A reminder of what can happen....

[fishguy]

Originally Posted by Surferjer

I'll get bashed for this, but these incidents and the chance off an "off" in the Elise keep me from going to real track. Property damage from autoxing is extremely rare.

The incident happened in PA, not NY FWIW. But I'd say there is no insurance coverage for anybody from this incident. And the only recourse the two 'victims' probably have is to sue the bad driver. There's a fair chance they'll never get anything either.

there is a saying that covers this type of incident...................."thats racing" thats all that can be said. jer, too bad you dont to "real track" days. I just did one this weekend, and thats is IMO definatley what this machine was born and bred for. I watched AX and had no interest in one gear change and 50 second run in this car. rethink, you WONT be sorry. drive defnsively and you fine. FYI, the car is excatly like the motorcycles i roadraced for 5 years, but has four wheels, and a mistake = spin, not your body hitting the track and a trip to the hospital. I did not feel unsafe for a minute, and was doing some high speeds with the box stock sport pack set-up. 3 pt belts.
go to the track Jer, it will be like your first time with a woman,..........life will never be the same, and you never knew what you were missing out on. TRUST me on this. use the car for what it was designed for, which IMHO, was not having a license plate on it. i am hooked, and getting a dedicated track car, or turning in my plates and going to mod my car for track use only.
this is one amazing machine. it out brakes any car i was with, and you dont know what that cam really feels like until your pulling another up to/away from someone who is REALLY trying to push his car with you. i kept saying having my car out there was not fair, oh but it was........... i was just smart enough to buy it and use it.
Do it Jer, !!!!!! I havent stopped smiling, and running the laps in my mind yet, and wont for a long time. do it Jer( and anyone else), or your missing the opportunity of a lifetime.
just my opinion, oh yeah, NO WAY is this car underpowered, when driven with you head. ITS PERFECT right out of the box(sport pack) well done Lotus!!!, if your complaining about the car which i read allot of from people here, rethink what it is you bought, and how it is used.( and intended to be used) i think the license plate is an incedental "bonus" to the design of the car, and after tracking it, one that is unessaecary. the stret would be very unstimulating after tracking the machine. again awesome car, and well done lotus!!!!!!!
Flame me if you want(anyone) if you have been "there", then you cant really comment anyway.
Josh

[fishguy]

you meet some nice people at the track too..........., but the nicest person I met was from the forum here, you know who you are. it was fun!!!!

[FlyLo]

My insurance covers me at the track.

[JonOrangeElise]

FWIW: The Golden Gate Lotus club does keep track of, and punish for, spins and offs. But what they don't do -- and should do -- is prep beginners better for what to do in these off-track excursions. The Golden Gate BMW club makes a concerted effort to describe the correct safety response to two and four wheels off. They have a little write-up on in their school documents, and cover it during the beginners driver's meeting. I heard their spiel as a beginner with that club, and applied it when I first put two and four wheels off. Enigma: I think the biggest issue with the GG Lotus club is that they don't do better sequestering of different driver skill levels.

[MitchT]

Saftey first, most clubs make u come in after a spin or off or even a close call with another car. NASA and PCA require it, the track day thing is great but the regulation needs to keep up with the growth of the sport or should I say educational programs.

[fpitas]

Originally Posted by 2doorsfasterthanu

Yeah they might be the similar to the STI's but you cant drive your 50 thousand dollar toyota powered piece in the snow, can you?

Scorke

I can't haul plywood in it, either. What a piece of junk!

[MickOpalak]

Originally Posted by fishguyAZ

you meet some nice people at the track too..........., but the nicest person I met was from the forum here, you know who you are. it was fun!!!!

Hey! That's my wife! What's she doing there?


But seriously folks, this example is exactly why I invested in a track policy.

[Dro]

Mick, who'd you get the policy from? And is it in addition to your regular policy?

[fastliz]

We've got video!!!

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/D...7B82294422.htm

Ugh! Makes ya wonder why they don't have a barrier / wall between the straightaway and pit lane???? Scary when you think about it. I'd be really nervous staging for the next session.

Mike

[Dro]

The last time I was on track an Evo went off on the last turn before the straight and rolled. Must be something about those Evo drivers.

[fastliz]

It's not so much Evo drivers as it is EGO drivers. Ego is what caused this crash. He did exactly what you shouldn't do when you have two go off. Ego thought he could save the Evo. Ego should go no more (to the track).

Mike

[pixlpush]

Originally Posted by fastliz

We've got video!!!

Ugh! Makes ya wonder why they don't have a barrier / wall between the straightaway and pit lane???? Scary when you think about it. I'd be really nervous staging for the next session.

Mike

The thing I can't understand is knowing that there's no barrier between the straight and pit lane, why stage everyone there? That looks like the problem to me more than anything else that happened.

[Dro]

Originally Posted by fastliz

It's not so much Evo drivers as it is EGO drivers. Ego is what caused this crash. He did exactly what you shouldn't do when you have two go off. Ego thought he could save the Evo. Ego should go no more (to the track).

Mike

True. Well put.

[ekological]

A bit scary since the guy doing the taping looks like he's a bit of a wreckless driving....jerky steering inputs and it looks like he put two wheels off earlier. My question is why he went off after seeing the accident... My friend suggested that it was so he could tape it. People are just clueless.

[codymac]

Originally Posted by fastliz

We've got video!!!

Good grief - check the target fixation on that guy!

IMHO, the organizers are as much at fault for allowing staging there.

[khamai]

In response comments here about Golden Gate Lotus Club Track Days. The GGLC does not promote the GGLC track days as substitute for a driving school. The GGLC has and continues to advise newbies to attend a advanced driving school or participate in track days that are geared for newbies.

The GGLC Track Day chairman has stated that GGLC Track Days are designed for drivers who are experience on track and are looking for more seat time. The GGLC recognizes that newbies do however enter the GGLC events (despite the warnings) and the our chairman accomodates them by pairing them an experienced driver for coaching.

If you have more questions or concerns about GGLC Track Days please contact John Z at events-at-gglotus.org

Back to the subject of this thread...

Kiyoshi
GGLC Webguy

[008]

Wow. I would never drive with that group. Does everyone stage there? If that's so I would be surprised to discover this was the first incident.

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by khamai

The GGLC Track Day chairman has stated that GGLC Track Days are designed for drivers who are experience on track and are looking for more seat time. The GGLC recognizes that newbies do however enter the GGLC events (despite the warnings) and the our chairman accomodates them by pairing them an experienced driver for coaching.

The GGLC wrote off a car at the last event I was at. While the driver of the car was at fault the organization of the event contributed. You had people with ego's in big hp cars that didn't think they should be passed by an elise with less power than them. The worst part of that day is its a lotus club event and it was the non-lotus drivers causing 90% of the problems.

BTW: By pairing them up with an experienced driver, this is what happened. At the beginning of the event they asked for a show of hands of people new to the track. Then a show of hands for volunterrs to help them out. While I suspose better than nothing this is not adequate.

We have a lot of good track groups to run with here in norcal. Sadly our own lotus club is not among them for drivers that value saftey highly.

Ironically, while I didn't enjoy my last bmw event I still think its a good program for people new to the track. They are well run, if crowded, and provide good instruction. You would never see an incident like this at one of their events, or an ncrc event, or an unlimited laps event, or a trackmasters event, or a pca event,.....

[xtnct]

The Pocono East Course has more turns than the others (North & South tracks) and is very flat, with no barriers, etc.. This track is usually used by motorcycle clubs as there are no barriers to hit.

from: http://www.poconoraceway.com/trackrental/



Pocono East Course is considered an advanced track by the PCA (at least when I ran with them) and so they only allowed advanced groups to participate there. No beginners, period. I drove it and I agree with the PCA's policy on this.

[fastliz]

Originally Posted by ekological

A bit scary since the guy doing the taping looks like he's a bit of a wreckless driving....jerky steering inputs and it looks like he put two wheels off earlier. My question is why he went off after seeing the accident... My friend suggested that it was so he could tape it. People are just clueless.

Agreed. I was shocked that he pulled over to watch the aftermath and even more surprised that his instructor apparently encouraged him to do so. It appears she was steering the car for a better video shot.

That said... the video has the potential to serve as an educational resource.

Mike