While you ECHC racers were dueling it out at CMP this weekend, I was doing a Friday, Sat., Sun. PCA instructional event up at the Glen with the Riesentoter PCA group. They are a great bunch of guys and I have been doing track days with them since the beginning, and I never miss an opportunity to go to the Glen and whoop it up....

Well, on to the report: I was driving my Lotus Super Seven (completely open car with no windscreen). The car has a full cage and all safety equipment (I race it several times per year with a few of the Vintage groups). I almost always wear my drivers's suit when I run this car, since it is so open and affords so little protection as compared to my Honda. Last weekend was brutally hot up at the Glen (96 to 99 degrees all three days) and I seriously considered just wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans instead of my 3 layer Nomex outfit; I finally decided to suffer and donned my complete suit, gloves, shoes, horsecollar, and of course full face helmet/shield.

The car ran AWESOME all weekend; up until the last rungroup on Sun. On the fifth lap I was madly chasing a RUF GTR 3.8, completing Turn 11 and entering the front straight when BOOOOOM! Big explosion sound and car jumps majorly sideways. Suddenly I can't see through all the steam and water flying up. Somehow, I gather up the car and keep it off the outside wall; shut off the motor and coast into the pits. My upper body feels hot, but is not burning; turns out the upper radiator hose/radiator interface exploded and the whole contents of the coolant system came up and through the louvers in the hood and landed on me. I climbed out of the car, soaking wet and steaming with 220 degree water/water wetter. I couldn't see due to my face shield being completely covered in streaky water/spots.

I was completely unharmed; took off the suit and it had totally protected me; zero burns anywhere. As an aside, the horsecollar kept all the hot water from getting down my neck. The horsecollar was soaked, too.

So, I guess I wanted to let you fellas know that the safety systems that Grumpy tells us about over and over and over really work. If I had decided to wear my long sleeve shirt and jeans the story would have ended differently. I think it would have ended with a trip to Skuyler County Hospital

The safety gear is expensive, but it only has to do its job once to be worth its weight in gold!!!

Later,
Todd Reid
#11 H1 Honda Civic DX-LS

PS ran a bunch of laps in the low low 2:14 range, full course. couldn't quite drop into the 2:13s.... (but it wasn't for lack of trying)

 

 

Yikes. That's rather a scary moment. Obviously I'm glad you're OK and that the stuff worked. The car alright?

BTW...it's been over 2 years since I've been to the Glen, but a 2:15 sounds awfully freaking fast.

--Karl, who rode in a Caterham once at VIR and decided he would own one, someday

 

Ahhh, the British strike again. (sorry George)

Glad you're okay, Todd!

Warren

 

yup.. I was happy with my 2:29's...

Will

 

LOL! At least is wasn't an electrical problem. You know, Lucas electrics and all...

Todd~ really glad to hear you came away unscathed. Burns from scalds can be awful. Scary situation no doubt...

 

Excellent first-hand reports like these save people's lives.

 

Glad you came out unscathed Todd. I'm sure you'll never deliberate on what to wear again. What's up with your HC car?

 

My HC car is fine and is down in the garage, resting up for Lowes... Preparing to get its *** handed to it by Yack and the #1 H1 car...

The Lotus Super Seven should be OK; just needs some cooling system repairs performed. I haven't tried to restart it after the big KABOOOOM! It still had good oil pressure when I shut it down, so I expect it will be fine. That 30 year old 1600 pushrod iron block/iron head motor is a TOUGH son of a bitch, to be sure!

Driving suit really needs to be cleaned! it stinks like putrid water/waterwetter!

Other than that, all is A-OK and can't wait for upcoming Hyperfest II. It should be a hyper long drive down to a hyper fast track featuring a hyper good time race!

Todd
#11 H1 Honda Civic

 

Hey! Thats My Line your Stealing There!!!!

 

our AGT car cruises at 1:55's.


as a sidenote, i've been physically on fire a couple of times and now i won't go near a racecar without all of my safety equipment.

-tony

 

Todd, that's pretty crazy sounding! I'm sure having that happen was the furthest thing from your mind, especially with it running so well. As said before, I'm sure you'll never wonder what to wear, at least when out on the track in that car.

Mike-who can't imagine just how exposed to the elements the driver of a Super Seven really is.

PS, was this Ruf a naturally aspirated car?

 

C'mon. Comparing a Grand Am GT car to the ECHC cars is like comparing the towing capacity of my dad's 1978 Ford Courier to my 2001 Powerstroke.

 

haha...sorry.

 

<< PS, was this Ruf a naturally aspirated car? >>

Yup; I think it is a 2001 RUF GTR 3.8. Engine is NA; I believe it puts out 390 hp stock. Car is light and suspension is set up. It was running Hoosier Radials and was flying. Beautiful car; I'd give my right arm to take that car out for a day or so at the Glen...

Todd
#11 H1 Honda Civic DX-LX

 

Do we have any moderators left in this forum? I'd guess not after all the crap going on lately.

 

fixed.