Jalopnik: Worst Track Day Driver Ever

[BMR Sales]

Originally Posted by VTSummit

I used to teach for PCA. No way that guy is a "real" instructor.
The helmets are kinda funny... we wore those when riding minibikes when I was a kid. At least they could have used them to scoop up the goo after the accident.

I'm with you - who wears Helmets like that? They probably have a Snell 1970 Rating.

PCA National Instructor #14

[Bhobbs]

I thought the worst track day ever was when the Jalopnik guy wrecked a preproduction 6th gen Camaro?

[Bizaro]

Originally Posted by Bhobbs

I thought the worst track day ever was when the Jalopnik guy wrecked a preproduction 6th gen Camaro?

He did it going at 40mph too

[ChrisBlair]

Back in the day, Car and Driver participated in One Lap of America. A writer for the mag drove.

In some fog, he misjudged a turn in the shiny new BMW they were using, and went off a bit of a small cliff. Rolled the car many times. Lucky none of the people (driver and two passengers, both passengers were rally pros if I recall) were killed. One was hurt bad enough but not seriously. I still have that issue someplace...

Anyway, crashes happen. Motorsport is not a guarantor of anything. But it punishes idiots a bit harder.

[VTSummit]

If not crashing is the criteria for a "great day at the track" I don't want to race with you.
It's not skill that kept him from wadding up his car or someone else's... it's pure luck. If you manhandle the throttle and wheel like that, it's obvious you haven't a CLUE how to drive properly. He was way out of his league and lucky it only ended up with those who know tossing him out.
I'm prepping a vintage XKE for the track and I pray this guy or someone like him won't be there when I am. Vintage racing is more gentlemanly as it's usually very skilled drivers who know that writing a check doesn't always mean you can replace the car- some are not replaceable.

[Cymaro]

Originally Posted by Bhobbs

I thought the worst track day ever was when the Jalopnik guy wrecked a preproduction 6th gen Camaro?

That vid was way harder to watch than this one lol

[motorhead]

Originally Posted by VTSummit

If not crashing is the criteria for a "great day at the track" I don't want to race with you.
It's not skill that kept him from wadding up his car or someone else's... it's pure luck. If you manhandle the throttle and wheel like that, it's obvious you haven't a CLUE how to drive properly. He was way out of his league and lucky it only ended up with those who know tossing him out.
I'm prepping a vintage XKE for the track and I pray this guy or someone like him won't be there when I am. Vintage racing is more gentlemanly as it's usually very skilled drivers who know that writing a check doesn't always mean you can replace the car- some are not replaceable.

No, it's a bunch of rich guys that go out and put around a track and be very careful because of the fact the cars they are driving aren't replaceable. That's not racing. The guys that drove those very cars back in the day were the real men and they weren't worried about smashing them up. Sorry but there are too many prudes these days for my liking in the car world. I comment this gentleman for enjoying his car as intended. If he was such a danger then why didn't the instructor pull him in earlier? Why wasn't the supposed professional Porsche driver kicked off too? He should have know better, but he was driving the same way. If you are going to mess with speed you could die. That's why you sign your life away when you do these events.

[1Canuck]

any of you guys that are criticizing the guy in the video have your own video to show how it is done correctly. I do not mean someone else, YOUR day at the track.
same onscreen setup of gear, rpm throttle.
It was not pretty, but the guy shared his video. and where can you find he was kicked off the track.

[ChrisBlair]

Originally Posted by motorhead

No, it's a bunch of rich guys that go out and put around a track and be very careful because of the fact the cars they are driving aren't replaceable. That's not racing. The guys that drove those very cars back in the day were the real men and they weren't worried about smashing them up. Sorry but there are too many prudes these days for my liking in the car world. I comment this gentleman for enjoying his car as intended. If he was such a danger then why didn't the instructor pull him in earlier? Why wasn't the supposed professional Porsche driver kicked off too? He should have know better, but he was driving the same way. If you are going to mess with speed you could die. That's why you sign your life away when you do these events.

Hi. I want to mention something about 'back in the day'. Those guys were very aware of and concerned about the possibility of a crash. Back then, the money wasn't like it is now and even sponsorship was different; Esso might provide fuel gratis, and then suddenly around '68 or '69, the teams had to pay. Budgets were smaller, and I don't mean owing to the value of a dollar. True the drivers were probably, by necessity, a little braver as they accepted more risk in general but they did not often have extra cars or engines at the race. Take F1 for example. A high percentage- some put it around 40%- of the drivers died while competing in some kind of race. The Rodriguez brothers. Jimmy Clark. Bandini, von Tripps, Siffert, Rindt, Courage, Bristow, Stacey...long list goes on.

Still on F1, there were not even seatbelts until Jimmy Clark was killed in 1968. The teams and drivers stuck their heads in the sand and hoped. Guys like Chris Amon thought their team-mates were killed when they were flung out of tumbling aluminum wreckage filled with avgas. But this photo is interesting:



That's Jackie Stewart at the wheel of a BRM, possibly 1967 or 1968. Note the wrenches taped to his steering wheel. That is in response to his heavy crash at Spa in 1966, in which he was trapped for considerable time in his car, soaking in avgas, becasue the steering wheel was jammed into him and could not be removed. Stewart championed safety in F1 for years. there were bad or misisng run-off barriers. No emergency services on call, no doctors, no nothing except response form the pits and help from spectators. I doubt anyone would argue that Sir Jackie Stewart was a timid racer or that he was not a brave man. However he- and his colleagues- were very, very concerned about smashing up cars- becasue that meant the drivers got smashed up too. Google 'Lorenzo Bandini crash Monaco', film footage used to be on youtube. The crispy, blackened, stiff mannequin they pull out of the car is Bandini. He lived for another three days. All the drivers knew. It was something they pushed out of their minds, but they knew all too well what a crash in a thinly skinned aluminum tub with rubber bladders full of high octane racing fuel surrounding them would mean, especially when that fuel hit the exhaust, which was a yard behind their heads.

That said, pro drivers, successful ones at least- like Stewart were extremely smooth and calculating and patient. Hurting the car meant losing, you had to finish to win. And the cars were fragile then. Stewart could never have been World Driving Champion three times if he had raced hellbent for leather all the time. He could of course, but his gameplan was smooth means fast, and he was right. It has been commented that his driving made the flow of electrons look rough by comparison.

Edit- I want Stewart's gloves from that photo

[VTSummit]

Originally Posted by motorhead

No, it's a bunch of rich guys that go out and put around a track and be very careful because of the fact the cars they are driving aren't replaceable. That's not racing. The guys that drove those very cars back in the day were the real men and they weren't worried about smashing them up. Sorry but there are too many prudes these days for my liking in the car world. I comment this gentleman for enjoying his car as intended. If he was such a danger then why didn't the instructor pull him in earlier? Why wasn't the supposed professional Porsche driver kicked off too? He should have know better, but he was driving the same way. If you are going to mess with speed you could die. That's why you sign your life away when you do these events.

Strange- last time I ran a vintage race, it was a bunch of drivers with no less than 20 years behind the wheel in racing. Most were swapping stories about Isle of Man, running D-Types against other legends of motorsport.
Not like track days where every dentist with some coin would buy a 911 and blame the car and their instructors for their spins. I bought a 930 from an orthodontist after he claimed the car wasn't up to "his" ability because he couldn't keep it on the track and I lapped him with an MGB/GT factory works car with all of 115hp.
The vintage guys will not dive bomb you like the intro Miata guys and don't think it's funny to bounce off your car. They'll let you pass without blocking if you are obviously faster. Real racin' ain't rubbin.

[Minoclan]

That was terrifying. That instructor was unfortunately irrelevant since the driver did whatever he felt like. I would have pulled him off the track to cool down and have a talk.

[Bizaro]

Originally Posted by VTSummit

Strange- last time I ran a vintage race, it was a bunch of drivers with no less than 20 years behind the wheel in racing. Most were swapping stories about Isle of Man, running D-Types against other legends of motorsport.
Not like track days where every dentist with some coin would buy a 911 and blame the car and their instructors for their spins. I bought a 930 from an orthodontist after he claimed the car wasn't up to "his" ability because he couldn't keep it on the track and I lapped him with an MGB/GT factory works car with all of 115hp.
The vintage guys will not dive bomb you like the intro Miata guys and don't think it's funny to bounce off your car. They'll let you pass without blocking if you are obviously faster. Real racin' ain't rubbin.

Actually no self respecting person would ever drive a porsche for a track day imo.

[radametz]

Originally Posted by VTSummit

If not crashing is the criteria for a "great day at the track" I don't want to race with you.
It's not skill that kept him from wadding up his car or someone else's... it's pure luck. If you manhandle the throttle and wheel like that, it's obvious you haven't a CLUE how to drive properly. He was way out of his league and lucky it only ended up with those who know tossing him out.
I'm prepping a vintage XKE for the track and I pray this guy or someone like him won't be there when I am. Vintage racing is more gentlemanly as it's usually very skilled drivers who know that writing a check doesn't always mean you can replace the car- some are not replaceable.

Thank you.

[Stingray]

This is Speed Ventures' feedback on the incident that occurred at their event:

"We are well aware of the video. We do have a zero tolerance policy for drivers like this. It is completely unacceptable.
1. The driver was sent home after that session.
2. The instructor was not an SV instructor - he is a friend of the driver who in fact has less experience on track than the driver himself."

The latter part of their second statement is just pure wow!