My Accident at Summit

#1

Hey all,
Thought I’d keep my fellow racers informed of my mess-up.

At the last Summit race, I was involved in a pretty solid metal-to-metal incident with Dave Derecola, series director for the 944 Cup. The accident was my fault, and was the result of a very ambitious and foolish move. I was trying to stick on Chris’ tail into Turn 1, as he was passing 3 slower 944s, and I got on my brakes way late, and ended up pushing Dave right off the track.

As a result of my incident, I have been suspended from racing with the Autobahn group for three race weekends - I don’t know whether this counts the Valentine enduro, which is seperate from the Autobahn group. I’m still hoping to run that event.

I’ve posted my apology to Dave on the 944 boards, and I don’t think there are any hard feelings between the groups or the drivers.

I just thought I’d keep everyone posted. I don’t see the point in being hush-hush about it - there are always lessons to be learned, especially from mistakes.

I’ll be instructing the weekends I’m out, and supporting my Salazar boys.

-Vic
SO #325 - looking forward to coming back.

#2

Vic,

No one asked me but…

I’m sorry that had to happen…man that sucks. Your three Weekend suspension is much worse than what the guy in the Blue M3 got when He punted me off the track and almost collected you as well. That guy had a history of crazy driving and a bad attitude to match. All that happened to him was 13-month probation (to which I agree was ample punishment)

I agree with a hard-core 13/13 policy…For Pete’s sake, I’ve been beating that drum for years. However in your defense, I will say that a three-weekend suspension seems a tad harsh.

Hope to see you back soon.
brain

Post edited by: brain, at: 2005/11/08 19:17

#3

Vic

Sorry if this opens any wounds but I think It’s important to show this to the other drivers.

http://usa.kawarini.com/video/Dave.wmv

#4

Thanks for the sympathy Brain.

I’ll post video from my car one of these days - it’s a lot less condemning. I just haven’t had time to transfer it to the computer, and I’ve got "repairs" that take precedence…

-Vic
SO #325

#5

And the moral of the story is…It is just club racing, there will always be another race. the purse for winning is none, racing and its learning experiences are expensive. My favorite, from the ranks of DE events (and it doesnt apply to Vic’s situation but it is a good one to remember as we typically are racing at the rear of the pack), if there is suddenly a car behind you God did not just put 'em there to follow you as a guardian angel-let 'em pass. This works when racing too, as you’ll often see NASCAR"s Mark Martin pull aside instead of race someone for a position that doesn’t matter. Not to mention if you are holding someone up the lap times are slower and the cars in front are pulling further away.End of sermon. have fun out there and stay out of trouble, Robert Patton