In a message dated 9/25/99 9:15:59 PM Central Daylight Time,
gregmogdoc@surfnetusa.com writes:
<< I would certainly be enclined to classify a spin as overdriving. >>
It depends. Let us go back to the multi-car incident at Watkins Glen as an
example. That shunt occurred in the esses (turns 1-5) during the enduro,
which started at 9 am Friday morning. There is no question that driver error
caused the initial shunt between a Lotus and a Spitfire. For those who are
not familiar with the Glen, the esses are a series of blind curves taken
flat-out which are bordered on both sides by Armco. There is a flagging
station at turn 2-3 (which was unmanned for the enduro) and tower above 3-4
which has control of a set of yellow and red lights. The Lotus hit both
sides of the Armco at turn 2-3 and scattered parts completely across the
track. As much as five to ten seconds passed after the Lotus wrecked and the
Cooper-Porsche (Pooper) came through the esses. There was no flag (because
the station was unmanned) and the Pooper driver said he saw no yellow light.
Spectators in the stands said the yellow light was not on when the Pooper
arrived at the esses. The Pooper driver said the first thing he saw was
debris and then the Lotus. He spun his car to avoid the debris and Lotus. He
hit nothing but stalled the engine and was sideways in the track. Two 911s
topped the rise, saw the Pooper and went left and right, both missing him. An
Alfa, which was closely following the 911s, T-boned the Pooper. I have not
talked to the Alfa driver but I have been told he said he saw no yellow flag
or lights. By that time the track was virtually blocked, someone in civilian
clothes started manning flag station two by waiving a yellow flag and the
yellow lights came on. Paul Meis arrived, found the track virtually blocked,
spun and was subsequently hit. The Pooper was hit again and the driver of the
Pooper (who has run 100+ vintage events) suffered a broken scapula, several
cracked ribs, bruising and puncture wounds. Surely his spin was not
"overdriving."
Did overdriving the Pooper contribute to this incident? I think not -- it is
a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Driver skill
or attitude was not the problem here, but the fact that there was not a full
compliment of corner workers may have turned this from a two car incident to
a very serious, and potentially deadly, massive shunt.
>From the incident and ensuing thread we should have learned three things:
1) There is no universal agreement on the meaning of red, black and
waiving yellow flags. There should be.
2) Running enduros without a full compliment of corner workers can lead
to very serious consequences. We should all be aware of track safety
measures, or lack thereof.
3) No sort of driver training -- or attitude adjustment -- or sanction
against the Pooper driver will lessen the chance of this type of accident
happening again. It is a classic racing accident where an innocent
"bystander" (in this case the Pooper) gets hurt.
David Whiteside
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