Bad news all round then. Sorry about writing off the RRB. FWIW, Don
Sobering lunched a GT-3 Midget there about 10 years ago, and Mike Jennings
punched the wall there in his Bug Eye. Mosport is not a forgiving track...
Brian
BTW, WST, sorry I missed the Friday evening party. After losing the second
brand new motor in as many sessions, I was of the opinion that I would
drink far too much, and feel really bad the next day. While that held a
certain attraction 20 years ago, and wasn't out of the question 10 years
ago, it now seems a less shiny idea...
Cheers, and see you next year,
Brian
At 11:21 AM 07/03/2000 -0400, Paul Fitzsimmons wrote:
>Glad to hear you are all right, sorry about the RRB. Sounds like it was one
>hell of a ride.
>That Turn 9 must have something against Spridgets as that is where
>something let
>go in mine and lunched the transmission and all kinds of other stuff. Still
>don't know the cause.
>Fitz
>
>"Wm. Severin Thompson" wrote:
>
> > To all,
> >
> > Thickos north and south attended VARAC's race at Mosport thise weekend. If
> > you've never driven Mosport, you must plan to attend this event next
> year...
> > great track, great people... and great fun.
> >
> > While qualifying Saturday, the Red Rat Bastard was really "honkin"...
> > posting a great qualifying time. Turn 8 is a wide open right handed sweeper
> > after a long straight...someof the fastest parts of the course. 9 is a fast
> > left hander... followed by the right hander 10 that brings you back to the
> > main straight. Moving right to prepare for 9... I felt the steering go. The
> > car veered strongly right... heading toward the tire wall at a high rate of
> > speed. I had time in my mind to think the following... "This is really
> gonna
> > hurt"...and "I'm glad that this wasn't driver's error". I slammed into the
> > wall at somewhere near or over 90 mph, luckily hitting it at a 45 degree
> > angle. I found myself rolling over after the initial impact... 2 1/2 times
> > ultimately... ending up upside down on the roll bar. After the rolling
> > sensation ceased... it was amazingly quiet... dark, and confined. I made
> > sure all switches were off, and was hoping that my competitors behind me
> > were paying attention to the yellow flags. It would have pissed me off to
> > survive that part of the crash and then be punted while hanging upside
> down.
> > My helmet was pressing against the ground... my roll bar apparently having
> > dug into the ground. After what seemed like 30 seconds (it may not have
> been
> > that long... or it could have been longer... who knows...) I decided to
> take
> > stock of my body parts. Nothing hurt seriously, and fingers and toes seemed
> > to function normally... and since my weight already was resting on my head,
> > I decided to try to extricate myself... as I knew I didn't like "hangin"
> > around. (Corner workers and EMT's caution all you racers out there...
> citing
> > racers who manage to survive a crash, only to injure themselves by
> releasing
> > their belts and falling on their heads...)
> >
> > I crawled out from under the wreackage just as the EMT's came upon the
> > scene. They had me sit down on the wall, while the corner workers dealt
> with
> > the upside down RRB, it's front wheel and spindle lying in the middle
> of the
> > track. I gave thumbs up to my shocked competitors as they passed the scene
> > slowly. I walked to the medical bulding, where I was checked out and
> > released. The usual party at Thicko Village commenced a little earlier than
> > usual Saturday.
> >
> > Inspection showed failure of the 2 bolts that hold the spindle to the
> > steering arm. Once that failed, the wheel flopped down and ripped off from
> > the lower portion. (I hear the sound of Sprite owners everywhere scurrying
> > off to inspect their front suspensions...).
> >
> > The Red Rat Bastard's days are over... better to end this way rather than
> > rusting away in someone's back yard. I'm thankful I had no serious
> injuries,
> > and no one else was hurt. Thanks to the trackside personnel and medical
> > staff, the race organizers and fellow competitors that helped out or
> > expressed concern. Today, Monday, 2 days after the incident, I have very
> > very sore ribs on the left side, a slightly stiff neck, and a bruise on my
> > right shoulder... remarkable really, when you consider I stuffed 40 year
> > old car. Thanks to Geoffrey Healey for a great design, and thanks to Tom
> > Colby of Speedwell for a great roll bar.
> >
> > So, hoist a glass for the Red Rad Bastard... and look out for the next
> > effort... "Frankensprite"...
> >
> > WST
> > Flounder
> > Team Thicko
Brian Evans
Director, Strategic Accounts
UUNET, An MCI WorldCom Company
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