Unauthorized DE pass.. Black Flag?

[The Radium King]

well, i was the guy following the miata. all my attention was on him and getting past him, so i was late in seeing the spinning vette in front of him. as a result i offed in the rhubarb and when all the pieces stopped moving i carried on. our flag guys are quick and sight lines into the corner were good for upcoming traffic.

in the situation where i spun the corner is blind (albeit slow - a chicane) and both cars were justified in using the pass for 'situation avoidance'. i get that.

in the op's case i probably would have done the same thing. and i would have been wrong. i would have thought about it afterwards, discussed it, hopefully learned from it. just like op is doing. kudos.

i got taught to drive as fast as you can afford. if you have the reaction time to follow right up a tailpipe then do it - it's fun. if you don't then don't. situational awareness will give you clues - are you pressuring him by following too close - is he getting loose on turnout or making mistakes? is he not giving immediate pointbys indicating he's a novice (or full or testosterone and idiocy)? braking early? missing lines? are you at the beginning or end of the sprint (ie, what condition are tires and brakes in)?

ultimately, if you want to pass in corners then get a race licence. they'll teach you avoidance maneuvers as well. but think about this: you could have stood on the brakes and slowed in time, but were probably worried about the pack behind you - consequence of a rear-end collision - not the end of the world - street cars are designed for front and rear collision (crumple zones, engineered understeer). however, if he had spun or turned in in front of you - consequences of you t-boning him - potentially fatal. that's why cars that do uncontrolled passing have cages and door bars.

[Quadcammer]

what run group is this in? If its a novice or instructed intermediate group, I take slight issue with you and slight issue with cayman driver.

your beef: You came up on this dude pretty fast and I would guess he's a novice who is barely capable of processing getting his own car around the track. As a result, if I was your instructor, I likely would have told you to give him a bit of room going into the turn. Hard to tell from the video just how hard he slammed on the brakes.

His beef: the cayman driver should have been aware that you were closing behind him and if he wasn't, his instructor should have been. As a result, as soon as he got out of shape and recovered, his hand should go out the window to let you by.

If this was in a black or red run group, it would be a "sorry I went by you without a point by, but WTF were you doing out there?"

Without knowing what everyone was thinking, I think this would be chalked up to a ******************** happens, nobody got hurt, just give each other a lot of space our there, and move on.

[P_Carfahrer]

Originally Posted by Quadcammer

your beef: You came up on this dude pretty fast and I would guess he's a novice who is barely capable of processing getting his own car around the track. As a result, if I was your instructor, I likely would have told you to give him a bit of room going into the turn. Hard to tell from the video just how hard he slammed on the brakes.

This is exactly what I fault myself on. I didn't know until after talking to the instructor that is was her first day. It was a novice group and I should be kept more distance going into the corner.

[Quadcammer]

hey man, no harm no foul. I think what you did was safe and aware and sometimes people do erratic stuff.

The fact that you posted this shows that your heart and mind is in the right place in that you want to learn and be safe.

[Topless]

In an ideal world, slow down until you can determine if the car ahead just goofed or had a mechanical issue. It looks to me like the car ahead was momentarily lost on track. In a less than ideal world, avoiding contact is rule #1.

In this case the abrupt slowing was completely unexpected and maybe you were too close to react effectively in a novice run group. Sometimes the best choice is to go around and take your lumps at the black flag station. If the car ahead is nearly stopped, serious car contact is highly unlikely.