Let Us Learn from the Mistakes of Others: GT350 T-bones GT3 at VIR

[D_Eclipse9916]

I've almost blacked out driving North Course in the summer. I was leading the race and started missing apexes, but thought I was just fatigued. A few laps later the blackness started to close in from my peripheral vision and a few corners later I'd blown the braking zone at the top of Roller Coaster, much like this video, and was off-roading down the hill at a considerable pace. The car was mostly fine, but it was shocking how I'd lost the ability to process what was happening to me (I'm sure leading the race didn't help).

I'm not saying that's what happened here, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and not assume he's incompetent based on a single video.

Shit that's scary.

I bought a coolsuit  as a luxury/comfort item,  never thought of it as safety gear.


Has anyone come close to getting that hot in a street car though?  You really don't get nearly as hot in a street car as you do in a gutted racecar wearing a Nomex suit that would keep you toasty outside in January.
Everyone is different I guess,  that guy definitely wasn't thinking straight when he moved offline and drove through the marbles into the grass

While we are on the subject of coolsuits/driver comfort...

I literally blacked out, puked all over and had to have an ekg and ambulance ride at the racetrack before. Heat stroke/exhaustion isn’t funny during a race (and the corresponding panic attack moments before black out despite never having a panic attack in my life).

Mine was a mechanical where my alternator failed during a 100+ degree race and I turned off all systems to try to “get through” (including turning off power steering/cool suit/manual brakes on a car with aero and wide sticky tires). Listen to your body; it gives you plenty of warnings. I still to this day remember the feeling of helplessness being trapped in that car when it died and the air becoming so hot/thick I couldn’t swallow air.

Scaring the shit out of your wife/yourself and having to rely on friends to pack up your trailer/car will humble you on your own capabilities.