So, how many here have wrecked their cars? I guess that it's a good thing I live so far from a race track and have never been on one. Edit: And that my car is slow.
"Steve who rolled his C7 Z06 Corvette between turns 1 and 2 at Willow Springs Raceway" literally just drives out of the pit lane and immediately flips.
Traction control off? Seemed like he was going straight, then the revs just jumped and he lost it.
2:05 - 2:08. I hate that feeling because you just don't know what's coming, and it could be bad
Not the first poor soul to ever do this............nor will he be the last.
VolvoHeretic said:So, how many here have wrecked their cars? I guess that it's a good thing I live so far from a race track and have never been on one.
Please note lighthearted tone you can't hear in the text 
You have judgement, right? And free will? That you exercise while not killing yourself and everyone around you on the street?
It still works at the track, you just get to press harder with the driving part because you don't have oncoming traffic, speed cameras, or buses full of orphans studying to become nuns to run into.
I was always baffled by an acquaintance who was disinclined to learn to ride her motorcycle any better because she was sure she'd just go faster. I think that's utterly mental; learn to do the thing as well as you can, then use your brain to make decisions. Then you have extra overhead available when someone else (or on a bad day you) puts you into a sticky situation.
I'm baffled by the person at the center of this. My kneejerk reaction is that it was very avoidable and resulted from a pile of bad decisions, but I don't know everything and my conclusions don't matter, except that I remain unconvinced that taking a car to a racetrack is being sentenced to a crash.
I have done just a handful of track days, one in a car, five on bikes. I tend toward caution, but have had a lot of fun and learned a lot. I look forward to going back with a healthy respect, a lot of enthusiasm, and a touch of nerves.
I read speculation somewhere that it was a cold day and he had cold tires, and just got into it too soon before things warmed up.
Gah, that music!
bgkast said:Gah, that music!
Yup. I muted it. WTF.
That's high HP, cold tires, and a heavy foot.
Pretty much the exact thing that drives Mustangs into crowds all over the country.
The roof sure did crush more than I'd like to see.
What is it with people killing C7 Z06s?
This happened at an autocross right in front of me last year. Kinda looks like the same thing with the tires lighting up and breaking loose:
That was a special edition Hertz rental C7 Z06. I think Hertz sold them off a couple years ago.
BTDT........twice..... I can empathize. I'm not impressed by the roof crushing that far.
I was just rewatching a Grand Tour episode where Clarkson drove the C7 Z06 and he even had a hard time keeping it pointed in the right direction.
I've crashed more than once, it's tough to admit mistakes made.
Cold tires is an easy trap to fall into. There are many traps that get a fair number of us until we learn and sometimes are still there to punish us when we forget.
There is a lot to be said that cars are getting faster and the faster the car, the less margin for error. The less we can correct an error before it bites us.
I don't know this guy, I don't know his experience. All I can say is 20 years ago, what would it take to have that performance level? How many were showing up to events in their new car that performed like that? What percentage were new to the sport? Not necessarily this incident, but this is why we hear more of it. (Also, now we get video posted on social media, rather than rumor)
It's also the reason I hear a lot about people not wanting to instruct anymore.
While they're right about him being in the brakes rather than the throttle, but the article also said it didn't look like he counter steered... Were they watching a different video than me? He did indeed at least counter steer both directions the tail went.
Fast, lots of hp, cold tires, lots of Nannie's all turned off...... surprise! Not surprised.
There are plenty of race cars that don't have the power of a Z06. Play silly games, win silly prizes.
It was pretty dumb, but the first person who hasn't done something dumb, raise your hand....
stuart in mn said:I read speculation somewhere that it was a cold day and he had cold tires, and just got into it too soon before things warmed up.
Not sure of the delay between the event and posting on YT, but it was posted two weeks ago. Willow Springs can be quite cold in the winter; we passed on an event there a couple years ago because the forecast was for highs in the low 50's and 20's overnight. It could easily be in the 40's for an early morning session.
Cold track tires, just out of the pits, ESC turned off... add some wheel spin and a sudden lift, and you're going for a ride. Unfortunately, Willow Springs is also pretty unforgiving if you go off track.
It is surprising how much the roof was crushed.
There are plusses to cold track days, my last event this past year was at Mosport late in October. We had beautiful weather for that time of year with sunshine all weekend but daily highs of around 8 C (46 F). The first lap you took it easy as the tires came in but after that I was able to push for the full session with no drop off from the rubber, at the same time my old M30 was giving that little bit extra with that dense air and at the end of the weekend the tires looked pretty much the same as when I started. I'd call that a win all around.
Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:It was pretty dumb, but the first person who hasn't done something dumb, raise your hand....
There is also dumb and taking your foot off the throttle and doubling down on dumb thinking you can steer your way out.
A C7 Z06 is a handful. I know two people who sold theirs because it's just too much. And they never tried to track them.
When you go to Spring Mountain it takes an experienced Z06 driver to keep up with the Z51 vettes.
These are owners, not racers, of course.
I'm assuming his insurance would NOT cover destroying his car on a track day, correct....?
I seem to remember this sort of ending to a lot of V-10 Vipers back in the day...
You'll need to log in to post.
