If I was Dan i would have been trying to pass him too. Laurent was obviously having some handling issues and if Dan could have sperated himself from Chris by passing Laurent, I call that race craft.
It's one of those cases of "shit happens". Dan has had some bad luck!! But it was also Laurent that got run over a few years back by a Miata. Very scarey as he was unconcious for a few minutes. Either one of those incidents would convince me that running a full cage is the way to go!!
I like to reply before I see other thoughts just to get my initial impressions on paper. The contact...it would seem that the first incident caused some 'looseness' with the camera car, maybe due to the contact with the wall. Even at less-than-10/10ths in the down-hill, he was fighting oversteer.
Then during the aggressive pass, he fights it through T1-T2...but I see him WAY outside at the exit of 2 - yet you still run up over him...so my though is that as he lifted to regain control, you were right on his bumper and were under power...and that resulted in contact.
Dave'
What was the Uphill Christian deal. I saw nothing I didnt expect to see other than you made a gutsy move down the inside for the uphill and passed a competiter and stuck him with a lapped car between you both.Dont know if I would have tried it, unless it was Gulick/ Lee Chee I was passing, Great Move.
Maybe I missed the deal you speak of.
Damn nice car, hope you enjoy it and bring it to NHMS so we can see it.
Dan'
Ummmm maybe discreation in Big Bend might have worked better. Just let him go. Give it a lift and let him get away, hes certainly faster. As evidenced by the fact he caught you twice. Live and Learn.
Hey Jeff, how's your ankle doing?? You know, the one you hurt when you put your (cageless) motorcycle down exiting 3 at NHMS?
(Damn, that was soo easy!)
Dan, The MG started from the back, and passed once. Then he went off, and was passing a second time. If it were ME, I don't THINK I would have contested the pass.
Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but it looked like his car changed after his earlier brush, and was very oversteery.
Watching the video, I was very surprised when I saw you on top of him. I ran it back in my mind: MG made aggressive move in 1, and had too much speed which carried him wide. I assumed he missed the second apex at BB (2) because he was too wide, but tried to carry too much speed and wound up wide. Then I GUESSED he got off the throttle to avoid a repeat visit, and you were close behind and ran over him.
I had no idea you had maintained an inside presence.
If it were me: (Big if)
-because he was passing me for the second time, and because he was clearly lapping faster (in order to pass me again), and because he's not in my class, and because I don't want to fill my mirrors with this tiny MG that WILL be looking for a sliver of a chance to get by, i would have let him go. I wouldn't have thought that he would have run interference for me for long, so i don't see the benefit in terms of protection...he would be more of a distraction.
Bear in mind I had just passed chris, no small feat, and wanted to stay there, checking up enough to stay on the drivers right of the turn would also have allowed Chris to pull right back around however I do see the point though of discretion. I did think we would both just track out though, I did not expect him to come right at that point.I like to reply before I see other thoughts just to get my initial impressions on paper. The contact...it would seem that the first incident caused some 'looseness' with the camera car, maybe due to the contact with the wall. Even at less-than-10/10ths in the down-hill, he was fighting oversteer.
Then during the aggressive pass, he fights it through T1-T2...but I see him WAY outside at the exit of 2 - yet you still run up over him...so my though is that as he lifted to regain control, you were right on his bumper and were under power...and that resulted in contact.
I admit, I'm not sure how often I would have attempted that pass again. I was pretty pissed off where I was and how much I kept getting slowed down. The cars in front were in different classes. (Both cars being passed in that section.) The green Miata... I spoke with on false grid and told him that if I got in front of him during the start and he was faster, I'd find a good place to let him by. He was appreciative. After the race he had forgotten we were not in the same class. We chatted and things are good now but wtf.other than you made a gutsy move down the inside for the uphill and passed a competiter and stuck him with a lapped car between you
Bear in mind I had just passed chris, no small feat, and wanted to stay there, checking up enough to stay on the drivers right of the turn would also have allowed Chris to pull right back around however I do see the point though of discretion. I did think we would both just track out though, I did not expect him to come right at that point.
I admit, I'm not sure how often I would have attempted that pass again. I was pretty pissed off where I was and how much I kept getting slowed down. The cars in front were in different classes. (Both cars being passed in that section.) The green Miata... I spoke with on false grid and told him that if I got in front of him during the start and he was faster, I'd find a good place to let him by. He was appreciative. After the race he had forgotten we were not in the same class. We chatted and things are good now but wtf.
Jake and others, here's the link. The uphill issue can be seen starting at the 6:02 mark.
http://youtu.be/GODg-7-AhgI
Yup, Yup and yup. I agree that sounds now like the way to go. At the time I really thought given the speed at which he passed me there was no way him and I would meet at the track out spot of that turn. I fully expected him to be ahead there. As I am coming around T2 I was holding on to the car looking down track. He was along side now and not a good spot to apply the brakes, I did of course left at that time a bit but.....I held it straight expecting us both to head down track for a bit and trend right for the lefthander setup with him now on the inside.Haha, just ask Ahbi about passign Chris! Kidding KIDDING Chris! (Chris if you're reading you handled that situation brilliantly.)
Hey, it's racing. Each of us SHOULD be trying hard..should be at our personal 'edge'.
The successful guys know where the edge is and where you can and where you can't go over.
Sometimes you have to ease back. Risk/reward ratio and all that. Dan, I think you've been very open minded in this, and thats great. What if I suggested that you ease back a bit in the second half of Big Bend, falling behind the MG, and then protect your position by staying left-ish in the short chute to the left hander, so Chris couldn't squeeze in?? Let him get an overlap to your right. I doubt he could hold it enough to be effective come the right hander onto No Name.
The main thing you want out of the left hander is to get your turn in on the edge of the track after the late apex so you can set up for No Name. Going in a bit tight shouldn't cost you the ability to do that, will protect your position, and costs just a tad of lap time. Or am I misunderstanding the dynamics/positioning of the situation??
(All of that assumes Mr MG would have either spun off drivers right, or tank slapped a bit using significant track width, mostly to the right, and that you'd be in a position to react and stay clear)
I'm not against blocking to prevent a car from advancing. However, once a car is even one foot beside another car, racing room should be given, at least on a straight