by 9114609048

Would be great to hear some stories of driving 70s Porsche race cars. Lightweight nomex and coolshirts have softened us younger generation



Hello Audipwr1,



Not only, "lightweight nomex and coolshirts"...but power steering, power brakes, automatic gearboxes, air conditioning, computers and sanitized tracks, have made the driving easier for the "younger generation". However, there is no shame in progress and this is all part of the evolutionary process. Our cars in the '70s were crude wagons, compared to what you drive today, but ultra sophisticated when looked upon by drivers from the 40s.

A short story about a '70s race... and protective clothing.

Conditions at the Sebring 12 hr in '77 were miserable, temperatures were in the high 90s and the old 5.2 mile track was in ruins. Driving there was difficult. I started the race and mid way through that first stint I was cooked, but soldiered on until called in. Brad took over and I went to our motor home for a shower and rest. Only thirty minutes after getting out of the RSR, just as I was feeling better, one of our crew frantically banged on the door, rushed inside and yelled "Brad's coming in!". I quickly threw on my single layer driving suit, Adidas running shoes, grabbed my open face Bell helmet and sprinted to our pit. No Nomex underwear, balaclava or socks.


I got to our pit as Brad was being pulled out of the car, suffering from severe heat exhaustion. The car was topped off and I raced back into the fray, buckling up my lap belt, unzipping my suit and removing my gloves as I went. Luckily I found some relief and was able to drive for another couple of hours, while Brad recovered.


Brad drove very well after his early difficulty and we each had productive stints for the rest of the race, to win by five laps, driving 1217 miles, averaging 101 mph. I drove a total of almost eight hours and never had a worse experience in a car.


I am by no means endorsing that anyone strip off their safety gear. I did what I had to do, 38 years ago in order to continue in an important race. I didn't have much choice, but even in my single layer suit, I was still better protected than the Sebring drivers in the early '50s, who dressed in light overalls and wore crude helmets.

Originally Posted by Hatzenbach

The only organization that I know of that are doing tech before every event is PCA.
But even there it's mostly self-tech.

Originally Posted by dogger15

Not to drift too far off topic, but no misconception. The majority of fixed wing aircraft that one wears a flight suit while flying are equipped with ejection seats. As to your claim about the efficacy of ejection seats, I'm here today because they work as advertised.

Originally Posted by Berringer