Audi RS 4 rollover at Willow Springs Raceway
- 9 yıl önce
Turn 9 at Big Willow claims another car.
So, before the internet tells me how much I did wrong let me tell you that I know I messed up. I've been tracking for eight years, have been to this track numerous times in a number of cars and know T9 is a very late apex, decreasing radius turn.
Here's my take.
In this case, I turned in too early and too sharply. It was early in the day and early in the session, so I wasn't up to full speed and felt I had enough track to recover. The car tracked out and I maintained the steering angle I normally would for track out, pointing me down the track toward the right side to set up for T1.
Though, in this case, the angle was too steep and the grip too low, so the car tracked out a foot too wide. I know the protocol is to just go straight off with two feet in, and in hindsight I should have done that. However, in the moment, it wasn't apparent the car was going to go wide until the very last instant, leaving me no chance.
While I don't think I overcorrected, the steering wheel was definitely turned to the right some degree to get the nose pointed back down the straight. Once the left side dropped, the car shot back across the track and I tried to get the car to go off straight, but it was too late and there was no grip for steering or braking inputs to have any effect.
I had a chance to save it midcorner, too. I had lifted midcorner to get the car tucked back in toward the apex, but I got on the throttle too quickly and too aggressively, also forcing the car to push wider on exit. Had I laid off the throttle longer, or even tapped the brakes to help with frontend grip, and got the car pointing down the track before getting on throttle, I could have saved the corner and the car that way too.
Yes, I made an error. It's not my first and it won't be my last. In the grand scheme, dropping two off isn't an egregious mistake, but here at Willow Springs in turn 9, it's one with grave consequences.
Thanks for watching. Be careful out there! Hope you can learn from this mistake as I have.
For those curious, captured with a GoPro HERO4 Silver, mounted on the outside of the front windshield. Camera survived unscathed and still attached, though it stopped recording when the car landed on the roof, probably hitting the shutter button.
So, before the internet tells me how much I did wrong let me tell you that I know I messed up. I've been tracking for eight years, have been to this track numerous times in a number of cars and know T9 is a very late apex, decreasing radius turn.
Here's my take.
In this case, I turned in too early and too sharply. It was early in the day and early in the session, so I wasn't up to full speed and felt I had enough track to recover. The car tracked out and I maintained the steering angle I normally would for track out, pointing me down the track toward the right side to set up for T1.
Though, in this case, the angle was too steep and the grip too low, so the car tracked out a foot too wide. I know the protocol is to just go straight off with two feet in, and in hindsight I should have done that. However, in the moment, it wasn't apparent the car was going to go wide until the very last instant, leaving me no chance.
While I don't think I overcorrected, the steering wheel was definitely turned to the right some degree to get the nose pointed back down the straight. Once the left side dropped, the car shot back across the track and I tried to get the car to go off straight, but it was too late and there was no grip for steering or braking inputs to have any effect.
I had a chance to save it midcorner, too. I had lifted midcorner to get the car tucked back in toward the apex, but I got on the throttle too quickly and too aggressively, also forcing the car to push wider on exit. Had I laid off the throttle longer, or even tapped the brakes to help with frontend grip, and got the car pointing down the track before getting on throttle, I could have saved the corner and the car that way too.
Yes, I made an error. It's not my first and it won't be my last. In the grand scheme, dropping two off isn't an egregious mistake, but here at Willow Springs in turn 9, it's one with grave consequences.
Thanks for watching. Be careful out there! Hope you can learn from this mistake as I have.
For those curious, captured with a GoPro HERO4 Silver, mounted on the outside of the front windshield. Camera survived unscathed and still attached, though it stopped recording when the car landed on the roof, probably hitting the shutter button.