My Worst Track Mistake 

Very fair analysis of your wreck. In the USA, I've found that both the SCCA and NASA do a good job for training and licensing to get your amateur wheel to wheel license. Essentially schools you have to go through before you're let loose. But we always come back to the global phenomenon that somebody is willing to crash their car or take stupid risks for that twelve dollar trophy:)

I went off and cut a corner sideways over some grass due to an overly aggressive downshift under brakes into a fairly tight corner after a medium fast section. Just once out of a whole day of constant laps, but oops. No harm down. Wheels not bent. Chassis not bent. No crash. No problem admitting it :-) 83 KP60 Toyota Starlet on 185/55R14 AR1s and m1166 pads in the front. Fresh KYB shocks. Locally made lowering springs. 700kg, 70hp. Great fun little car :-)

When it comes to either your first race or just hitting the circuit for the first time, I think it’s always gonna be a wake up call. I remember when I first started karting, had a practice license for 6 months or so… I thought it was Ayrton Senna. Then… got my D grade license… and realised I wasn’t even driving fast enough to get the tyres up to temperature. I think the great thing about karting is that even at the lower grades, with low power and low grip, you’ve always got that open wheel consequence in the back of your mind. Mind you years later, driving “Leopard” in the national series, ya still gonna look for the move when maybe ya should have… you end up cartwheeling down the road break scaphoids!! Then ya still getting wake up calls haha. I think Motorsport needs an element of danger. If it gets too safe, people get too bold and it turns into sim racing. And we’d all be dead if it was that safe!!

I have been doing Track days and Time Attack events since early 2000...recently i did a door 2 door charity enduro event, in a little fwd car that makes next to no power (Daihatsu Sirion) against similar cars and it was the best fun I have had on the track!! Great Video mate, and the ol first lap dive bomb...been guilty of this in the SIM and felt bbad so cant imagine how you felt.

I only know from simracing, you often need to brake a lot sooner when there is other people around since the racing lines are changed and there is little space. It seems very dificult to find optimal braking points, I often end up giving up positions.

Glad your crash wasn’t more serious. I was worried you were going to end up injured. I certainly agree that a lot of lessons you learn in Motorsport come from getting negative feedback from doing something wrong, then having to learn the cause and how to avoid it in the future. Training on the sim helps me, but without a coach you can be doing something wrong and not realize it until it becomes a problem.

Kudos for admitting the mistakes because if you admit those mistakes you learn from them. If you deny the mistakes you are destined to reproduce them or far worse ones. I'm a 4WD addict who currently owns a Jimny. A short wheelbase is far different to the diff locked Hilux I had previously, but there are no clubs in my area that cater to this kind of 4WD off roading. My usual method is to slowly push the boundaries until I find the limits where I'm no longer comfortable, and I think this works in the absence of actual guidance. I do suspect where the limits of the vehicle are, but I'm a long way from from experiencing them. I note that you actually showed your mistakes in this video. That's top level stuff. If there's one thing I like better than learning from my mistakes, it's learning from someone else's. Thank you.

How about just driving some laps on the "inside line" on track days. That should be eye opening. Sure its not the whole story but it would be a start.

7:13 Sure you're not an escapee from the 24 Hours of Lemons? Looks like someone needs the Sexy Car Wash black flag.

I started Sprinting last year. All I needed was a Speed licence and the rest was as you say all about equipment. I suspect the competitor turn over is already so high that if they put training requirements in place people probably wouldn’t bother. I do think we should be observed/mentored at least for a few laps. But then who is going to do that….never ending circle.

Nice divebomb) i think its not wery bad thing in a first race, next time other drivers will a little bit nervous to be around you, some drivers use this strategy)

Hi Robert, thanks for a great vid and a genuine laugh, I also have parts of my driving life I would rather not relive. Some of them were behind the wheel, but the more serious incidents were behind (or over) the handle bars. (And that one time with the Crown fork lift...) I have heard it said many times that go-carting is a good place to get started in motor racing, you get to be on a track with other very competitive drivers with less risk. Do you agree with that philosophy, or do you think the differences are just too great?

Racing is about developing ones own skills without the burden and restriction of "the right way" mentality. Risky yes, but you threaten the development of racing if you hamstring it with "training". Maybe there is a middle ground?