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07-16-2007, 09:03 AM
smankow wrote:
It helps to know what cars are in front of you. If it was Todd hitting dirt in T9 I'm sure that by the time anyone got there there would be a dust cloud and no car. I wouldn't even lift if it was Todd. This incident seemed like an unusual way to go off -- doesn't it look like he hit the dirt on the inside of T9 before the apex?? Odd. I'd expect the only way to mess up the turn is early apexing, but obviously not.
It's hard to teach situational awareness, what might help is teaching people where cars are likely to end up in different types of off's. Obviously keeping cool is huge, as Chris did. Perhaps a "well that probably isn't good" instead of "HOLY CRAP!!" It's very unusual that I'll go off, but if I do I'm thinking about where I'm going to end up as soon as I make the mistake. Same idea when someone starts to spin in front of me.
I don't like how the car in front came off of his brakes, he couldn't see, was still going too fast, and made himself invisible.
In this case I'd like to think that I'd see the dirt on the inside and realize that something unsual has happened. I wouldn't be happy driving thru that cloud, and I think I would have slowed way way way down. If the dirt was on the outside, I'd be staying all the way track left and slowing down as much as possible.
Quote:Tony, I agree that this is something that needs to be addressed. However, after watching videos where someone drops a wheel and puts up dirt (Todd Reid comes to mind), unless you've seen the car spin, you really can't stop every time.
It helps to know what cars are in front of you. If it was Todd hitting dirt in T9 I'm sure that by the time anyone got there there would be a dust cloud and no car. I wouldn't even lift if it was Todd. This incident seemed like an unusual way to go off -- doesn't it look like he hit the dirt on the inside of T9 before the apex?? Odd. I'd expect the only way to mess up the turn is early apexing, but obviously not.
It's hard to teach situational awareness, what might help is teaching people where cars are likely to end up in different types of off's. Obviously keeping cool is huge, as Chris did. Perhaps a "well that probably isn't good" instead of "HOLY CRAP!!" It's very unusual that I'll go off, but if I do I'm thinking about where I'm going to end up as soon as I make the mistake. Same idea when someone starts to spin in front of me.
I don't like how the car in front came off of his brakes, he couldn't see, was still going too fast, and made himself invisible.
In this case I'd like to think that I'd see the dirt on the inside and realize that something unsual has happened. I wouldn't be happy driving thru that cloud, and I think I would have slowed way way way down. If the dirt was on the outside, I'd be staying all the way track left and slowing down as much as possible.