Accident at Big Willow
 

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=1524161

Should I be rushing to get a full cage, race seats, and harness, or was this something about the mini in particular, or just bad luck?

:( that's pretty sad.. condolences go out to his family..

My .02 is to use common sense on track, and prepare yourself and your car for HPDE events.

Car - Check brake system, suspension system, motor, etc before every event. If you don't mind the daily hassle, a properly installed race seat + 4 or 5pt harness + rollbar will go a long way in a rollover or hard hit.

Yourself - Invest in enough quality coaching to get yourself to the point where you understand the driver's role in vehicle dynamics and are trained to react appropriately in tough situations, like a slide in T8-9 at big Willow. One or two Skip Barber racing schools should get you there; NOT typical HPDE "instruction". It is alot of money, but if you're doing lots of HPDE's or just street driving there's a good chance it can save your car or life some day.

Bottom line - use common sense. How safe you are is up to YOU, not what kind of seat you have. Don't push yourself in a really fast corner if you're uncomfortable with it. Take baby steps up to the limit to increase your comfort zone, and never go faster than the point where you think you won't be able to 'catch' the car if you make a mistake. While I do think HPDE's are very safe overall, this is something that can kill you if you are careless. Have as much fun as you can, but have an equal amount of respect for yourself and others around you on track.



Be safe out there guys... So sorry to hear that the Mini driver did not make it. Hopefully no lawsuits or stupid laws come of this...

if you read the guys bio he was no amateur, just lost control and from speculation he had a racing harness with no roll cage which caused the roof to crush the seat on top of him. That is unfortunate but at least he went out doing what he loved

That's sad to see.. but like others have said, a good way to go out.

With all the incidents that have happened at T9 you would think they would fill up the ditch there that causes all the rollovers. There has to be something that can be done to make that turn safer.

That was my thought exactly. I watched a video of another guy who went off and rolled his car. If he didn't have a cage, he surely would have been dead. From the video, that looks like a tricky corner to be able to look ahead on, and very easy to take the wrong line in. It also looked like there is little to no margin for error.

Why haven't they fixed that?

I've taken that turn 9 ride out and back across the infield. Ditch, no ditch, doesn't matter. Car going sideways at 80+ mph hits the dirt, bad things happen.

My condolences to his family.

Paving that section of the infield might help.

Even if you drive a high-speed corner within your limit/skill, you can never be sure there won't be a mechanical failure, so wise to have as much safety gear as you can. As S2kretard said, check suspension, tires etc. before each session to minimize chance of mechanical failure, but even so there is still no guarantee.

My condolences to Drey's family.

+1

Well said


[QUOTE=pantyraider,May 28 2008, 08:11 PM]With all the incidents that have happened at T9 you would think they would fill up the ditch there that causes all the rollovers.