Watkins Glen Fun One Pictures

[Tom Valet]

Roz just sent us these photos from the September Fun One race at the Glen. Roz happened to be standing in the exact right place at the exact right time when Bill came upon a backmarker not watching his mirrors:









These go along with the video I had previously posted showing the same incident. We can laugh about it now because the car didnt go upside down and in fact remarkably suffered no damage at all.

Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...81709888&hl=en

[Beartrax]

Wow! Dramatic photos! I'm glad everyone was OK and that there was no damage.

[Greg O'dell]

I would take a closer look at that left rear suspension, seems like an awful lot of travel for nothing to be bent. Just a safety precaution.

[dc]

Helluva run through the field. I like that the audio picked up his comments as he entered the pits after the contact. I don't think I would have that calm, even.


Nice race, Bill.

[Tom Valet]

Yeah Greg, my son said the same thing when he saw the photos: "I didnt think the car had that much suspension travel in it." But we had the entire suspension checked after the race, and two weeks later he drove it at the Lime Rock NARRCs without any problems.

[Amon]

Tom:

Great video and I'm glad you & your car suffered no damage. Did you ever
have the chance to speak with the other driver, and how did he miss you
as you came across his bow?

Mark

[SMac35]

Roz again has great photos. My dad had a crash like that about 15 years ago at Summit Point. A Formula FOrd didn't see my dad coming down the shoot in the Continental and moved over and ended up touching wheels. my dad hit the wall at the end of the shoot at about 125. He rolled accross the wall about 5 times, 6 feet in the air. He walked away with a scratch on his shin and nothing else ( no HANS back then). The Reynard is sure a sturdy car. Roz was inside the carousel and got about 20 pictures of the accident in motion. pretty shocking to look at to say the least. Steve Cole rebuilt the chassis, and we're still racing.
Good reminder for everyone to check their mirrors.

Also, my dad and I are building a Predator Formula Vee for me to race (Steve Cole Chassis, kinda ironic). does anybody happend to have a rear transaxle? just thought I'd add that in.
CHeers,
STeven

[Tom Valet]

Great story Steve. Best of luck with your new Vee!

Mark, my son Bill drives the car. We did talk with the other driver afterward. We thought he would come over and apologize or at least explain, but when he didnt we went looking for him. He said he was afraid to come over, thought we would tear his head off. He felt terrible and said he never saw my son. He said it was his second race ever and he wasnt using his mirrors half because he was too busy trying to drive the car and half because he was sitting too high in the car and he couldnt get the mirrors adjusted right. We just asked him to please pay attention to blue flags and to use the mirrors and not go out on the track if he was not able to adjust his mirrors properly. If you look at the photos of his car, his mirrors are faired into the bodywork and have limited adjustment. Not a good design.

[VehDyn]

That is a beautiful paint color. Stunning.

[Tom Valet]

Thanks Ken. It is a 2008 Mitsubishi color, rage red I think it was called. The funny thing is the car only looks good in certain light. Bright sunshine is the best. But we have tons of pictures taken this year where the color is very flat and the car simply does not look good or at least it is plain looking.

[Amon]

Tom:

You're right, based on his helmet clearance from the rollbar, he appears to be too big
for the car, or needs to remove the seat and just sit on the fuel cell to get comfortable.
It sounds like the SCCA let him onto the track without enough experience and it would
have been wise for him to do another driver's school to get comfortable with the car.

Thanks!

Mark

[John Nesbitt]

If you look at the photos of his car, his mirrors are faired into the bodywork and have limited adjustment. Not a good design.

It's a 78/79/80 Van Diemen, with what appears to be the original body center section. I used to have one of these as a spare, and as Tom notes, the mirrors are faired-in, limiting placement/adjustment.

Many (most?) VD's of that vintage have these removed, and replaced by a 'normal' mirror. Less swoopy, but likely more functional. (BTW, Neil Porter sells a lightweight center section for these cars).