I agree, it's unfair to pass judgment on someone you don't know based on just one or two videos. For all we know, the hit in the IT7 clip was not intentional and the driver who initiated it (instead of being patient for one more turn) also regrets it. Nevertheless, it was a hit that was completely avoidable IMO, as was the hit on our car that lb2 is referring to. Being “very aggressive” can never be an excuse.
"as far as locking my brakes up I was definitely on the gas when I hit you, but you were trailing your brakes missing the apex just in case you forgot"
I guess we all are free to chose the way we race (to a certain degree), but generally speaking, IMO just because someone is trailing his/her brakes and/or missing an apex is no where near enough justification to *hit* them. That's at least what this statement implies, but I hope I just interpreted it wrong.
I've only started racing in Feb '00, but have been involved only in three car to car contacts of any kind (rubbing, etc.), all three of course unintentional. I believe that if we actually try to stay clean, we can stay clean. But it all comes down to how much you try. The incident described above with me driving during last year ARRC’s enduro involved lapping a rookie IT7 driver (his first race) in T3 where we locked our front wheels together, sending us both into the tire wall. With the blue flag waving and seeing him driving off line, I honestly believed that he was clearly letting me by, but as I later found out, he did not even know that someone was around him. Even though this incident further hurt our already unfortunate race (due initially to the early T10 incident), I did not hesitate to find the IT7 driver as soon as I finished my stint to *apologize* myself for not being more patient. But to my (pleasant) surprise, the IT7 driver was actually the one who started apologizing profoundly for the incident and hoped that I was not mad. He said that this was his first race and it was all a little too overwhelming, and so he just did not check his mirrors (or the corner stations) also due to the sun in T3. After that we talked and laughed for another 20 minutes or so and became buddies. And that’s what it’s all about.
Moral of this story is that our actions both on and off the track are very much under our control. Those who *want* to be clean drivers, can be clean drivers, while those who do not, well...
The racing we're doing in IT is all for fun, and it should not have a place for people who don't strive their best to be clean drivers ABOVE all else - yes even above winning! Lets all learn something from all this. Have a great day.
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Alex
