rice_classic

Some friends were playing with their chumpcar today so I went down with my camera.

rice_classic

There was an accident with a Civic on Sunday at this event (I was not there) Sounds like a rollover.

Is everyone alright? Is the driver OK?

I'm asking here because I know some members here were running the car.

KLR142

No love for the orange Volvo?
Socket Monkeys #39 white Civic hatch as shown in the pictures above(pre-accident). The driver is ok! The car is pretty well thrashed. They did indeed roll over, video is up now. Here's one of the threads about the race in which JohnW(car owner) posted a video of the crash:
http://forum.chumpcar.com/index.php?...rch-23rd-race/

Very sad to see, as they had just gotten the car together and this was their first race in it!

rice_classic

Thanks for the link. I'm glad he's OK and I hope he doesn't continue to take it so hard. Walk up and down the Paddock at any ICSCC/SCCA race and talk to the drivers, most folks aren't still racing their "first" car. I know I'm not. If he wants to talk to someone who knows what it's like to write off their first race car in their rookie season, just send him my way.

It was terrific meeting John and James while I was out there on Saturday.


Sorry I left out the Volvo:

KLR142

Haha, thank you!

No problem on the link. Regarding John, they've done a couple seasons with a '96 coupe, but the value was too high with the current rules so they backdated to the hatch. John is always out for the absolute most out of the car and I suspect it makes it a bit less forgiving. On Friday after doing the track day, they were upping their spring rates. Our old Volvo has really soft suspension(hopefully not QUITE as soft for the next race), but we've been on the podium many times.

johnjw

oops double post

johnjw

yeah we made good changes both days. its too bad was our new rental driver. total driver error. looks like a scandy flick into the curbs. I think he misjudged the corner after sleeping on it and seeing our lines on video back at the hotel the night before. oh well. we already have a car in the works. should be done in a month or two

our cars are slow compared so we HAVE to get the most our of the suspension/brakes. Plus James is crazy about alignments. Always has been. Its nice because I'm not sooo much. I can drive around alot of ill handling problems but he likes it spot on.

It was nice to meet you Colin always good to put a face to a name SOrry I couldn't talk more as you know we were super busy as it usually is during a racing weekend. Oh and thanks for the picture. We were so busy we never took any proper ones.

mattbatson

that seemed a little odd...where the tires cold or something?

I guess the car was turning right, then off gas, then turning left...so might get the rear a little light...but still seemed like it shouldn't have done it quite like that...

rice_classic

Yup, it looks like a tank slapper to me. Right after he's off throttle and turning there's a bit of a ridge there which makes a FWD car that is setup to be loose, very nervous. Your best bet is to do all your turning a bit earlier then open the steering before lifting/braking. But that corner is not easy to learn, it took me a long time to nail it.

Illustration of that section:




Here's an example of straightening it out. Notice how the steering wheel is turned straight right before lifting. Start at 1:16. Youtube won't embed it at the 1:16 point (or I'm doing it wrong)

Same car with similar spin but this one was caused by setting the right side tires off under braking.

johnjw

wow yeah that second video is similar to our minus ramping off the curbs. close call

the first one is perfect setup through that sectiond. so nice to not have to lift into the left hander that heads back up the hill and keep all that momentum. good work.

johnjw

later that day. team that pit next to us. wow!

topdog

iTrader: (1)

why didnt he keep going? Broken/bent tie rod I assume

KLR142

I'm glad to hear you already have another one in the works!!!

Regarding the cars being slow, well, yes and no... You have a ~140hp engine in a 1900lb(?) car? We have a ~135hp engine in a 2300lb+ car. Yes, we have probably another 30lb-ft of torque, but still. Your car is at least as quick as ours. Our fastest laps are basically the same, but I know I'm sucking close to every last ounce out of our old box, maybe you are or maybe you aren't doing the same, I don't know. As you know, we've podiumed multiple times and "could've won" more than once as well. Everything just has to go "right". HA!

Regarding alignment and suspension settings, you want to be in the ballpark, for sure, but you don't want it to be exact. If you're exact, that means you're set up on the slightly aggressive side, perfect for a sprint race where you're able to be completely on the ball the whole time. For an endurance race, you want to set it up to be a little more friendly so you can drive slightly more relaxed for a much longer amount of time. The risk of oversteer and the associated issues that come with it, especially on bumpy tracks with unpredictable drivers around you, is just not worth the .1-.3 seconds a lap a stiffer, more likely to rotate setup will get you on a flying lap. It's endurance!

Two broken wheels(Enkei). They got forklifted back into the pits and replaced the wheels, then went back out but had a brake hose fail on that lap so they had to call it a weekend. The alignment was obviously off, as well. They'll be back, though, so that's good news!

rice_classic

What a save! The turn of the steering wheel to the right while the car was on it's side totally saved what was about to become a write-off. Just wow.

Nice job!