Cant tell anything from the video Jim.

Did Everett or Tom have a camera?

It would be a great idea of we all ran cameras all the time. It is required in Nor Cal for SE30. Seems like a good idea to me.

I have video of my error and will try and figure out how to get it posted this weekend.

First off Eric I appreciate the spirit of your comments on what should be the tone and intent of pots on the forum. At the conclusion of the race Jim and I discussed the incident and I stepped forward and told him it was my fault. I misjudged his speed at the apex of riverside. This is a very high speed corner and just a minor tap can result in a spin. the link below to tube is my in car video. The end result was a contact report and a DQ for me and an apology to Jim from me. youtu.be/iO3k1SkXcVE

Sorry guys I haven't chimed in sooner. Yes, I was behind both of them and saw what appeared to me to be a situation where Tom just came up too hard on Jim in the middle of the turn. Nothing Jim did wrong in the slightest, in my opinion. Because they were in the middle of the turn at very high speed, it didn't take too big a push from Tom's car to spin Jim's car around. I had to brake hard in order to avoid hitting Jim as he spun round and round. I do have video, but unfortunately I am having some trouble getting it uploaded onto YouTube (probably the sort of thing my 13-year old son should be helping his clueless dad with).

Anyway, Eric, you would be happy to know that all parties handled this situation very well. I spoke with both Tom and Jim right after the race. Tom recognized his mistake and owned up to it immediately. I appreciated how well Tom handled it, and I appreciated that Jim was understandably upset but not unreasonable in the slightest about it.

As you say, Eric, we do have a good class -- great drivers who have fun together and who look out for and respect their fellow racers. All good out here in sunny So Cal.

Tom - thanks for having the stones to post your video up. We all screw up sometimes, but it takes the bigger competitor to own up in this way, so we can learn a bit.

First, the obvious. When you've made contact, back off harder. You may have been worried about losing the rear end if you back out, but 944's are pretty friendly, and you would have likely gotton away with just a little countersteer correction. Interestingly, the first small, bump (3:32 on both videos), just seems to have fixed what appears to be Jim's understeer (which may have been why you were catching him). If it ended there, I think no harm would have come. The second, longer contact, where you hear the motor load up a bit, is what sent Jim around.

The less obvious point is the tactical error that set this up. Being close early/mid corner does you no good - and keeps you from applying throttle until he does, which ruins and opportunity to pass the next straight. If you are catching someone that early in the corner, and don't have grip+speed to drive right on by the inside (pretty unlikely in a Spec class), back off early, apex late, and set yourself up to be closing as you unwind the wheel. It's better to be a little to late, and have to make up a car length (but be closing), than have to lift at track out (and watch him pull away until the next corner). The secondary benefit to this is if you give someone a little tap on corner exit, their rear is planted by throttle, and they are unlikely to spin. If we tap them early in the corner, before they are hard on the gas, their rear end is unloaded, and will go around very easily.

We often get sucked in to open holes (just because the hole is there), or trying to stay right on someone's bumper (we don't want to give up a hard fought foot of track position), even when it puts us in a bad position and/or is not a viable passing situation.

So the real lesson here is about racecraft more than anything. Getting close is part of racing, but do it when the benefits are greater, and the risks less (i.e. at track out). Developing the sense of timing, and the comfort with voluntarily backing off to set up a pass (hard to imagine when racing!) takes some time, but it's a very rewarding part of racecraft to develop.

As far as Jim, I'd agree not much to say here, other than stay in the gas here (can't quite tell if you kept it WOT), and fix whatever caused the apparent understeer to let him catch you there. I'm not sure if it's a setup issue, or a corner entry issue (too hot in, not enough trail braking to rotate the car), but there is speed to be had there, and you don't want Tom to take you there next time once he gets the timing right!

In the interest of full disclosure, I'll own up to one of my early lessons in racecraft I learned the hard way.

I was coming up on a Rookie/slower racer in a tight right-hand corner at a pretty good rate. I decided to stay way to the inside to "give him room", only to be horrified as he came all the way down to the apex from a late turn in/apex, and I couldn't square off the corner or back off enough enough to avoid hitting him hard in the mid passenger door. I was pretty unhappy to hear that he "never saw me", and I felt I had position.

Bryan Cohn, our race director at the time, and a very experienced racer took me aside and explained some basic, but maybe not obvious errors on my part that set up this situation. He later used this as an example for the rest of the group at large, and then comp school. Oh, the shame! (but I learned ). Nothing like a little good natured public humiliation to drive home the point!

My instinct to leave a wide berth was well meaning, but flawed, with several bad unintended consequences.

1) It put me in a terrible position to exit the corner and complete the pass.
2) It put me in a position that made it hard for him to see me.
3) It made the resulting contact hard, because closing speeds were greater from being further apart.

In contrast, if I had "skinned" the new guy, I would have been in a much better situation:

1) I would have been in control of the corner, and been able to delay his turn in, ruining his exit instead of mine.
2) The close proximity (and noise) of being right next to him would have made my presence *much* more obvious.
3) If there was contact, it would have just been a little rub, as the was no space to build any closing speed.

So now, I think of passing (especially in corner-entry situations) more in terms of how I can control the corner, and less about how I can speed by him. If I don't think I can put myself in a situation where I can control the corner, or at least set up for the next one, I should rethink the pass, and work at getting him at track out, or another corner/lap.

I often think of this lesson in situations where someone is complaining that the other guy "didn't see me". This goes double for the guys who are are frequently "hit" by others - the serial "victim" of contact. Often, it is because they put themselves in situations and positions that make contact more likely, or severe, even if an individual incident is "not their fault".

So, hopefully we've made something good and constructive out of all this!