and it's a REPLICA, $2MILL

[chapo]

same rules apply to my much less expensive toys, desert or vintage race.
You want to drive it?
You wreck it, break it, etc. you pay.

its really simple. Its also why I don't drive other people's items in anger, or at all.

[Bill Douglas]

Late breaking news... Motormiester said they will fix it for a couple of grand.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by chapo

same rules apply to my much less expensive toys, desert or vintage race.
You want to drive it?
You wreck it, break it, etc. you pay.

its really simple. Its also why I don't drive other people's items in anger, or at all.

Good rule...one not always followed. A good buddy money shifted my car once not driving in anger, pulling into a freeway rest area...5th to 2nd at around 60 mph. Afterwards he manned up, said send him the bill. Ahhh, but that was before he went home and talked (?) with his wife. To shorten the story, I paid the bill, and my "good buddy" and I never spoke again. He could be dead now for all I know....

It was an expensive lesson, but I learned it well...

[alwaysflat6s]

A few bits of info relevant to this:

You can get very expensive one time track insurance for shunts. Octane Magazine paid for it during this test.

There is NO mechanical insurance written for these situations.

Most of what has been written has been by motoring journalists. Might they have a bias? The documents from the court case, which David Piper won overwhelmingly, are online. I have read that it includes written documentation that the journalist involved did not tell the truth in regards to aspects of this situation. I do NOT know the specifics of this but would like to read the entire thing so that I am not simply passing on rumors or ?? I don't like slamming an innocent person.. either way. I don't know either of these guys but David Piper has a very long reputation and I have never heard anyone speak badly of him. Perhaps we shall someday see something written giving Mr. Piper's side of the story. Meanwhile, I am not holding my breath. I suspect that the outcome of the case is enough for him. I have been on both sides of comparatively small situations like this. Thank God they all involved my cars and I managed to fix them myself. From my former life where I actually DID something.. I know only too well that when bad things happen and people feel pressured, the first thing that goes out the window is an analytical analysis of what happened in favor of "It wasn't MY fault!" This could be rephrased in the context of "You don't know someone until you see the person in a very difficult situation. Often times you discover a different person."... as pwd72s can verify.]

I don't know how a driver can analyze the experience of a 917K vs a 512M without wringing both of them out. It is either a story about a meaningless cruise about on a race track or how these two racing monsters actually compare.

This makes what to me is an obvious and interesting case for putting lots of minicams inside the cockpit to document exactly what the journo is doing with someone else's car. Or not. [Am I the only one who remembers Damon Hill frantically resetting the rev counter Tattle-tale after he over revved a 250 GTO at Goodwood a few years ago?]

I wonder if a liability umbrella policy would have covered the journo?

Regardless. A shame.
JR

[motion]

And who could forget Stirling Moss throwing away a $10mm Ferrari at Laguna Seca a few years back?

[ted]

If he said he would pay for damages when he borrowed the car then I think he should do what he said he would do.

No matter how qualified a guest driver is...
he is getting into an unfamiliar car that in many cases may have preexisting issues.
That is why I imagine a lot of Journalists don't drive every car they feature.
I no longer drive other people's cars or lend my car to a anyone.

I agree though if you just give your keys to somebody you can't expect them to pay for any damage.
But there are examples of good writers that may have used bad judgment in borrowed cars.

A journalist was writing an article about a local 911.
The car owner had offered that the Journalist could lap it at our local AX.
On his second AX lap the journalist had a wild spin with no damage.
When I saw him in the pits I asked him...
Do you know the first thing I think about when I spin on this track?
Light poles.

There was a journalist decades ago that got to test drive a top shelf 935. He wrote about the drive and how at the completion of his lap session he whistled into the pit entrance at 80 mph. He clicked off the motor and coasted the remaining couple hundred yards, maybe just to save time on the engine. As he coasted to a stop the mechanics were livid as the engine/oil pressure was off but the twin turbos were still spinning with no oil pressure.

When the Porsche GT first came out a few invited journalists smoked a clutch or worse.

I'd rather give my keys to a car journalist than an actor any day.