Not a good day for me today!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fact5racer]

I was testing this afternoon at NHIS running in the 1:08s when on the last session I decided to put these 8 piston Brembos to the test into turn three. The as end swapped out to the right and put me straight into the tire wall. My whole nose with wings are history. But the good news is that the nose, which is a carbon fiber crumple zone did what it was supposed to do along with my hans so I walked away with minor bruising. Needless to say 07 is over for me racing wise.

[StephanAlfa]

Ouch!
I presume you were running chicane/chicane. If yes you were about 2 seconds lower than COM track record.
:thumbleft:
Hope you are feeling OK, that is the important thing. From what I heard from Lou M. after the Glen incident, start taking Advils NOW. Then again you should know that by now...

[fact5racer]

Yes, it was chicane-chicane. Problem is finding replacement parts for a 97 Champcar.

[dinoracer]

Sorry to hear, hope you get it fixed sooner than next year!

[fact5racer]

I just got the video emailed to me if someone know how to post it.

[nhsilversti]

sorry to hear about that failed test. you walked away thats what matters.

does this mean you are not selling the car on ebay now?

ted

[fact5racer]

Once I repair it I will, Sad part is that I really love the car, it's just the lack of spares that will kill me.

[nhsilversti]

you remove a couple of the 0000000's from the price and ill buy it

[rajito]

Eeek! I bet that will be a bit more expensive to repair than my damages when my car got into a disagreement with the turn 1 guardrail, which also happened at an open test day.

Raj

[brucesallen]

Eeek! I bet that will be a bit more expensive to repair than my damages when my car got into a disagreement with the turn 1 guardrail, which also happened at an open test day.

Raj

And more expensive than the May 5 SCCA National qualifying where I backed my Formula E into the tire wall at the same spot after passing an S2000 in the marbles. I walked over to my SCCA Enterprises Customer Service rep, got a bunch of parts for $650 and bolted them on, got out my 8 foot carpenter's level and was back in the afternoon qualifying.

[fact5racer]

Upon review of the accident it isclear that the main reason (though still all my fault) is that i had the brake bias off. my friend that saw it happened clearly saw the rear tires lock up with smoke surrounding them. In the video it is clear that the fronts never did. If I had the bias correct it would probably been avoided. Good news is that I found both noses , road course and speedway for the car so I may buy both, and keep one for a spare. Price isn't bad either...$2,000 for the road course and $1,000 for the speedway. Seeing the original price sheet that I got with the car shows the roadcourse nose and wing retailing for just under $40,000, $2K is a bargain! I really hate to sell this car because it is such a rush doing 1:08s around NHIS, I can image running it at Mt Tremblant!!!!!!

[enjoythemusic]

Good news is that I found both noses , road course and speedway for the car so I may buy both, and keep one for a spare.

Congrats! Yes indeed spares are a very good thing so buying all yo can is a good thing. Am sure that car easily smokes a well-prepped FC or FSCCA so there is little chance of you wanting to slow up.

Ahh yes, the need for speed

[fact5racer]

It's tough because as much as I love driving at these speeds reality falls under the #1 Rule to racing: Do not race what you can't afford to lose! I am afraid by driving this car after I fix it I will be breaking this rule. I think the smartest thing for me to do is to fix it, sell it and go back to running factory five spec racers. That way I can race wheel to wheel in NASA and do occasional events with COM. Last time I had a FFR get totaled (25 hrs of Thunderhill in 04) the factory graciously gave me basically a free kit to replace it. Sad part is that little did I know on Thursday up until I crashed was probably the most enjoyed day in my life. Truely a dream come true!

[JackFFR1846]

#1 Rule to racing: Do not race what you can't afford to lose!

Ah....so I'm not the only one who lives by this.

Sorry to hear about the mishap. Are you going back to an FFR of some kind? (I can't keep up with which FFR you currently still have)

jack

[enjoythemusic]

It's tough because as much as I love driving at these speeds reality falls under the #1 Rule to racing: Do not race what you can't afford to lose!

Ahh yes indeed. Was told long ago that whatever one drives on the track they must have the midset of simply pushing it off a tall cliff and being able to walk away without much fuss.

I am afraid by driving this car after I fix it I will be breaking this rule. I think the smartest thing for me to do is to fix it, sell it and go back to running factory five spec racers.

That is a great car those F5's! Of course you could go with the FE like Bruce or around half that cost a used FC. Of course SCCA is pushing their FE and spare parts for an FE at a National event are usually at the track. FC parts are also easy to get and at the track for the F2000 races and parts are plentiful.

That way I can race wheel to wheel in NASA and do occasional events with COM. Last time I had a FFR get totaled (25 hrs of Thunderhill in 04) the factory graciously gave me basically a free kit to replace it. Sad part is that little did I know on Thursday up until I crashed was probably the most enjoyed day in my life. Truly a dream come true!

You are indeed a lucky man! You have enjoyed driving a great car! Frankly, all of us at COMSCC, NASA, SCCA, etc are blessed as very few people are able to experience the joys of driving a proper track car at speeds. Sure the financial costs of tracking ANY VEHICLE are what they are... depending how deep you want to go

How many people can say they drove an Indy car at the track? You have! So for that i tip my hat to you, sir, as life is filled with such joys and great experiences.