NASA Southeast’s Bradley Miller had worked his way up to third place at Road Atlanta in June. At the 11:40 mark, Miller tried to pass a Spec E30 back marker at Turn 5, but contact between the two cars ended the race for both of them. Miller included slow-motion and video from the No. 97 Spec Miata ahead of him.
Gosh Darn… wonderful race craft until —taking hand off the wheel at 12:26 –to send a gesture to the E30, and then turning right and left instead while being distracted, instead of keeping the rear wheels in check and expecting the drop and loss of traction in the rear. Hopefully a very valuable teaching moment with very little downside –no major accident!
That’s you “move of the month”? Hopefully that’s sarcasm….
Pretty easy to see that the Beemer was whipping it back-n-forth as he approached. Hell he almost hit the Miata in front of him which I assume was the car in 2nd position. Regardless that was a low percentage move in the esses especially considering that he witnessed the Beemers driving style as he approached. I understand his desire to stay with the Miata up front but….
Exciting race and I agree that out of caution the Miata should have backed off given the BMW’s prior swerve, but the Miata was passing on his line and the BMW obviously swerved into the Miata, when the nose of the Miata was just ahead of the BMW…
It was dicey and out of class racing, but it seems clear that the BMW did not know the Miata was there at his door as they hit. Hard to tell if Miata had a right to be there yet… but to me, that’s racing. You lift you lose. I would not have lifted there in a race. When I watched the video from car in front’s rear cam view, I can see how violent the hit was and that it could have been the bouncing that caused the Miata driver to lose grip on the wheel. So my prior statement was misinformed. Wow – I am sorry!
Hammer down, 4-off to the left to avoid contact.
Guys, multiple probs here. It was a low % move because 1. He should have observed the E30 was getting loose in the last 2-3 turns. That alone, would cause an abundance of caution while passing him. 2. The E30 was coming off the apex and HAD to move left at that speed. 3. Seeing the impending contact, he should have straight-lined the turn and gone to the grass on the left. 4. There was a point, while in the gravel, that he had the steering wheel straight. He should have kept his momentum up and gone for the nearest edge of the gravel. Instead , he turned right to take the shortest route back to the track. Sadly, he could have EASILY passed the E30 in the next few turns…..yes, this was a tactical blunder. You gotta keep the car alive and in the fight. Excellent video editing that teaches RACE CRAFT.
I agree with Tim and value his experience and skill. I am a more cautious racer so in the end of the day he slipped through a number of doors that were closing. Any of them could have gotten him earlier in the race. Unfortunately an overdriven BMW got him. But the video is excellent, thank you for sharing.