This link was posted on our local SCCA forum. It looks like a really bad, really expensive day for quite a few people.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3197431&page=1

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow.

Without being there, it's hard to say what was caused by what circumstances, so I'll avoid that. I'm just glad that nobody was seriously injured on site.

Agree with Kevin, glad no-one was hurt. Bad day indeed! My wallet hurts looking at those pix!

No shortage of know-it-alls on that board. We've gotten complaints about our finishes being too tight, but our lots are cramped and we don't always have the fortune of having different lots for staging/timing/grid/paddock etc.

Those pictures are painful to look at. I agree that it's good no one was hurt .... but there are still going to be devastated people.

We also have trouble coming up with a "safe" stop box setup ... but it's being revisited ... especially since our opening event inadvertently had an extremely fast finish.

ouch indeed.
what worries me is:
Who will pay for the damages ?
I'm surprised they allowed 200 ft of fast running track before a left turn to the finish box w/ all the cars there... imho, that's a bad decision on the safety/course design crew.

glad no-one got seriously injured, though.

Are you sure it wasn't 200ft after the finish lights, in the stop area?

Read down through about page 3 of the thread. It's getting pretty heated with flaming and name calling. Unfortunate that it has degenerated into that.

I had to stop reading it - those guys need to give them selves a time out! As a racer I hope I know when it is time to stay in my trailer..........

So how does everyone insure their autocrossers? I have mine insured as a recreation or pleasure vehicle with other than collision (theft, fire, vandalism) and no collision. I never asked about a 'competition' policy.

you can always claim you are a spectator and cars were parked there so you parked beside them.
I'm pretty sure it's a nightmare to go though... chances are insurance won't want to cover even if you were parked.
What happens if you are @ a drag strip and some guy does a burn out in parking lot and loses control and hits your car... you're @ a racing facility... even if you aren't racing.
One thing for sure... i always wounder the worse and never park my car in an area of potential risk.

The way i interprete this:

I see it as if there was ~200ft where you could build up speed before the quick left just before the finish line.
Then again... english is not my 1st, 2nd nor 3rd language.

It always does. Most of those people probably weren't even there. Just idle speculation and conclusions that are not only incorrect but will probably not even help anything. Gotta love Internet-enabled type-A personalities.

but seriously...
how can this happen ?


At the limit i can see it happen with his foot getting stuck behind the brake pedal or slipping between the brake + accelerator... how can one shoot the right foot all the way to the clutch ?

As for the rest of the thread... it's pretty pathetic

At the risk of getting into the things I wasn't going to get into. They said he drives an automatic C4 Corvette. I suspect he left foot brakes. His left foot would find the clutch instead of the brake if he went for the brake pedal expecting a normal "automatic" sized pedal, or the space he was used to having the brake pedal occupy. That's my hunch. Clear the timers, use left foot for brake, find clutch instead. Of course that involves a lot of speculation, but that's how I'd suspect it could happen.

i thought about that for a second... but why would anyone use the left foot to brake ?
I'm seriously glad no one got injured/killed.
I've seen a few Auto-X incidents, among which 2 rolled-over cars... one hit the cement barrier after losing control and lifted the front side of the car... ended up on roof... the other was a bad combination (human error) of a swift on stock suspension and Hoosier's not letting go while he was doing the slalom too fast and tried to keep on doing it... rim bytes on the asphalt and tip you go... i was several feet from the car... and the first to rescue the guy.
I'm sure the guys feels so bad as is... both the driver + owner. At least he doesn't have to cope w/ bodily harm to anyone on his shoulders.

I know many autocrossers who left foot brake. And it's even more common (as far as I can tell) among guys driving automatic cars (which the Corvette was reported to be). Again, just speculation (that I wasn't getting into).

You can't tell me that someone on a roadrace-autocross forum has never heard the term "left-foot braking"?

Pat

I learned how to left foot brake driving my auto 4th gen TA. Much, much more fun! This is the way I drive all autos now, left foot brake only, right foot only gas. I picked up a lot of speed on the road courses once I incorporated that technique there, called "trail braking." Braking going into a turn with your foot on the gas, whoo hoo! You can't do this on all the turns, but a good many, and more than you think!

Sometimes after driving the auto when I go out on track with the CMC car and the T-56 I hit the brake instead of the clutch. I have never hit the clutch mistaking it for the brake though with my left foot. Different cars may have different positionings though that you are not used to, this is the reason I don't go nuts when driving someone else's car.

I do that on a Cart... not on a car.
Maybe because i drive manual.

My post talked about how left foot braking works for me driving a manual in roadcourse situations (CMC for me) in addition to my street experience with autos - have an instructor show ya sometime. It is an advanced technique and you have to have a good understanding of throttle and brake skills before you attempt. It is another tool for your driver's skill toolbox. I like the Ross Bentley Speed Secret book series for reading on skills I am working on or trying to learn new.

you mean this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Speed-Secrets-Profes...s/dp/0760305188

found this as well:
http://www.speed-secrets.com/racing_publications.html
more info on his website: http://www.speed-secrets.com/

Yes! Great book series.