NASA was running an event at TWS this past weekend on the 2.9 CCW configuration. An Evo running with the advanced HPDE/TT run group turned in early on Turn 1 where the banking transitions to the infield road course. He caught a ripple in the pavement and the car slid off to the outside of Turn 1. He managed to straighten the car up, but there is a shallow drainage ditch about 80 yards off of 1, which he hit head on at about 80-90 mph.

Surprisingly, he managed to limp the car home the next day. Even more surprisingly the camera he had mounted on the bumper not only recorded the impact, but it was recovered and still worked!

Here's a link to the bumper cam video.

For reference, my mostly stock RX-8 on RA-1s hit 122-126 mph indicated by the turn in point at the end of the front straight. The Evo was estimated to be doing ~150 mph when he turned down off the banking.

In light of this discussion, this video may be a sobering reminder that the Evo's power and AWD are no substitute for good driving skills. It's easy to get in way over your head out there really quickly, so play it safe and keep it shiny side up!

 

what tires did the evo use? it lights up very quickly!

 

Well, no car can make up for an idiot driver coming in too fast and taking the wrong line

 

Comon dude, no need for that.

But since you can always drive perfect lines and never make a mistake, please let us know when you open your racing school.


The guy had had to pay enough for his mistake already.

 

Damn, that sucks, boy was hauling ***. So he ripped his bumper to pieces I would assume, prolly the intercooler too, superised the radiator still works to drive home....

 

I will say that his entries to turn 1 were inconsistant. THe lap before he drove in way later, and to me it looked like on the lap with the off, he turned in early, found himself aiming at the grass, unwound the wheel a little too much to correct for it - in essenance an "over correction" but not one we would normally consider - and then when he tried to turn back in he had too much speed for the new radius he needed, causing understeer and the off.

That being said, maybe it's the bumper but he also looks consistantly late due to understeer in the infiled corners, and if that is the case, as an instructor I woulod have him bring down his corner-entry speeds, and work on mid-corner control, and then a smoother corner exit.

 

On one note...that surface looks all messed up.

 

Being a TWS regular, I can attest to the turn 1 being scary when going too fast.

I can hit 125 or so by the start finish line (if I exit15 well), and I then just back off and stay about that speed through turn one.

I've turned in at 145+ before, and "NO THANKS"

 

The surface is good.

not sure what "ripple after the transition off the bank" the OP is talking about, but when you go low like that the edge of the track comes up at a much more of a right angle than when you enter it from high on the bank. It's a little shorter distance, but you have to get over and parallel to the edge of the track to turn in for two anyway. It scares me, so I go a lot slower, but I am only an intermediate driver anyway...

 

We are running it on the TireRack One Lap of America this year, and because of the transition, we have to stay on the aprin.

 

Everyone makes a mistake. So no need to be saying that the guy is a *****, and such. At least he kept it off the streets, not like some turds here

 

+1 poop happens ...

 

Honestly, I think that would be even more dangerous. IMHO, the safest line through 1 is to turn down from high on the banking and cross the transition as straight as you can, then get your braking done on the flat. Having to run on the apron means you guys are going to have to give up a lot of speed going into 1 or risk shooting off the outside into the ditch, because you won't be able to take a wide entry line.

BTW, I have not implied at any point during this thread that the driver in the video is a "*****", or anything of the sort. I only met him this weekend, but he seemed like a nice guy. Unfortunately, he made some minor mistakes (like early apexing Turn 1) in a pretty powerful car, and paid the price.

 

Not my call of course, but I think that's what the organizers would rather see - a forced slower turn in, rather than tempting a 140-mph turn in. Does it make it slightly more dangerous for those that will be going faster, sure, but for the rookies - or people who will have the tendancy to overslow anyway - it may make it slightly safer.

 

I just wish we had seen the car afterwards... So he messed up, you live and learn.