So yesterday we had our first event of the year in the LV Regional SCCA SoloII. I Shouldv'e known the day would go the way it did because there was the thickest fog i've ever seen covering the town on my way out to the event, forboding doom!
The event happened out at Buffalo Bill's in Primm Nevada. The track was wet at first, but after a few runs the rising sun dryed out the track. It was a tight technical course (map below) which featured a crossover a nice sweeper a few double slaloms and some high speed esses leading to the finish. It was in the esses that the day became undone. At the apex of the second ess there was a slight divot. This was really messing with people as their suspension was being compressed at the worst possible time and people were spinning frequently in the beginning.
First it was a boosted RX-8. He was a true novice, first event ever. He was running on street tires and he had had one or two instructional runs i think. It was his third run when he lost it ! I heard he said he had the brake pressed and then hit the e-brake (big mistake!). But from the reports of the course workers he started to loose it and then he tried to save it. If you auto-x you know once youv'e started spinning your run is blown, just put both feet in and wait for the stop. He didn't and ended up hitting a concrete curb/median taking out a shrub and tapping a telephone poll. He tore the whole underside of the car up, front bumper gone, rear bumped tapped the telephone poll and he basiccaly tore out his intercooler amongst other suspension damage.
Second it was a 91 240sx with a boosted SR20. He was running on 205 R-comps when he basically lost it and tried to save it, he hit maybe three feet from where the RX8 did. He barley scuffed the pole with his front bumper, bent is front axle and A-arm, and a few body panels were bent too. I had been talking with him all day and he was a real cool guy, i feel so sorry for him i almost cried. We'll I had my Instinct hooked up in my windshield as a in car camera, and right as i was pulling into the staging area after my 8th run it catches the wreck in the lower left hand corner of the screen (i'll upload and post shortly) You can see the car fly five feet off the ground and pirouet over the median...BRUTAL !
Sorry for the long winded post, but it was insane !!

 

Crashes are bound to happen when you race cars.

 

ok so here is the video, look closely, at the end of the run at 1:43 you will see the wreck in the lower left corner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INhILC2OV5o

 

oh man that video is priceless

 

I'm lucky that there are a couple good sized parking lots around here without any major concentrations of poles. That course looked friggin dangerous. So many light poles!

I'd think twice before running that!