Re: Off Track Excursions

[Matthew Yip <mgyip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>I have only been to a couple of driver's schools, and haven't been off
trackyet, but >have comeclose.  By close I mean that as I was coming out
of a
>turn I was catching the rumble strip on the outside of the turn.  At
what point
>do you KNOW you are going off?  I was ready to go off, and was going
>to straighten it out and drive straight off if I did, but I was trying
to hold it
>and stay on.  Is this dangerous?  I didn't go off, but it was close.
>(this was at Gingerman, so there was plenty of runoff)
>Do you know when your tire drops?  How much time is there to react when

>this happens?

Hitting the dragons teeth is more akin to hitting the turn at it's
maximum!  Going off at track-out means you've exceeded the limits of
adhesion.

Going off doesn't have to be dangerous but again, it's the driver's
judgement that makes it good or bad.  There is a fine line between
giving up the turn and driving the car off safely and fighting to stay
on track only to spin quietly accross the track and hit the retaining
wall on the opposite side - doh!

When I ran Drivers' Schools, I made it a point to stay on track which
wasn't too difficult considering 1) my slow car and 2) my slow
technique.  As time has progressed, I'm becoming an agricultural
specialist.  Believe me, if you don't know that you've dropped a wheel,
you're brain dead or have zero feel in your hands and your butt.
Reaction time is a personal thing.  Having spun the car in the chute at
Summit Point after dropping a wheel under braking, I know that it seems
to take hours to slide backwards down the chute and even more time to
spin the car back to forwards.  If you train yourself to mentally
prepare for the inevitable, your reactions will be fast enough to give
you impression that this could happen at anytime without any problems.
If you aren't mentally prepared, things happen really F-A-S-T!

>My first school was at Road America with the Windy City Chapter, and
they
>definitely stressed safety.  The only bad excursion was by a Vette who
dropped
>two off after turn 6.  He tried to put it back on, hooked up, shot
across the
>track and nailed the wall.  I guess he was OK though.  Car wasn't.
>It was on the second day, one of the last sessions, and the advanced
group.

Can you say "Bad Off-Road Recovery"

>At Gingerman, where I ran with the Michiana Porche Club, I went into a
>turn too hot (saved it) while watching the NSX trying to catch me from
behind
>go off, try to recover, go off the other side, then back across AGAIN!
>He was OK, and didn't hit anyone else, thankfully.  BTW, there is
nothing
>quite like getting a pass sign from a 911.  Heh heh.

This isn't racing - STOP driving your mirrors.  Check your mirrors but
don't worry about the car behind you - if it can't stop, you'll know
soon enough and in any case, it's their problem since it's the
overtaking car's responsibility to pass safely.

BTW, when I took my Drivers' School, I passed a Ferrari Challenge Car
exiting turn 10 at Summit Point.  You're right, you don't get many
opportunities to pass that kind of expensive machinery, especially with
a VW.
- --
Matthew Yip
mgyip@domain.elided

------------------------------