> Just curious, don't you do a lot of PCA track events? I
> don't recall but maybe you even instruct once in awhile? I ask because you
> mentioned a certain 944T doing barrel rolls following a mechanical
failure.
> Was the driver racing or doing driver's ed and what kind of safety
equipment
> was he using, roll bar, cage, etc? How did the driver of that car fare
after
> the incident? Any idea of the speed at which the incident happened?
I believe it was a test and tune day and the car was doing 90 or so when it
happened. It suddenly jerked to the left and started doing barrel rolls and
summersaulting down the track. From what I remember the driver was OK but
the car wasn't. I believe he had a full cage, a racing seat and a harness.
>
> Maybe you could tell us about the level of safety equipment you and the
> students you've instructed have in their cars. I sure know I could tell
you
> some stories about my experiences! The thing is, they still don't require
> much for driver's ed and not even a full cage for many of the race classes
> if I recall correctly. And, my goodness, the speeds certainly do creep up
> there at those events. I guess the choice is up to the individual
though...
That's a very good point. I think the risk factor in DEs is much much higher
than autocrosses even though most organizations do not require much in the
way of safety equipment. But the better regions do encourage the drivers to
upgrade their safety equipment as their speeds increase. I once drove a
friend's souped-up 944 Turbo that made 375 hp at the rear wheels at Roebling
and told him to get a cage before he came to the track again. It was just
too fast. But you go into it understanding the risks and you act accordingly
until you know what to do. Or you go home without a car. It happens a lot.
That's also the primary reason why I feel it is so important to keep the
speeds down at autocrosses. There are much better places than parking lots
to risk your car and your life. They are called race tracks. :) I could tell
you Bridgehampton stories all day long and you still would not appreciate
how dangerous and truly great that track was unless you drove it. Sebring
T1, or Road Atlanta T12/T1, or Sears Point T10 are also good examples of
high speed high risk corners.
But I firmly believe the sport needs a low speed low cost entry platform
like autocrossing. That's how I learned and that's how I think everybody
should learn. I would have thought much differently at driving 11/10ths so
often if I thought there was any danger at all of hurting myself or the car.
But I ":grew up" in SFR where the local organizers had to contend with fast
cars in every class. Safety was just there. It was a cocoon.
And it wasn't until I moved to other areas that I really started
appreciating it. The loss of sites seems to have driven a lot of clubs to do
things that they normally would not do. It also seems to have driven a lot
of people onto huge concrete surfaces where they now believe it is safe to
go faster. I can only remind people of the trouble Houston got into a while
back or of Pilar Miranda's fire at Crow's Point wth the nearest extinguisher
too far away to help and the probable need for a crash truck in such an
environment not evident even now.
Paul Foster
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