[Mark Hubley]

I spent July 4 and 5 at Road America for an HPDE. This was my first time back to RA since the motor in the 996 failed there on July 4th weekend in 2020.

I did this event a few years from 2016 to 2020, and I became friends with some other attendees that parked in the same area. Let's call them "Bill" and "Sally." They have been attending the event regularly since the 1990's. At this most recent event, they invited me to dinner with them on the evening of the 3rd, and they and some of their other friends were very welcoming of me.

In just the 2nd or 3rd session on Friday, Bill came off the track early and said he had a problem with the steering. Going through turns, the steering was "loose," and on the straights, the steering wheel wasn't straight. He and some of his crew quickly got the car on jack stands and they checked on tie rod ends, ball joints, etc. They could not identify a failure, but figured it could be a problem with the steering rack--maybe a broken tooth? Despite the fact that he knew he had a problem with the steering, he took the car back out for the remaining sessions on Friday. No surprise, the symptoms persisted.

Saturday morning, he took the car out on track again. I do not think that was safe at all, and I think he put himself and other drivers at risk. I thought about saying something, but I did not. The problem solved itself soon enough, as during his first session on Saturday, the power steering pump failed in such a way that the pulley came loose and the serpentine belt shredded. He quit after that.

On my lengthy drive back from Wisconsin, I wondered if I should have tried to get Bill to stay off the track.

If I was aware of a problem with my steering, I would not go out on the track.

[BlackTalon]

For me personally, I would like to think I would have said something (Dog knows I did several times over the years I participated in DEs). My approach is the same as your thought -- "Do you feel okay with putting other people -- and their cars -- at risk? Because if the source of the issue hasn't been pinpointed yet, you really don't know what might suddenly fail while on-track and how that may affect others around you at the time and those driving further back behind you. it would definitely suck to trek down here and pack it in early because you don't know what's wrong with your car, but it would suck a lot more trying to explain to someone who got hurt or whose car got damaged why it was worth it to you to drive out there when there was a potential for a serious problem. Oh, and that you're really about the tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills and car repair costs they will be saddled with."

[Dr K]

David is a "tech guy" so he's going to skew towards safety...but I agree with him 100%. This is a huge risk on any track, and even more so on Road America. I wouldn't take Bill's keys, but I'd tell him he shouldn't be driving.

[Patrick3000]

Mark, serious question, when your 996 motor failed at the same track in 2020, did you have any symptoms prior to the failure

[Mark Hubley]

Originally Posted by Patrick3000

Mark, serious question, when your 996 motor failed at the same track in 2020, did you have any symptoms prior to the failure

No. It seemed to be running fine. In about one second, approaching turn 5, that all changed!

[TurboPooch]

This may sound childish, but the play here is to talk with the chief instructor and notify him/her of your concerns, which are extremely valid, and let that person dive deeper and assess the situation and handle it. Having been a CI for many years, I have withheld track time from participants who have mechanical anomalies until they can prove to me the issue has been solved and fixed. It was my responsibility to keep everyone safe and I would rather have someone upset with me than to have an incident, whether it be minor or major. I have had people come up to me after and incident and say something like, " He said it wasn't handling properly", or "He was complaining about the brakes" and my thoughts are GEEZ...why didn't you come and tell me!!! We could have prevented a totaled car(s) or a trip to the hospital. CI will thank you for it. Nobody likes doing incident reports......

[Chopper Dropper]

Adding to Steve as Safety chair, past CI and past DE chair I would definitely have talked to the CIs, or Safety Chair and let them do their job
Dirk

[Vicegrip]

See something, say something. The track is a shared resource.

The described mechanical issue was ongoing and a genuine safety issue.

[HoodPin]

What they (^^^) said.

[Dandelion]

Sounds like a great way for the Tech team for the organization to assist a participant in need, and maybe save someone from their baser instincts.

(Assuming the organization even has a Tech team. )

ed