I had a roll-over in my racecar at Phillip Island on Saturday. I was
entered in the MG series.
We lost power over night and my alarm didn't go off. I woke late
and rushed off to the track (2 hours away) but forgot to collect
my tyres (Dunlop Formula R D98J) from the shed. Big mistake.
As I got close, it started raining heavily. I only had my 3 year old
Hoosier Street TDs on the car. There wasn't much tread and these
tyres are horrible in the wet even when new. They have very little
feel in the wet.
In the very wet qualifying, I did pretty well considering. People were
spinning off all over the place. One RB B spun right in front of me at
over 100 MPH (he got away with it). An MGA spun in front of me at
a 2nd gear hairpin and another midget got all crossed up at another
2nd gear corner (at the bottom of a long uphill fast section). I was
already on the edge and couldn't avoid him without losing it. I lost it.
I jumped on the brakes after it was clear I couldn't save it and slid
towards
a tyre barrier that was only 5 yards from the track (on the inside of the
turn). I
was sliding towards a 45 degree kiss with the barrier. To my surprise, the
car rode up the barrier and rolled over and landed on its wheels.
The damage wasn't as bad as it might have been. No exterior panels were
dented (fibreglass bonnet broke off its mounts but was otherwise OK)
but the front LH rail was pushed back a few inches. The manifold broke
off the engine but the roll cage prevented me from any personal injury.
Of the 20 or so offs in the session, I was the only one with any damage to
the car -
sigh...
The medical guys were great and checked me out briefly at the site then back
at
the medical facilities. I was perfectly OK but the car was not repairable
for the
next day's races.
I might add that the roll bar is a full width hoop with diagonal brace and a
forward
brace as well.
I hope to have the car fixed and ready for the next race meeting at the end
of the month...
Mike
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