Quote:
Originally Posted by WolfpackS2k
BTW here is the video that everyone's been waiting for. I didn't edit it, so it's 17 minutes long but the crash is just after 13 minutes in.
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I assume you posted this video seeking comments. If not, feel free to smack me upside the head.
About your video of your "Incident at Turn 10":
It is difficult to discern things from a wide-angle lens placed low like yours. However, for what it's worth, it appears, I say APPEARS, and I could certainly be
wrong, that you:
1) Turned in too early,
2) Missed ANY apex by feet,
3) Tried to "pinch it in" out towards the exit in an ill-advised attempt to save it, and…
4)
Now, you know what happens when you
do those things.
At least you did not appear to compound the problem yet further by braking too late and charging in WAY too fast. How do I know this? Because if you had, you'd have slid helplessly off the outside, regardless of what you'd done with the steering. But, instead, you were able to pinch it in "successfully" before even reaching the outer right side of the asphalt … and you pirouetted to the left and zoomed over to the left side to kill some precious tire bundles … to your dismay and expense.
BTW, was your car trying to set the long, dry grass alight? Was that the cause of the smoke and subsequent fire extinguisher bill?
So, what might you have done to save this? Could you?
Sure.
I suggest that after making mistakes #1 and #2, that you slow (give up the corner, this is not going to be your quick time for the day), unwind the steering, and allow the car to just slide wide. Maybe you'll just put two wheels in the dirt off to the right, and maybe you'll sail clean off the track to the right, but at least on this corner, you won't hit anything. Just "pretend" the track is about 10+ feet wider at corner exit and drive a "normal line" out to your "new" track-out point out in the grass, and drive on down towards the next corner working your way off the grass and back onto the pavement. The thing is to FIRST GET THE CAR STRAIGHT. Never mind that you're on the grass. Yes, I know you're not supposed to be on the grass, but hey, it beats slamming into the tire wall on the left, doesn't it?
Keep it STRAIGHT, parallel to the track, and as you slow, GENTLY ease it to the left and back onto the asphalt a
little bit at a time.
Do NOT turn abruptly left to get back onto the track. You'll just spin in front of everybody and they'll nail you in your driver's door. You won't like it.
Around the time you missed your apex, you should have realized, "Sumbitch! I'm going OFF!" And then calmly DRIVEN off, letting the car have its head, onto the grass on the outside, and NOT TURNING, except to gently bring your car back to parallel with the track. Then slow down further, and ease it back onto the track.
Now, there is something else that I might do in the same or similar circumstances. It requires quick assessment and reactions. I would completely straighten my steering and drive a STRAIGHT LINE out towards the right edge of the track, while I STAND ON THE BRAKES, knocking 10-15+ mph off my speed. Then I would again turn left (in this case) and mosey on down to Oak Tree corner. You must be quick and have a good sense of balance, because you don't want to slam on the brakes on this teensy mini-straight you've just created mid-corner, until the car is flat, balanced, and going straight and not still turning left. Basically, I will have made TWO corners out of this. It would not be "elegant," but it would bail me out of trouble. Many drivers just won't be quick enough to execute this "two-corners connected by a mini-straight" technique.
Finally, one last point. If I were driving a car WITHOUT ABS, and if things had gotten so far out of hand that I could see that I was embarking on a slide that would take me off track to the left, off the road, and into the tire wall … then I would instantly LOCK UP ALL FOUR WHEELS and de-clutch. ("Both feet in" rule.) (One must be quick to make this work successfully.)
I would then just slide harmlessly straight down the road towards the next turn. I might well be spinning like a top, but most important, I would NOT BE TURNING. A locked wheel does not generate any turning force.
ABS
deprives me of this all-important bailout tool. I do not like ABS. I'll take my chances threshold braking on my own, thank you. Call me old-fashioned. I
am old, after all.
Oh, and don't forget to stop at the pits and change into a fresh pair of Depends.
Now, you may well ask, "Why should I learn how to drive off of the road?"
And the answer is, "Because you're bound to make these same mistakes again…"
And again and again and again. Everybody does. It would be good to have a better outcome than you experienced this time, right?
The human propensity for wanting to turn in too early is boundless. And fully half the people I watch just never seem to learn to stop.
Disclaimer: YMMV
I hope this instruction has been worth more than you paid for it.