[Fot] Lime Rock report

[SpiwakD at aol.com]

My wife was at the scene of the fatal accident at Lime Rock when  it 
happened. The driver had a too-low roll bar, lap belt only and no arm  restraints. 
Witnesses saw him whipping around inside of the car. During  five rolls his 
head was crushed on the pavement. 
 
VSCCA does not require roll bars and allows minimal safety equipment. The  
philosophy is that if drivers have all the latest safety gear, it will 
incline  them to drive too fast. VSCCA suggests driving at only "6/10th". They 
have never  heard of the famous Red Mist that is familiar to the rest of us. 
The racing club  VRG formed when real racers in VSCCA got tired of driving 
with guys who  wanted to do parade laps.
 
Many of the VSCCA cars are barely race cars and often create a real hazard  
due to slow driving and failing to give way to faster cars. That was the 
case in  my group in the Lime Rock races when two slow small sedans insisted 
on hitting  every apex when being lapped by cars traveling 30 mph faster.
 
 
 
I ran the weekend with my TR3 and finished third in a field of 36 that  
included Aston, Ferrari 12 cyl. and 15 Alfas. During the first race my rear  
wheel cylinder seal went and I had no brakes at the end of the straight. The  
Alfa in front of me had very good brakes and I rear-ended him at over 100 
mph.  Since we were both moving, it was not serious, though I did make his lap 
time a  bit faster. Amazingly, he kept going so I did also until half a lap 
later when  my temp gauge topped 250 and I quit. My whole nose, grill and 
radiator were  smashed and a fender buckled. I was wearing a Hans and never 
moved during the  crash. No bruises either. I had another radiator that I 
have been carrying for  20 years, so was able to finish the weekend.