Death at Summit Point at Hyperfest

[DCNISMO]

Driving instructor killed in crash at W.Va. track - Washington Times

http://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/...e6d384cd4.html


sad day, think of his family.

[Rusty]

Sad.

[ResIpsa]

I was there at the NASA Hyperfest this weekend. They really kept the news of this incident quiet. There is not even a post about it on the NASA Mid Atlantic Forum. I suspect a moderator is involved…

This is tough. All the guys I drive with have become instructors and I was planning on getting a passenger seat and attending the upcoming instructor clinic at VIR. Now; second thoughts…

However, where would any of us be without our instructors? Could any of us moved up the HPDE ranks or even to racing without them?

I will take this occasion to call out my first, and best, instructor Rob Robinette (he still instructs at Summit Point Friday at the Tracks, if you go try and find him). He completely changed the way I drive.

[Read T]

I was at an HPDE this weekend, and could not thank my instructor enough. From what I hear this was at a Hyperdrive, where the student hadn't spent much time on track. I don't really like hyperdrive since you have a limited amount of time to drive compared to an HPDE weekend event, your friends are there watching you, and you don't have enough time to warm up your car / tires / brakes and learn the course. I'd be afraid that people will drive beyond their limits. My condolences to the family, I would never have the balls to ride in the passenger seat with someone I just met.

Hyperdrive is a great way to get people converted from street racing / poseurs to attending HPDEs and track days though.

Also at hyperfest this year, people threw full beer cans onto the track when it was hot at passing cars. I went to hypertrash once in the past, then stopped going.

[JWillis72]

Every time I am at the track I think about how uncomfortable it has to be for some of the instructors getting in cars with drivers that have never been on a track before. The last time out I lost the car a little in a turn and my instructor wasn't nearly as freaked out as I was and I don't understand why. I don't think I could be an instructor, but I'm glad there are guys willing to do it. It's sad he lost his life trying to teach someone and it's sad the driver has to live with his mistake costing the guys his life.

[newtonova822]

Very Sad, indeed for all those involved.

My condolences to his family and friends.

Regards,
jb

[ValidusVentus]

My first on track driving experience was at a Hyperfest at Summit Point. Yeah, this story hits home a bit. Thank you to all the instructors out there.

[synolimit]

In 09 we lost a bike racer in my class there. Tank slapper coming out of the corner leading up to the bridge where he ran off and hit the bridge supports. I'll be pissed if nothing was done to protect that area. Place is getting a bad wrap, it's not cool. We race on tracks to be safe, not run into concrete structures or trees. Worst part was his wife and infant son were there.

[wstar]

Very sad indeed. No matter how safely you try to do things - motorsports is dangerous, and there will always be one-off tragic events.

Generally the HPDE-style organizations I run with are pretty strict with their entry-level rungroups (i.e. super-slow no-helmet session first time out and/or a session with the instructor driving your car, minimal passing and relatively moderate pacing all weekend, focusing on basic lines and finding flag stations, a couple classroom sessions per day, etc). For that matter if someone isn't acting mature and in-control and following instructor orders, you get to leave the event early and perhaps never come back.

You want people to warm up to the speed over a number of weekends and do it safely as they gain skill. You want that first weekend to be mostly a demonstration to the student that they have a lot to learn to transition from what they thought was skilled street driving to actually knowing how to drive on a track near the limit. A lesson in humility. Not a lesson in "see how fast my car can go! whee! I hope my friends are getting pics of me stomping this Mustang!"

I haven't been to a Hyperfest before, but it sounds like maybe they're bringing new drivers onto the track under a much looser system with way less attention to safety and detail. It might make it more-popular in the short term and attract more drivers, but it doesn't sound very safe. I wouldn't go so far as to blame the event (as I said earlier, it could happen anywhere with some very small probability), but perhaps this incident will cause them to re-think safety a bit.

I'm also considering getting into instructing in the long-term, but I'm not quite there yet. Maybe in another year (or more!) I'll feel ready to start working on that. I think sitting in someone's passenger seat and coaching them and watching them grow into a better driver might be almost as rewarding as driving for yourself.

[nomodsjk]

I watched this happen. I was maybe 50 yards away. Watched the helicopter land and take back off. The cops were looking at our phones making sure nobody got video of it so it didn't end up on YouTube or the news. It's a shame they had to do that. People don't think about the family of the person who just lost their life. It was overwhelmingly sad. Just there to have a good time and ended up watching someone loose their life