Bang and bash Historic racing.

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

I very enjoy very much spectating at historic race meetings; to see all of those magnificent cars being "raced" at 10/10ths is incredible.
However crashes do happen & it is saddening to see the wreckage in the paddock after some of the races.
The owners of those cars know well, that these things can & do happen & I envy them their wealth to be able to take that chance every time they go out on track.
On the other hand I do query their mind set because in those old cars they can seriously bend themselves as well.
Fortunately I've rarely witnessed crumpled drivers at those meetings I've attended; the worst offenders & the most serious crashes seem to occur in lower value cars such as Caterhams or Formula Ford but that may be put down to the drivers having more competitiveness than experience.
Thankfully the guys who race the extremely fast F2's, F5000 type of car are able to run fast competitive races without messing things up too much; at those sort of speeds in those old type of cars things could get tragically messy indeed.

Just my take on the subject.
John

[twincamman]

well John - one just cannot drive 10/10ths consistently and expect to survive . G.V. Sr proved that .A great driver but we drivers knew the inevitable was going to happen . you have to weigh the odds and ease up once in a while . My 30 plus years of driving have seen 4 drivers pass away in regular racing and one in vintage and a couple severely damaged at 2 local tracks , about one fatality every 6 years . Eventually the odds catch up ,not through carelessness but by not showing respect FOR the other competitors , a tin cup does things to peoples heads , some newer competitors feel they become empowered and invincible when strapped in a car .They don't realize its called 'the cruel sport' because it culls the best in a very sad fashion -It may be we are now getting the spoiled children of the of the 80s in the sport -most new drivers are 18 to 20 come with Daddy of the the deep pockets and have never touched a car part other than the steering wheel and the crash rate has sky rocketed -also in vintage you can drive a bugeye one year and a Canam car Atlantic or F1 the next if you can afford it , a very dangerous situation --ed

[Jens]

Ed,

Both me and my younger brother were two of the 18-20 year olds you refer to. What I mean to say is that, eventhough I understand where you are coming from, not all of us are/were reckless or stupid whilst driving.

What bothers me is that there are people out there running unique sports cars seemingly not understanding what cultural values they are actually dealing with. Sadly that most often happens when people have no "feeling" for the toys they have and show no respect for the other drivers around. It almost seems as if the skills often shown in WTCC, STCC and BTCC eventually find their way down the lines to the happy amateurs driving around. It is a shame that the stewards do not more often punish bad behaviour during the "big" races as I think this would eventually show itself in the "lower" classes as well.

My two pence....

Jens

[twincamman]

Jens ----that is the spirit ----most kids here arrive and drive have never driven a standard -have no idea about heel toe -thresh hold or trail braking let alone how too downshift or even how a clutch works ---they just jam the shifter into the required gear and let the motor do the work and soon comes the tap and then the knock and wont come in until the motor is destroyed and for respect for the other drivers and the equipment its - 'unnnh I didn't hear nothin --or drive into a fellow competitor and say ---uunnhhh 'I didnt see you' - ---- I must be a dinosaur ---ed

[elansprint71]

Pete,
Go see a psychiatrist, and soon.
Andrew

Charlatans, swindlers and mountebanks.

Have we met?

[elansprint71]

Jens,
Your post absolutely sums up my feelings, there is no need for anything other than accidental contact in historic car racing. If we want to see bumper cars we can go to the fairground.
Some very bad examples are being set by the wealthy folks who have invaded our old car sport.

Ed,

Both me and my younger brother were two of the 18-20 year olds you refer to. What I mean to say is that, eventhough I understand where you are coming from, not all of us are/were reckless or stupid whilst driving.

What bothers me is that there are people out there running unique sports cars seemingly not understanding what cultural values they are actually dealing with. Sadly that most often happens when people have no "feeling" for the toys they have and show no respect for the other drivers around. It almost seems as if the skills often shown in WTCC, STCC and BTCC eventually find their way down the lines to the happy amateurs driving around. It is a shame that the stewards do not more often punish bad behaviour during the "big" races as I think this would eventually show itself in the "lower" classes as well.

My two pence....



Jens

[Jens]

Can't we promote Swedish Folkrace among the ones that like to push competitors out of the way rather than overtaking them in a sportsly manner? Would probably save quite a few classics.

[cabc26b]

Pete -

I use to judge what kind of weekend I would have at the track by number of 18 wheel transporters were in the paddock. More = less. There was also a strategy at the largest event on the east coast here in NA that said sit out the practice sessions until the problematic (kind word) entrants had culled themselves from the field.

G

[elansprint71]

In Octane magazine this month, Tony Dron again gives his views on the subject. He has been around the block a few times and talks a lot of sense.

[florawills]

Things are starting to get a little out of hand now that moneyed folks are "racing" old cars.

This photo (not mine) from Donington yesterday; evidently a Seven banged into Elan #36 and then the other one ran up his arse.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16329766@N07/5545791255/

Amazing Classic Car pics!!!!

[Jens]

As I was thinking of taking the family Estate to the Nordschleife before the autumn and/or winter really sets in, I ran in to THIS VIDEO. Take a look starting aroudn 9:40, at 9:55 the pile up gets even worse.e Nordschleife needs some TLC, that is one thing that's for sure. Unfortunately they have chosen to do this during "Touristenfahrten", hence creating a bit of a PITA for some. The sign signalling that there are roadworks ahead is positioned just at the apex, not really a great place. But, evenso, if you are heading out for a few laps of the NS then I reckon you would actually take a lap at, let's say, 6/10 just to inform yourself about track conditions. Especially when there is a big matrix sign warning about road works in the pit.

Unfortunately 8 (!) cars were hit because some schmucks didn't go for a shake down run first. The last driver to crash into the pileup was... A BMW Ring Taxi. I would have thought that the guys driving the RT's would be professional enough to slow down before the roadworks, not taking any unnescessary risks.

I feel sad for the guy whose Corvette more or less got T-boned by the Ring Taxi, in total there were 8 cars involved - damage is estimated to be far above ?100,000...

Cheers
J