• From: Automation Alley
  • Registered: 2009-07-14
  • Posts: 206

Topic: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

It seemed to us that there was a lot more contact at Autobhan than in a normal race. We counted at least six new "decorative adjustments" to our sheet metal, and probably more, including a bent rear axle, two trashed wheels, and a removed bumper cover. Big props to the Autobahn staff for retrieving all of the bodywork that ended up in the grass, we actually wanted our bit back and are very gratefull that they recovered it!

But back to the hitting - one car totalled, as in, completely folded up, everyone had dents, it seemed that no one was able to avoid the impacts. What was up with that? This was hardly a super-technical course, and even in the rain, it wasn't that hard to keep things together. Did we have a bumper crop of people who really, truly did not know how to drive, or was there special magnetism in the air or something?

Otherwise, we are super-happy with our performance - only two flags (huge improvement!) and on the track for all but 90 minutes due to an exploded CV (and yes, we got hit in that wheel, too). We also loved the facility - the showers weren't quite up to GingerMan fancy, but the water was hot and the pressure was good. The flaggers were pretty darn good (light years better than GingerMan!) and the action on the South course was fun to watch, too!

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  • From: Romeoville, IL
  • Registered: 2009-12-12
  • Posts: 1,117

Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

I was actually impressed by everyone managing to avoid hitting our car when it was facing the wrong way all day Sunday.

I believe I was at tech when your car came in after contact, and the driver was furious. I also saw a wristband being snipped for aggressive driving on another team. This was our first race, so I don't know how it's "supposed to be", but my guess would be the fact that the track isn't so technical is why. There was a lot of passing going on all over the course since it permitted it. Our car was hit late Saturday and was never the same after that.

My one complaint with the event was when I flying down the straight, looked at race control for flags (none), and looked down to see a course worker running and already HALFWAY across the track in front of me. THEN the yellow came out. Had I been on the outside, I would have hit him for sure. If my harness wasn't so tight, I could have soiled myself.

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Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

We managed to leave without any dings or dents, well atleast any new ones.  Of it was our first race and started having power issues that popped up once the track started to dry so we were mostly trying to stay out of peoples way.  I do think each of drivers saw atleast  one spin right in front of them in the middle of traffic that somehow everyone would get around.

The car totaled was the one during the yellow right?  That I still don't actually understand.  I was telling my driver that the safety trucks left the track and get ready for a green, and he called back and told us about the wreck on the back stretch.

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  • From: Blue Springs, MO
  • Registered: 2009-07-10
  • Posts: 51

Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

We got a couple nudges on our back bumper, two that were light enough that it wasn't even noticed, and one that sent us sideways in traffic and got our bumper practically ripped off.
Better than my only other experience from CMP last fall, where just about every fender had damage.

  • From: Lockport , IL
  • Registered: 2010-08-22
  • Posts: 76

Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

We had had one of our drivers hit another car car due to a failed caliper (still our fault for not catching it) and for that we are all really sorry, but other wise I didn't witness any contact on track (other than the CRX getting totaled). This was also our first race and overall we are very happy with it.

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  • Registered: 2010-06-29
  • Posts: 22

Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

I don't think our car got any contact at all. I saw some contact while driving, but that was it.

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  • Registered: 2010-10-25
  • Posts: 3

Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

JD1969 wrote:

We had had one of our drivers hit another car car due to a failed caliper (still our fault for not catching it) and for that we are all really sorry, but other wise I didn't witness any contact on track (other than the CRX getting totaled). This was also our first race and overall we are very happy with it.

Did you hit the #88 Silver/Black Scirocco going into turn 1?  I assumed that whomever hit me had a mechanical failure, because there was just a split second of tire squeel and then the impact.

FWIW, I wasn't furious.  I was probably a bit excitable because the adrenaline was still pumping and at that point we were 2nd in our class and only a lap down.

-Paul

  • From: Wheaton IL
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 408

Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

I didn't think it was bad.  That was a short track for 85 cars.  Contact is inevitable.  If that retard that was driving the mr2 hadn't totaled that CRX it would have been a great weekend.

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  • From: Frisco, Texas
  • Registered: 2009-05-02
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Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

Sounds bad... Did they black flag everybody with contact? (I hope so) Contrast that to the last one at Gingerman... I've never seen cleaner racing in 20 years... never a stressful moment that whole race, and some good racing too.

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Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:forums.evolutionm.net/get/images/smilies/ttiwwp.gif

Or videos.  Was it just a few problem drivers or was it just a general epidemic of red mist?

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  • Registered: 2010-10-25
  • Posts: 3

Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

The flagging was extremely good at this event, although I don't think they were flagging people for contact unless it was a pretty big/obvious hit.

12 Reply by SteveO (edited by SteveO 2010-10-25 12:01 PM)

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Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

A decent race. Track was a lot of fun !!!! and you were busy all the time which makes it even more fun to drive. Turn #1  & #2 were a blast.
    This being our 7th race, I think with the professional drivers added into the mix with the "normal" drivers plus what seemed to us to be a lot more rookies then we have seen at other tracks added to some of the contact issues. Our only complaint (for lack of a better word) was people just not holding a straight & steady line while coming up on them. Too many cars moving at the wrong time and also seemed like a lot of them forgot they had a rearview mirror.
     Overall we chased a turbo problem the entire weekend and will take 10th place as a good finish. Thanks to Jay & also the Autobahn people for a Great race.

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  • Registered: 2010-10-25
  • Posts: 3

Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

DaveH wrote:

http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:f … ttiwwp.gif

Or videos.  Was it just a few problem drivers or was it just a general epidemic of red mist?

This is the incident that caused the most uproar (and carnage):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAt_wq0hzVc

It looked to me like the driving was much more aggressive than it had been two weeks earlier at Gingerman.  Others might see it differently.

-Paul

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Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

I forgot- the flagging was very good. I did not agree with some of the Yellow flag issues the first day. But as normal Jay listened and acted on it for the 2nd day.

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  • Registered: 2009-06-13
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Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

Parkanzky wrote:

It looked to me like the driving was much more aggressive than it had been two weeks earlier at Gingerman.  Others might see it differently.

Yeah...  I saw some pretty stupid aggressive driving that I didn't see at Gingerman.  The weird thing is that it was sort of consistent for a team of drivers.  Its like assholes sort of gravitate towards each other.

I kinda sorta don't mind dumb driving from the slower cars.  It keeps you on your toes.

Not that it matters, but I thought the flagging was very poor.

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Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

Parkanzky wrote:
DaveH wrote:

http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:f … ttiwwp.gif

Or videos.  Was it just a few problem drivers or was it just a general epidemic of red mist?

This is the incident that caused the most uproar (and carnage):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAt_wq0hzVc

It looked to me like the driving was much more aggressive than it had been two weeks earlier at Gingerman.  Others might see it differently.

-Paul

Yeah, just ran across that.  What was the guy adjusting his radio or something?

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  • From: Wheaton IL
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 408

Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

bingo wrote:
Parkanzky wrote:

It looked to me like the driving was much more aggressive than it had been two weeks earlier at Gingerman.  Others might see it differently.

Yeah...  I saw some pretty stupid aggressive driving that I didn't see at Gingerman.  The weird thing is that it was sort of consistent for a team of drivers.  Its like assholes sort of gravitate towards each other.

I kinda sorta don't mind dumb driving from the slower cars.  It keeps you on your toes.

Not that it matters, but I thought the flagging was very poor.

The flagging on Saturday cost us a probable top 10 finish.  I was told by one of the senior members of the flag crew that there was at least one station that was flagging people for passing under yellow incorrectly.  It was sorted out for Sunday, but it still sucked.

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  • JBgotM
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  • Registered: 2010-07-26
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Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

We had a blast and were doing pretty well (14th overall) until we popped a head gasket with about 40 minutes to go.

It seemed to me that the majority of poor driving was being done by only a few cars. Whats funy is, a couple of the fastest cars on track I had no issues with, it was a couplecars that were "almost" as fast that drove like asses.

We had 2 black flags on the weekend including 1 for contact, but we essentially got waived through both times because it was not our fault.

The flagging was fine at times, and then very inconsistent at other times. It led to a decent bit of confusion. I tried to err on the cautious side to avoid nuisance penalties.

19 Reply by Tullamore (edited by Tullamore 2010-10-25 11:01 AM)

  • From: Iowa
  • Registered: 2009-10-05
  • Posts: 91

Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

I was driving the car in the front of the bad pileup.  The rear of our Datsun was curled underneath the car.

The car that cause the huge wreck was the #2 MR2 with bullbars on each end.  He probably didn't even care about bumping people because he knew his car wouldn't get hurt, which it wasn't even after he totaled one car and nearly another.

http://www.fordmustang.us/gallery/d/47137-1/IMG_0646.jpg

Jay apparently didn't care that after being under four or five laps of full course yellow the MR2 wrecked two cars.  He could have killed people if he had hit one of the track workers trucks.  The MR2 was back out on track for the rest of the race.

What you don't see in the video was that there was a disabled car stopped on track next to the upcoming flag station which was still giving full course yellow and causing the congestion.

If everyone starts putting bull bars on their cars the impact on the drivers when accidents occur are start creating severe injuries.  I am still recovering from a very sore neck and am thankful I was wearing a HANS device.

The cars the MR2 damaged:

http://www.fordmustang.us/gallery/d/47140-1/IMG_0630.jpg

http://www.fordmustang.us/gallery/d/47134-1/IMG_0653.jpg

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  • From: INDIANAPOLIS
  • Registered: 2010-01-31
  • Posts: 85

Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

DaveH wrote:
Parkanzky wrote:
DaveH wrote:

http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:f … ttiwwp.gif

Or videos.  Was it just a few problem drivers or was it just a general epidemic of red mist?

This is the incident that caused the most uproar (and carnage):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAt_wq0hzVc

It looked to me like the driving was much more aggressive than it had been two weeks earlier at Gingerman.  Others might see it differently.

-Paul

Yeah, just ran across that.  What was the guy adjusting his radio or something?

I think he(the driver of #2 car) said he was messing with a ziptie on the shifter.

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  • From: Iowa
  • Registered: 2009-10-05
  • Posts: 91

Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

indysupra wrote:

I think he(the driver of #2 car) said he was messing with a ziptie on the shifter.

I as well heard that is what he told the judges as his excuse for smashing into cars on a full course yellow.

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Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

wow, that was a pretty brutal hit. I'm glad nobody was hurt, but it does seem odd that they are allowed to continue with those kinds of reinforced bumpers.

  • From: Oklahoma City, Ok
  • Registered: 2010-02-16
  • Posts: 70

Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

JBgotM wrote:

It seemed to me that the majority of poor driving was being done by only a few cars. Whats funy is, a couple of the fastest cars on track I had no issues with, it was a couplecars that were "almost" as fast that drove like asses.

We had 2 black flags on the weekend including 1 for contact, but we essentially got waived through both times because it was not our fault.

The flagging was fine at times, and then very inconsistent at other times. It led to a decent bit of confusion. I tried to err on the cautious side to avoid nuisance penalties.

I hope I wasn't one of those asses you are referring to. We where involved in 5 incidents. I touched someone 1 time and we were touched 4 times. It seemed like people some people were not watching their mirrors and holding their lines. It got better as the race went on and we learned the characteristics of each car and driver.

Also, the yellow flagging on the second day got a little confusing. Some stations would show yellow very well while others (turn 4) would kind of hold it up a waist level with the flag drooping. I nearly got into trouble several times due to that.

But all in all had a great time and finished 8th. Our last race we finished 9th so I guess this means that we will have to race 7 more times to win.

Cheers,

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  • Registered: 2009-10-14
  • Posts: 3

Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

Marc wrote:

wow, that was a pretty brutal hit. I'm glad nobody was hurt, but it does seem odd that they are allowed to continue with those kinds of reinforced bumpers.

I agree.  They've been at every event I've been to and I just have to shake my head and wonder how they got by the "no nerf bar" rule.

  • From: Iowa
  • Registered: 2009-10-05
  • Posts: 91

Re: Excessive contact at Autobahn???

unixgeek wrote:
Marc wrote:

wow, that was a pretty brutal hit. I'm glad nobody was hurt, but it does seem odd that they are allowed to continue with those kinds of reinforced bumpers.

I agree.  They've been at every event I've been to and I just have to shake my head and wonder how they got by the "no nerf bar" rule.

Friday night they were actually driving the car around the paddock bragging how they cut the front and rear trunks off the car so that they could get past the "no nerf bar" rule.

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