I was seventh!

[ted]

Funny video from Rennlist.

[Jack Olsen]

Haunting.

[Jeff Alton]

[cstreit]

The production was funny, but that's the kind of nut-job in a $2500 POS that dings up your nice Porsche race car. I can't believe they didn't ban the guy. If I was the steward I think I would have tossed him out for a few years...

SCARY!!!

[ted]

Agree Chris, a cool shirt might have helped too.

[Chuck Moreland]

I like the starter. She keeps edging further and further in front of the car to keep him from going, but never looking at him or telling him to cool out. Talk to the hand! You can see her sigh with irritation a couple times.

[Jim Richards]

The video was hilarious. The guy was a dope.

[jluetjen]

The scary thing is that (note this CStreit) even though his novice permit wasn't signed off (for justifiable reasons), he may very well now turn up in one of the other sanctioning bodies. Anyhow, it's just another example of why novice racers need to read the whole rule book, not just the preparation specs (if they even get that far).

Admittedly the rules are somewhat ambigous in this case, but his misplaced grid placing is one of those things that you sort out after the race if someone protests you. Passing under a yellow is just something you never do.



The video was great and should be required viewing at Racing Schools world wide.

[cstreit]

John,

You're right about that. Seems to be an east-coaster though. I sent it to my local forum for their amusement.

Other than the obvious danger of passing while people are warming up their tires, the thing that really gets me is that the guy is trying to get his novice sign-off. Yet he CLEARLY makes a bad decision. There is NO ROOM for bad decisions on the racectrack. None.

I've failed students that were good drivers but made a bad decision that they 1) Had enough time to think about, 2) Stood nothing to gain from their maneuver, 3) Should have just been patient and made the decision to be careful in order to get their license.


I assume the starter thought he was dead-in-the-water and that's why she let everyone by. I've had this happen before, unless you have a verbal understanding, it never works out. I had the starter point me to the outside pole when I requested the inside once. I took the inside and the guys behind me figured it out, but honestly I should have just stayed in the same spot.

[jluetjen]

Originally posted by cstreit
Seems to be an east-coaster though.

What's wrong with that???

the thing that really gets me is that the guy is trying to get his novice sign-off. Yet he CLEARLY makes a bad decision. There is NO ROOM for bad decisions on the racectrack. None.

I've failed students that were good drivers but made a bad decision that they 1) Had enough time to think about, 2) Stood nothing to gain from their maneuver, 3) Should have just been patient and made the decision to be careful in order to get their license.

Apparently the SCCA stewarts were in agreement with you. If this was his second regional on his novice permit, it was his last requirement prior to getting signed off. If he didn't get signed off, he'll have to do another regional on his novice permit (essentially on probation). I'm pretty sure that the chief stewart(s) had a talk with him when they returned the unendorsed novice permit.

That being said, I guess I'd have a hard time with the absolutest statement "There is NO ROOM for bad decisions on the racectrack. None." My experience is different. I've made errors on-track. So have others. A test that I've heard used by the SCCA stewarts in my region is "Would I want to be on-track and race with that guy". If the answer is "yes", you get signed off. If the answer is "no", repeat the process. In my case I had a couple of false starts before I got signed off. Ironically, I crashed in one of the last sessions of the last school prior to me being signed off for my first regional. What's up with that?

1) While I hadn't necessarily crashed in my earlier schools, I was still inconsistent on track. I failed the "would you race next to me" test.

2) In my last school I was spotless the entire event. In the last lapping session prior to the "practice starts" I saw one of the instructors coming up behind me in a FF2000 (I was in a Sports 2000 and had pretty much the fastest car of the students). I chose to back off on my braking zones a little to ensure that I would finish the school, basically I was driving about 80% rather then 90% or 95%. The problem was that by doing this I started braking while turning and cresting a hill. I looped it and backed into the wall.

3) After the event the instructors came by and asked me what happened. I told them. They were fine with that and signed my novice permit and gave it back to me. I could go racing!

My point? To err is human. How you recover is almost more important then the fact that you erred in the first place. The driver in the video compounded a minor error (chosing not to leave the grid in order) with a major error.
We're in violent agreement. He didn't deserve to move to the next stage of his race training yet.

PS: A certain (non-Rookie) M. Schumacher did the same thing (to a lesser degree) at Silverstone in 1994.

[SandyI]

I did appreciate the different line readings:
I was seventh.
I was seventh.
I was seventh.
And my favorite...
I WAS SEVENTH!
But racing through the pace lap was truly frightening.
Happy Halloween indeed.

[Rob Channell]

Kinda reminded me of "Oncoming!!!!!"