http://youtube.com/watch?v=gQLM-K9TwWM

Looks like he lifted at the crest and became a passenger. Expensive mistake.


On a side note, who is doing Grand East in two weeks with Mazda drivers? The wife and I will both be there.

 

I'll be there.

 

Wow that is frickin crazy, not much he could have done after going into the skid though...

 

Longer version which shows the damage:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ixBsfuShUyQ

The damage isn't that bad. The co-driver posted in the YouTube thread and said he didn't lift. Just looks like way too much speed with an improper line.

 

Bad line.

This was posted on a local list. I dunno, I would think the driver would have HAD to lift, or at least wasn't able to use enough throttle to keep the rear planted... just too much speed would have sent him off to the left, this was very likely trailing throttle oversteer. Ironically, what he SHOULD have probably done is driven straight off to the left... he likely would've just been digging grass hunks out of the underside.

 

The more track days I do, the more I hear that. Only problem is for the driver to understand when he should just drive off vs try to catch it. I'm not sure I know when that point is...

 

IMO, that's one of the hardest things to learn.. i.e. the limits of your car and your ability. The driver in this video didn't seem to know the limits of his car on this track (and/or know the track very well). $50 says he was looking at the Viper rather than the track which is what I see a lot of new drivers do.

 

You can see how much speed he's carrying into that corner compared to the viper by all the distance he's making up heading into that corner. The viper driver was braking or letting off at the little kink just before the right hander, but the R8 kept speed through..

 

Basically you can't take a 90 degree turn at 100 plus miles per hour but I'm very impressed that the r8 tried to let him do it hehe that thing must be very fun to drive OUTSTANDING TURN IT!

Damn I wish I could afford one of those babies actually though I've switched my dream car from the gt3 to the gt2 which has better #s then the frikken ENZO

 

Fritz, i'm with you that r8 is smooth, but after reading a recent write up in MT on the gt2, wow that is one beast. Now let's find a bank to rob......

 

We'd better make it Fort Knox so we can afford two along with the 18 wheeler and crew We need to think BIG!!!!!!! That way I might actually be able to race a spec miata one day

 

Please dont hit the wall, please dont hit the wall............GOD DAMN IT!!!!

LOL

 

Pretty clear that he early apexed and should have just unwound and driven straight off to the left. I made the same mistake at laguna seca my first year of HPDE and ended up with a lesson worth a couple grand in repairs. That was all I needed.

I think part of the problem is the grief that you get from some event organizers when you go 4-off. Even after getting my provisional license, I was told that going 4-off was a display that I wasn't in control of my car and I may not get credit for the race toward my full comp license. Personally, I think people should be encouraged to drive in the dirt early on so they learn that it's not a big deal. If you spend some time out there and aren't afraid to use it when you need to, it's easier to make good decisions and avoid becoming a passenger in you own car.. just my 2 cents.

 

+1 on bad line. On the long version you can see he doesn't have a clue where the line is. It also looks like he clipped the curbing, which caused him to rotate off the track. In my 2nd gen EP I found I couldn't use the curbs through the esses as the cur would get very loose if I touched the curbs.

 

+1 it's alot safer to drive off under control then to try and save it and be donuts down the track completely out of control just waiting for the car to stop hopefully not in the wall or with another car connected.

 

Here's my take on the line through the ESSES at VIR. Usually when entering any form of S whether in autox or on a road course a late entry is a must because you will get squeezed (run out of room to turn) more and more as you drive through. This means you need to really REALLY go wide to set it up so before entering you should go as wide as possible to the right where the cones are lined up to block off the entrance to the N course. I will brush those cones back (literally driving up onto a portion of the N course entrance) as I increase my speed throughout the day. Then once you've gathered up as much track as possible you move back left to once again get all the track you can (to allow space for turn in) which is what the r8 failed to do and usually most everyone does to some degree that hasn't driven VIR much. When moving left there's a white line running along the edge of pavement that you want your left side tires on and you then stay on that line until the track does a slight dip down and that's the turn in which is VERY late but necessary to carry good speed in and through this section of the track. Once you nail the entry you make quick (you can't fall behind on any turns) short turns as you go through.

 

Not enough steering input in the first left hander caught up with him in a hurry. At that speed there is no "down" time with the wheel.

Look forward to another Mazdadrivers event. The RX8, RX7and Miata's are very suited to the Grand configuration. If you have not done it yet I highly recommend it.

 

It also looks like he touched the paint or the grass on the throttle.

The damage didn't look as bad as the shunt, either. Lucky, rich bastard.

 

Never having been to VIR, it's kind of hard to tell just what the right line might be from the in car footage.

Here's an example of a good line: http://youtube.com/watch?v=DOgL25_QrbQ

It's James Clay in a BimmerWorld BMW.

Maybe not an RX-7, but a pretty fast ride.

The bad line of the R8 becomes more obvious when you see a good one.

 

Not much more I can say - like everyone else has pointed out he turned in way early for that first right hander (is that considered 7 or 7a?). He also put just a little more steering input right before he reached that little crest in the hill at the apex. The car can get a little light there, and I suspect that additional steering input is what threw the rear end around.

But then again, I could be wrong. It's easy to armchair quarterback someone else's mishap. It's good to see that driver and passenger walked away unscratched.

-b

 

painful to watch...