RE: Crashes

[philip.hehir@domain.elided]

John,
Normally, as a racer... I often hit the go-pedel to avoid flat spotting the
tyres which can ruin a set of tyres during a spin, and if you do recover and
continue with flat spotted tyres it can cause mayhem in the form of vibration to
bearings suspension etc.

I have no exact idea if everyone does this for the above reason, but I must warn
that it is usually only done when there is plenty of run-off available an there
are no other driver in close vicinity behind me, as you do, and will, have less
control over the direction of the vehicle.   I'm sure the commentators theory
that he "followed the latest theory" to put the car into a spin on the track is
a load of bollocks, as with any loss of control, normally most racers thinking
three things, recovery (at least attempt to), preservation (of life and car),
and re-start (Get the car in the right gear and hopefully facing the right
direction).

Trying to intentionally put the car into a spin on the track in front of other
racers is both foolish, and life threatening and negates the first two steps in
the aim of possibly achieving only the third.  As such I would then find it
difficult to accept that this would become the "latest theory", with a large
amount of responsible and dedicated racers out there.

Phil.


>
>Something has been gnawing at me since early in Sunday's tragic CART race.
>Upon reviewing Richie Hearn's crash one of the ESPN commentators said that it
>appeared that Hearn "followed the latest theory" and hit the accelerator as
>he began to loose the rear end, with the goal of causing the car to do a 360
>on the track rather than going off the track. Obviously it didn't work
>(assuming that the commentator was correct in his appraisal of the
>situation). I have never heard of this technique (I am not a racer) but the
>though of it seems to be _very_ questionable, and leaves me cold wondering if
>this technique might have been a contributing factor in Greg Moore's crash.
>Any comments?
>
>John Katos

------------------------------