It’s always fun to watch someone who is usually a front runner have to start from the rear of the field. At Sonoma Raceway in June, Teen Mazda Challenge driver Roy Fulmer IV, had a lot of cars to fight through to make his way to the front. The first few laps are pretty frantic and a whole lot of fun to watch.
At 3:10, who was at fault for the contact? It seemed like the camera car didn’t quite have enough overlap to have a right to the corner, though the lead car could have left room for him.
That’s a difficult incident to assess without looking at other camera views. From the available view, Roy doesn’t gain the “right to be there” before the 83 car is committed to the turn. Just based on that, the fault would be Roy’s. However, it looks like the 83 actually corrects to make room for Roy and then loses the rear end and starts to slide, which is what puts him in Roy’s path. That appears to be when the contact occurs. I would go to CCR 27.9 in this case and rule it a racing incident. Per CCR 25.4.3, the 83 car had the right to choose the line and could have continued to the apex of the turn. Roy would have been at fault for any contact had the 83 done so. Unfortunately for the driver of the 83 car, it was probably his left/right correction that upset the rear end enough to cause the slide, which also changed the fault equation.
Roy: You are my hero… I was right when you were my student that you will be kicking my ass some day… (Not that we’ve raced each other) 🙂
Looks like car 83 got hit on the other side at 3:03, pushing it into Roy’s path.
Agree with Brett
Yeah, looks like 83 got tagged on the left rear, which tossed him into the camera car.
Hey Hugh, that camera car is Roy… my student. OK I cannot take credit for him… but, he was still MY student. Where do you think he learned to pass in the esses… nyuk nyuk… j.k.
Hey teck guys your fired no roll bar pads at helmet level, no dash strap wtf . was someone hitting the bubler instead of doing there job?