Unauthorized DE pass.. Black Flag?

[JayG]

Completely disagree with you

in both spins, it was not a pass, but avoiding (or trying to avoid) a spun car on the track.

That was not a bad habit but good driving, avoiding the spun car. Its unlikely the Miata could have stopped in that distance, especially in a corner and likely had the Miata locked it up the car behind would have rearended it

in the first case, it was a car that was having a problem and got off the line to allow the rest of the pack to safely get by. Stopping on the track would have caused a much bigger danger than safely passing.

Yes rules are rules., but rules also allow for driver judgement in other than normal situations. As a driver you have an obligation to prevent contact with another car. Point by passing is for passing zones, and its likely that the car that slowed and moved over, the driver was dealing with their problem and since it was a corner, a point by was the last thing they were thinking of.

As an instructor, I would have my student get off the line if having a problem to get out of the way of other cars, and off the track if possible and hopefully a corner worker would throw the yellow or if really bad, red flag

[The Radium King]

Originally Posted by JayG

in the first case, it was a car that was having a problem and got off the line to allow the rest of the pack to safely get by. Stopping on the track would have caused a much bigger danger than safely passing.

i gave up my career in mind reading when i realised i couldn't read minds. in the op's case i have no idea why that car was doing what it was doing. was it getting off-line to let him by? then where was the point-by? perhaps he was having a stroke? obviously he was having some kind of issue and driving erratically. so - good idea to introduce more variables? increase the risk? pass him unknowingly?

the fact that there was no point-by is a good indication of a new driver lacking situational awareness. again - good idea to sneak up beside him in a corner?

ps, he didn't stop, he slowed down. so slow down. nobody is stopping in the middle of the track here (unlike the examples i posted). if there was time for the op to apologize then there was time to get on the brakes. sorry no warm fuzzies from me; i agree with the instructor.

[P_Carfahrer]

Originally Posted by The Radium King

he didn't stop, he slowed down. so slow down. nobody is stopping in the middle of the track here (unlike the examples i posted). if there was time for the op to apologize then there was time to get on the brakes. sorry no warm fuzzies from me; i agree with the instructor.

I said sorry after I was already through and because I believe in following the rules and had broken the letter of the rule. Because of me being a rule person I tend to side with TRK and my instructor friend and even drove me to come clean with the directors even though I had not been flagged. However, I still have a hard time thinking I could/should have done anything different. Should I have? Based on the differing opinions, that is debatable. Could I have safely done something else without significantly increasing the risk? Having been in the driver's seat actually experiencing it, I don't thing so.

The Cayman slowed so abruptly that about 1.5 seconds passed and I was already door to door and carrying much more speed. At best, factoring in reaction time in this unexpected event, had I hit the brakes, I would have slowed at best to be at their side through the corner, making the possibility of the other driver turning into my side, or if I had slowed down a bit more, coming across my nose, much higher. At worst, hitting the brakes hard mid corner may have caused me to understeer right into the Cayman door or oversteer into a spin myself.

The miata had at least six seconds from the start of the Vette spin to impact. It is interesting that the car following the miata also didn't slow. Could the Miata have slowed/stopped in time to avoid contact? It seemed to me that the driver let off the brakes slightly thinking the Vette was sliding to the inside and they could get through to the outside. The Vette though obviously did not have both feet in and came came back across the track closing that window.

The lesson I will take from this, with the understanding that I am running in groups without a lot of experience, myself included, is to not allow myself to close so quickly coming into a corner. I should not have run up their tailpipe off a big braking zone coming into a hairpin. I could see I was coming up fast on the Cayman from quite a way off and should have slowed earlier to maintain more space coming into the hairpin.