Viper at the track + stock brakes = trouble!!

[jons355]

Click on "Viper" to see the action! No sign of Warren anywhere along the pitwall so we can't pin this one on him. Just kidding Warren!! Can't decide if it really was the brakes or just bad driving (early apex w/ big lift??) Anyone know which track this is? Regards, Jon P. Conlon http://parabola.ath.cx/vids/

[Mike O.]

...the instructor in the car was not being forceful enough when he raised his hand to indicate that the driver had passed the beginning of his braking zone for that speed.

I also can't figure out what is happening with the revs since the driver's hand did not leave the steering wheel to downshift. Did he depress the clutch and then let it go?

I have yet to see a Viper driver that knows what the hell they are doing! For the most part, they are middle aged techy types who have stepped in enough **** to have way too much disposeable income. They compensate for lost ***** function with this awful looking car! I have ridden in both the RT/10 and the GTS and the construction quality is horrendous. Everything rattles and the ride is **** poor.

Fortunately, the car tracked straight. The driver was wrestling with the steering wheel to get the car to turn in and thank God it didn't. A side impact at that speed may have very well killed the instructor since it would have been his side that hit first.

I will think about this video every time I get into a car that is beyond my student's ability and be that much more forceful.

Mike O.

P.S. I have no idea which track that is.

[John/TSR]

...and why he chose to 'bin it' mid-corner rather than in the much more appealing run-off at the entry at that corner is a measure of his inexperience.

Know where you are at all times. Know where your run-offs are at all times. Know where you can 'bail-out' with minimal ambulance-ride penalties.

The Viper driver starts to 'fade-in' as he approaches the corner, although all involved
(driver and instructor...) know that there is a problem. Unclear from the video what the problem is (IN SPITE OF ALL THE MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACKING), although it appears that maybe he's lost his brakes. NEVER EVER EVER EVER commit to a corner if you haven't got a grip on the element before that.... i.e. the BRAKING !!!.

Every corner is a 2-3 step process. You need to be well ahead of the car, so that while you're on the throttle on the straight...you need to be thinking about your braking point and turn in point....and while your on the brakes, you're thinking about your turn-in point and your apex...and when you turn-in you're thinking about your apex and
exit....etc. etc. etc. etc.

Don't be in a big rush to jump into the right-hand seat. Stuff your ego into a bag, and
think about the implications of the hospital stay. If you've haven't had 100+ days of track or race experience, you're probably not ready to deal with emergency situations on the track. There will be all sorts of pompous drivel on the 'net about what the driver
should have/could have/might have done. Just watch the video, and think about what YOU would have done if you were in the left hand seat, and the brake pedal just did the 'Big Nothing' as you stomped on it at 140+. Face it...most of the noisy posters in the net would have done just what the driver did...in spite of what their keyboards say they might have done.

Just another example of "race car owner does not equal race car driver". Porsche guys seem to suffer the same fate at a high rate. Ferrari guys too.

There is something to be said for learning all the important skills and reactions in a much
more forgiving/lower horsepower car. You can crash hard enough to kill yourself in a Hyundai.

Learn to drive first. Only then are you ready for horsepower (and yes....I've had complete brake failure at the end of a VERY FAST straight, and I didn't hit anything....because I knew where the run-off's were and where I could burn-off some speed. but if it was at Carolina I would have inevitably it something, but not as hard as the Viper did).

Did this sound like a lecture ?

Good.

[WYSIWYG]

[Mike O.]

...it is most important to use this as a reminder that this is a dangerous game we play with serious consequenses.

Mike O.

[John/TSR]

It was aimed at all the hooey that's being posted all over the 'net regarding this clip. Seems it's the topic of conversation everywhere, much of it very entertaining and very wrong.

As Mike O. says - it ain't Disneyworld out there....it's freakin dangerous. How much horsepower and how sticky the tires will determine whether it's an open or closed casket.

Do not underestimate the hazards.