[ausgeflippt951]

^ Best formula I've seen all week, Tony.

P.S., fun videos Steve and Bob. Congrats to your kid!...now buy him a suit that fits.

[trikslak]

I enjoyed the weekend. I have been to Road Atlanta about 6 or 7 times and it's almost always rained there at some point in the weekend. To say that you aren't going to race in the rain is to say that you are probably not going to have a complete race weekend. I believe that the risks in the rain are no worse than the risks in the dry. All in all it was a great weekend - unless you balled it up. But there were many who wrecked in the total dry on Sunday - can't really blame that on the rain.

[Hunter]

Originally Posted by roundel

T9 wet catch - YouTube

T9 does seem to be evil recently. I think the little dip at the apex combined with even a smidge of throttle will start a rotation.

Nice catch, textbook. I like how you instantly looked out the side window.

[Carrera51]

Robbie was doing great when I was watching. Kept his head. Look forward to getting door to door with him in the future.

[Potomac-Greg]

Originally Posted by Carrera51

Robbie was doing great when I was watching. Kept his head. Look forward to getting door to door with him in the future.

I respect the fact that he was racing, not just trying to knock off laps and get back in the pits.

I'd love to hear feedback on what you and your son thought about the substance of the school. (I have no affiliation. I just passed the school three years ago and would love to hear what you/he thought of it.)

[SilverStreak]

Originally Posted by TurboPooch

I have been watching this thread and folks have some very good insights and reasons for why the do/don't race in the rain....and I agree with almost all of them...it's different for everybody and the circumstances and comfort level they have with wet track driving at a competitive level dictate whether to run or not. I certainly would not run a $100K car in the rain because I could not afford to replace it. I have won races in the rain and I've also had my one and only car to car contact in the rain. Sad part is that I knew the contact was going to happen before it did because I let my testosterone level dictate that I had to beat a guy into T3 at Summit. Going too fast for conditions and soon as I hit the sealer at the apex and rolled on the gas, around I went and my right quater panel hit the guy next to me left front. I learned a whole bunch that day about keeping emotions in check.




Yes it was. Extremely slick conditions. But rain driving is also a great teaching tool for car control. This was my kid's second weekend on track and he passed the comp school. I was a nervous wreck everytime I watched him go thru T9 sideways.

SCCA comp School Summit Point 3 30 14 - YouTube

Awesome!

[Drscope]

Originally Posted by Ryan

LOL, give me a break dude. I race to go out, be competitive, have fun, win, and bring my car home in one piece. You ever been out in a race. Bad enough all the knucklehead moves by people in the dry. Compound that by 100 and that's what it's like racing in the rain with them. Sure if I'm racing a cheap POS miata, 944, or chump car. But risking $100k+ to just try and survive the people around you, No thanks. That one race could put your car out for the season. Called risk management. I know 2 guys at Road Atlanta who raced in the rain, now they are probably out for the rest of the season.

I purposely did not buy a set of wheels/rain tires so when at an event my stupider competitive side didn't have the option to go out. Although that didn't help much as I was scouring the paddock looking to borrow a set for qualifying at Sebring.

I think you are missing my point. A lot of guys will sit out a race in the rain because of the danger. And the reality is that the danger is ALWAYS there. Many of these same people who won’t take their car out in the rain because of the danger simply fail to acknowledge that the same dangers are there in the dry.

And sometimes those dangers in the dry are a lot higher risk. In the rain you usually have everyone just tippy toeing around, while in the dry everyone is going at it usually harder then their skills can handle. Speeds are higher in the dry and therefore impacts are harder.

The only thing I’m saying is don’t let a sunny day fool you into thinking the danger is gone. It’s always there.

And as for my racing experience, I have spent many years around the autocross course as well as the race track. I was fortunate enough to be associated with many very successful cars and drivers. I have had race wins in many different vehicles from a VW bug to GT-Pinto, 911 and even in a Carrera Speedster GT in the sedan category. In Formula cars I have won races in Formula Ford, Club Ford and F2000. I ended my motor sports driving experience with a very successful Formula Atlantic campaign with 10 wins in a single season. So I've done a lap or two in all weather conditions.

[CanAm]

^ It's valid to distinguish between perceived and real risk. But this particular question can potentially be answered empirically. What are the stats, if available, as far as club racing incident rates and outcomes in wet versus dry conditions?

[deutschkar]

[N0tt0N]

I like the flowers the rain brings... and rainbows...