About half a year ago, the mouth-breathers of Class C LeMons racing were calling for my head on a platter because I suggested that there’s no reason to ram stopped cars that you can see from hundreds of feet away. Many electrons were spilled in the cause of arguing that YOU JUST CAN’T DO ANYTHING TO AVOID A CRASH ON A RACETRACK.
If I had my way, each and every person who thought that the Ferkel crash was unavoidable would be banned from motor racing for life. And then they would be keelhauled, which is a great old practice pour encourager les autres. I’ve decided to significantly reduce or eliminate my participation in entry-level series because I don’t want to be on the track with people who can’t drive for shit. Ideally, I’d be the worst driver on track at any given point. It would be safest for me.
As a counter-example to the Ferkel crew, I present the man who got me started in club racing, Brian Makse, adroitly avoiding a fucking catastrophic multiple-car incident this afternoon. Some of it was luck; you have to be lucky in racing and Brian always is. (For an example of a driver who is never lucky… well, there’s me.) But Brian also keeps his eyes up and steers through the incident without really even lifting very much. To some degree, he’s a wolf among sheep, as a former pro racer in an entry-level series. But tell me this: who do you want racing next to you… the Nein-11 guy and his buddies, or Brian Makse?
Jeebus. Hell of a drive there.
At least the Micras didn’t run at PittRace this weekend. That would have been a clusterfuck.
Makse Power!
Just like riding on a motorcycle, don’t look at the wreckage, or the shit in your way, look for the escape route!
That was bloody epic!
This year, a (very experienced) teammate of mine wanted an upgrade from the mediocre (Cat 3) amateur road bike category to Cat 1 mainly because “the Cat 3s are sketchy”
I told him I talked to the Cat 1 field, and they didn’t want to race with Cat 3s either.
This seems relevant.
I was Cat 4… so you’re all indistinguishable from Hinault to me!
Somewhat related as it involves experienced drivers crashing/avoiding race cars; What did you think about the Hamilton/Rosberg kerfuffle at the Spanish GP? I thought it was a racing incident but I’d put the blame at 60 Hamilton/40 Rosberg (maybe 70/30, Hamilton should clearly have seen that there wasn’t going to be a gap by the time he got there) but I’m not a racer so I’d love to get your take on it.
I’m calling this one a racing incident.
Rosberg was apparently down on power, which means he should have yielded to Lewis.
But it was absolutely time for Rosberg to assert himself and lay claim to this championship. And it was a single clean move, not the double block that Hobbs implied in the TV feed.
I fully agree about Rosberg asserting himself regardless of who was at fault. He’s been too willing in the past to let Hamilton muscle him around so at the very least this should make Lewis think twice in the future.
I see there’s another example of a Micra rolling in this clip. They do seem awfully prone to rolling in this series.
Two actually, watch the dust cloud off to the right at the beginning. Kinda looks like the second was due to a reaction to the first.
So yeah, I think I’m all set on Micra Cup.
They do look like they were built to rollover with grace, don’t they?
Man, look at Brian cool steady hands with carnage all around…inspirational.
Reminds me of ye olde Neon Challenge.
I’m a class C lemonite. Your articles on the truly Avoidable Contacts were really eye-opening, and I took negative umbrage at you calling out bad driving and poor flagging. Lemons isn’t cheap, and it is definitely not a non-profit. Bright sunshine on the Lemons underbelly will only help improve the series.
On a personal note, I have your articles to thank for always wearing a HANS device (starting well before the Nein-11 wreck and the other two in quick succession) and for practicing to keep my eyes up.
In day-to-day driving, keeping my eyes up and checking all mirrors helped me avoid a number of incidents, from a show-off Porsche tuner carrying a reporter (kidding) to a semi with a dozing driver not slowing for the red light. These skills are particularly relevant to someone who switches between a Gen 1 Insight, a car that doesn’t seem to exist to many drivers, and a Charger R/T R&T for my lengthy commutes.
Also, behold the 3800’s raw power. I’m about 99% sure I was driving vs this eta-powered E30; I remember going wide in those corners to ensure he had the inside line as he was much faster in the corners.
Looking pretty good in my opinion!
Would some educate me… How survivable is it to roll over several times in Nissan Micra with a cage?
In a roll cage, strapped into a racing seat with a helmet and a Hans device a rollover is mostly survivable. But still, it’s very violent and if there are secondary impacts it tends to be bad news if the wheels aren’t down. No one crash tests a car that is upside down or on its side.
Race cars really shouldn’t roll as frequently as we see these Micras rolling.
Brian told me they had to cut one of the drivers out of the car.
High center of gravity makes for dangerous race cars IMO.
OUCH ~ Jesus H. Keerist ! I’ll prolly never even take the mid race ‘ fun lap ‘ again after watching this mess .
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Nice skills in the first clip avoiding things .
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-Nate