F600s at Mid-Ohio

[cgscgs]

Cars entered from Texas, Georgia, Florida, NC, Maryland. You guys looking for some cool weather or something? Well done guys, I wish we could get that kind of turnout for FF/CFF. See you this weekend!
Chuck Smith
Indianapolis, IN
Tiga CFF #15

[lancer360]

Thanks! This is the 4th round of the F600 challenge. A $3000 tow fund and $1000 prize fund plus contingencies helps to get all the F600's to come race at the same track! We should have 10 F600's at Mid-Ohio and 12 or more at the ARRC.

[cgscgs]

That reminds me of the old FF East-West Challenge...except for the money. Hope you guys have a great weekend; I'll try to stay out of your way.

[jim murphy]

You are more than welcome to hang out with us and look over the cars close-up.
This applies to all to come visit us.

Jim

[Chris Elwell]

My friend and I were sitting in the bleachers near China Beach and saw the car get flipped by the flat-tow after today's race. Is the driver ok? Totally unacceptable in my mind, especially since we saw a CFC earlier in the day that was being flat-towed incorrectly (the rope wasn't loose so the driver could let go if need be). The tow truck looked like it was doing about 60 mph at the time the car flipped.

[Mark Filip]

Flat tows should not be allowed for open wheel cars.

[lancer360]

OK, but banged up and sore. Thank god he put his helmet on. Helmet took a hit and has a large grind spot. More later when we get home. Still traveling back this morning.

[Mark Filip]

These guys have gotten to comfortable dragging miatas in and think they can do the same with a 800lb car

[Brian.Novak]

OK, but banged up and sore. Thank god he put his helmet on. Helmet took a hit and has a large grind spot. More later when we get home. Still traveling back this morning.

WTF happened?

[clint]

The tow truck driver didnt wrap the strap around the roll bar and give the open end to the driver. Instead the wrapped and strapped the hook to the tow strap direct to the tow hook not leaving the option of being able to turn the strap loose in case the driver got in trouble. Its a repeat of what happend in 2005 AT MID-OHIO runoffs in turn one in the race! The track manager was very understanding of our "concerns" and agreed that this shouldnt have happend. He is taking action and putting things in place to see to it that this doesnt happen again. Oh, did i mention that the driver was being towed at a speed that exceeded 60mph? WTF is only the beginning of several "staements" i made in the process of voicing my "concerns". I was surprised to hear that for once a cheif steward and I shared the same comment word for word which was ..............WTF. In the end everyone was as helpfull as they could be and givin the situation, tempers were at a minimum in opinion. I just hope this can be a lesson learned so it wont happen to anyone else.

[stiner0931]

This was awful to see... I was with Chris watching this in action and it brought back too painful memories. I run a HP sprite, and this happened to me at BeaveRun last year. Negligent tow drivers and idiots as spotters THAT WEREN'T EVEN SPOTTING. They trashed my car, even at 10 mph... needed a new cage (because the way they tried to right the car with a pry bar and hydraulic lift buckled the tubing - again, idiots), new bonnet, fenders, and paint. And it was a volunteer who did it, not the track or contractor, which made matters worse... Long story short, SCCA needs to take action and mandate wrap around straps for flat tows, AND slow speeds + spotters who are competent.

Sorry to see this happen to someone else. I am going to write a letter to Topeka this week voicing my concern, as I do not want to see this happen to anyone. Especially when it is completely avoidable and the chance of a driver getting hurt is staggering...

[Tiago Santos]

[jim murphy]

This was awful to see... I was with Chris watching this in action and it brought back too painful memories. I run a HP sprite, and this happened to me at BeaveRun last year. Negligent tow drivers and idiots as spotters THAT WEREN'T EVEN SPOTTING. They trashed my car, even at 10 mph... needed a new cage (because the way they tried to right the car with a pry bar and hydraulic lift buckled the tubing - again, idiots), new bonnet, fenders, and paint. And it was a volunteer who did it, not the track or contractor, which made matters worse... Long story short, SCCA needs to take action and mandate wrap around straps for flat tows, AND slow speeds + spotters who are competent.

Sorry to see this happen to someone else. I am going to write a letter to Topeka this week voicing my concern, as I do not want to see this happen to anyone. Especially when it is completely avoidable and the chance of a driver getting hurt is staggering...

Don't just write a letter, get the incident report and file an insurance claim with HQ. Clint, as the car owner, is filing a claim on this mess as it is NOT a racing accident and they did not do the flat tow correctly. BTW, the passenger had to tell the driver that he just flipped the car as the driver was not watching either. IF George had his shoulder belts on (not required) he would not have hit his left shoulder nearly as hard when the car went over - he now has a painful bone bruise there.

Jim
Finally back home from M-O.

[stiner0931]

Don't just write a letter, get the incident report and file an insurance claim with HQ. Clint, as the car owner, is filing a claim on this mess as it is NOT a racing accident and they did not do the flat tow correctly. BTW, the passenger had to tell the driver that he just flipped the car as the driver was not watching either. IF George had his shoulder belts on (not required) he would not have hit his left shoulder nearly as hard when the car went over - he now has a painful bone bruise there.

Jim
Finally back home from M-O.

Jim - my situation happened in July 2012 and has been resolved by my member division (thank you Great Lakes Division) even though they weren't the host division of the event. It's water under the bridge now and I've put it behind me. I just want to do whatever I can to help prevent this going forward... which I think leads to a heartfelt letter, and maybe even a phone call to HQ. Glad to hear George wasn't seriously injured

[jim murphy]

Jim - my situation happened in July 2012 and has been resolved by my member division (thank you Great Lakes Division) even though they weren't the host division of the event. It's water under the bridge now and I've put it behind me. I just want to do whatever I can to help prevent this going forward... which I think leads to a heartfelt letter, and maybe even a phone call to HQ. Glad to hear George wasn't seriously injured

Good to hear that you came out okay on that dreadful incident that you suffered.
George is feeling awful that the car was messed up as his goal for a novice was to bring back the car in one piece. We keep reminding him that it was not his fault.

Jim

[jim murphy]

I am thinking that some form of tow ring on the front of formula cars might not be such a bad idea.

Jim

[lancer360]

I have been asked not to discuss the details until after the insurance claim is taken care off for the flipped car. I am very disappointed with the track personnel and some of the things that occurred during the weekend. I had an incident on the back straight during the race on Saturday afternoon in the rain. Hitting standing water with the right side tires pulled me into the concrete wall. I stayed in the car for a minute or two waiting for a corner worker to respond. When I didn't see anyone even trying to get in position to make eye contact and the second pack of cars went by from the split start, I got out and slid over the cement wall. I looked up and down the wall and saw nobody responding. There was a track response vehicle a few hundred feet back on an access road. I walked back to it and got in. Driver never even asked me if I was ok. Seemed like he was more interested in staying dry. When the wrecker responded the wrecker driver was struggling with the equipment and couldn't get one of the winches working. After getting the car lifted on the 2nd attempt using two straps to the shoulder bars onto a single hook he drove slowly down to the staging area at turn 5. As he pulled off the pavement slowly it bounced the car and the left strap popped off the hook. It dropped the left side of the car onto the ground from about 4 feet in the air. That pulled the right strap over the right sight body panel crunching it pretty good. The cost to get the bodywork fixed is probably going to be as expensive as the damage to the right corner from hitting the wall.

I think the people in charge of running events at Mid-Ohio need to have a serious discussion with their various chiefs and the track manager. Training and procedure writing and/or review needs to happen. Holding the F600 Challenge at the race brought an extra 9 entries that normally wouldn't have been at the event. Damaging two cars and injuring one of the drivers is not the way to entice our series to come back.

As a driver do not ever allow a tow vehicle to hook to your car. They should be using a soft strap with no metal hardware on it and only loop it around the roll bar once. Then wrap the tail of the strap around the tow strap several times and pinch it against the two strap with your hand. If you wrap it more than once around the roll bar the strap can pull itself tight over the top of itself and possibly not release when you let go. If the driver doesn't want to cooperate with this then don't get in the car. They can always get a wrecker instead. If the tow driver is going faster than you are comfortable with, then let go.

[lancer360]

The chief steward made us aware that starting this year SCCA now carries insurance to cover these non-racing incidents. If you have damage caused by wreckers, tow vehicles, etc. Make sure it is reported and the safety steward fills out an incident report. You can then call the risk assessment division of SCCA after the event to start a claim.

[reidhazelton]

How did the truck flip the car while doing a flat tow??? Id think you really have to try to do that.

[Steve Davis]

Although I did not see THIS one, I've seen it happen twice before - the tow driver just turns at too sharp an angle and the car behind CANNOT make the turn. The driver doesn't look back and doesn't realize the issue ..eventually the tow rope is at RIGHT ANGLES to the towed car and .. if the driver of the race car can't "let go" of the rope, OVER he goes. One of them happened at nearly ZERO MPH.. quite painful to watch, even from 1/4 mile away where I was. I could see it coming for over 10 seconds .. HOPING that the towing driver would eventually look back in time.... he didn't (that was either GP or HP open cockpit car).

Now .. being towed at 60 MPH is a bit overboard. It's hard enough to handle being towed (steering with one hand) at 40, although I've been in that situation and it was OK .. as long as he slows down when it's time to turn.... The biggest part of the problem being towed at speed is that the race car has absolutely NO VIEW to be able to anticipate what the towing driver might do.

Steve, FV80

[lancer360]

How did the truck flip the car while doing a flat tow??? Id think you really have to try to do that.

It is quite easy to do if the tow driver is not paying attention. The roll bar on most formula cars is significantly biased towards the rear tires. So once you get too much of an angle on the tow strap the tow vehicle can pull the rear end the rest of the way around and then flip the car. The longer the tow strap and a quick left right corner like at the end of the back straight at Mid-Ohio coupled with higher than normal tow speeds can easily do it.

[formulasuper]

Although I did not see THIS one, I've seen it happen twice before - the tow driver just turns at too sharp an angle and the car behind CANNOT make the turn. The driver doesn't look back and doesn't realize the issue ..eventually the tow rope is at RIGHT ANGLES to the towed car and .. if the driver of the race car can't "let go" of the rope, OVER he goes. One of them happened at nearly ZERO MPH.. quite painful to watch, even from 1/4 mile away where I was. I could see it coming for over 10 seconds .. HOPING that the towing driver would eventually look back in time.... he didn't (that was either GP or HP open cockpit car).

Now .. being towed at 60 MPH is a bit overboard. It's hard enough to handle being towed (steering with one hand) at 40, although I've been in that situation and it was OK .. as long as he slows down when it's time to turn.... The biggest part of the problem being towed at speed is that the race car has absolutely NO VIEW to be able to anticipate what the towing driver might do.

Steve, FV80

Very true, the "no view" problem is really bad in low riding formula cars when the tow rope is short, which it always seems to be. I try to follow off to the "best view" side depending on which direction I'm guessing he's going to turn next, then be ready to set up for a tight turn into or thru the paddock that might need a wide entry. Definitely never allow the tow strap to be attached in a non-releasable manner, I have had to let go more than once.

[Mark Filip]

I wasn't there but I have heard the story that it happened to a FV driver at Lime Rock. They dragged him through the swamp and flipped the car upside down trapping the driver underwater! Thank god he did not drown!

[jim murphy]

I am thinking that some form of tow ring on the front of formula cars might not be such a bad idea.

Jim

I have just sent a letter to the BOD refering to this towing incident and have requested that a tow ring be mandated for the front of formula and sports racing cars.
The professional series prototypes already have them. I think that the tow ring will be an improvement over the main roll hoop. So send in your letters.

Jim

[Steve Davis]

Jim,
A tow ring will NOT solve the problem.. It MIGHT prevent rollovers, but a tow ring will FORCE us into a 'no release' situation. The proper answer is to TRAIN tow drivers to recognize that although THEY can turn a sharp turn, MOST race cars have a turning radius akin to that of my 36 foot RV .. maybe even less than that. If you have a HOOK in a tow ring, and the tow driver is not aware, nor paying attention, he can still damage a race car significantly.

A secondary problem with us 'low' formula cars, is that in some situations, the tow driver cannot even SEE the car he's towing unless he looks in his fender mirrors and we are off center.

All in all, I see that a 'quick study' guide is sorely needed for tow drivers. Just a few sentences that would take no more than 1 minute to read should be more than enough. ( and it wouldn't require that several hundred drivers modify their cars ...)

Steve, FV80

[JerryH]

Steve is absolutely right! I want the driver to be able to release the strap......have seen to many times when that option prevented damage to the vehicle (and even people).

Jerry

[racerdad2]

A tow ring with a cockpit quick release similar to gliders although, I had one fail to release. Thankfully, dive brakes were effective tow ring optional, not mandatory... flat strap, no hardware, one pass over roll hoop, a couple of wraps over driver, hold on tight, let go when its necessary. A little basic training.

[clint]

A tow ring with a cockpit quick release similar to gliders although, I had one fail to release. Thankfully, dive brakes were effective tow ring optional, not mandatory... flat strap, no hardware, one pass over roll hoop, a couple of wraps over driver, hold on tight, let go when its necessary. A little basic training.

i couldnt agree more. This is the way i have always been towed in.

[mmi16]

I had a tow driver double loop the roll bar one time - when he started going where I couldn't go, I released what I was holding, but the double wrap didn't release - and I go pulled over. Nobody noticed my waving to stop until I was pulled over. Fortunately on a unpaved surface.

Afterwards, driver walked back and asked the question 'Do you want to be rolled back on the wheels?'

Duh!

[lancer360]

That is why it is important to just do a single 180 degree wrap around the roll bar and then wrap the tail around the tow strap several times. I'm not for tow hooks or straps on the front of the cars at this point either. I think proper training of personnel driving tow vehicles is the right answer.

[Daryl DeArman]

...and then there's this:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtzPTmUbbYw

Forward to 1:00 minute mark.

[allof6]

the someone /SCCA should do an instructional video on the proper towing methods and the responsibility of the tow driver and his spotter for all the vehicle types in the SCCA.

All track personal should attend a school at the beginning of the season and view these as well as anything else pertinent like driver safety in an accident and such. They should then receive an endorsement stating such. No endorsement no working at the track.

Just my two cents

[BURKY]

...and then there's this:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtzPTmUbbYw

Forward to 1:00 minute mark.

The same thing happened at Daytona a couple of weeks ago. But it was a worker, not a miata!!!! injured pretty bad too.

[jim murphy]

Looking over Clint's messed up #34 car from the tow flip, I noticed that the tow rope was still tied firmly to the top of the roll hoop with the end of it ripped apart and the loop end still there unscathed. It was weird to watch Dan actually use the loop to pick up the car! Lots of photos are being sent to the insurance dept at HQ.

Jim

[Steve Davis]

Jim,
I'm sure we are all INTENSELY interested to hear if insurance pays ANYTHING for the damage. Please let us know how it works out.
Steve, FV80

[jim murphy]

Jim,
I'm sure we are all INTENSELY interested to hear if insurance pays ANYTHING for the damage. Please let us know how it works out.
Steve, FV80

Will do. The chief steward said that this was a new coverage so we got the incident report and lots of photos and HQ insurance dept gave Clint the claim form to fill out and send everything in to them. In the meantime, Dan is working on it after his day job.

Jim