Mondial off on Stunt was damn lucky

Here's the direct link:

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/showthread.php?threadid=132956&perpage=15&pagenumber=3

 

You're welcome and thanks.

 

yeah, he was a friend of mine is a blue s4. Real nice guy...spoke to his mom at the hospital yesterday, and broken ribs and cuts so far. CHP said 300 ft down!!!! He was at the coffee shop and went for a drive after.....i have no more details as of yet, but i am going over there this afternoon. Mike, that is what i called you about, they first said it was an Audi, then they said it was a red F-car.....it was not visible at all. Totally covered by foilage. He is very very lucky to be alive. if you are going up stunt, it is after the first sweeping right into the following left (s-type turns)......Lucky Lucky Lucky......

 

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/showthread.php?threadid=132956&referrerid=21225

 

Poor guy! Those skid marks on the concrete and into the dirt look like he decided he could fly! Not so much as a wiggle or a spin, so methinks he got caught by surprise with his foot pushing the wrong pedal!

Sunny

 

i just spoke to him..... he is fine... broken ribs.. cuts....fine....

should be released today.....

 

he has amnesia...he remebers pulling over for the more spirited people and he wanted to bring up the rear at his own pace.....no idea? Also, no idea as to who called 911????

 

he was more or less invisible...even when the chopper was real low and the force of the wind pushed the brush back......infact, i was there with the chp...then went to a lower trail to try to climb up to him...and then from 2 different vantage points...thank you to whomever made the call.

 

This is an interesting point....it seems that both incidents on Sunday were as a result of being "pushed" by more spirited drivers. We should all learn a lesson from this! These canyon roads are dangerous for a host of reasons... even when not being pushed. We're all tempted to drive our cars how they were designed to be driven but MUST recognize that other drivers use the roads and have different expectations from the drives. I'm happy to hear the Audi driver will recover from his injuries but we need to realize that we all lucked out this weekend. The tone of these boards could have been very different if it weren't for luck ..... its difficult to imagine how any of us would have felt if the outcome had been different.

Time to think!

 

Hope all is well and God bless!!!

 

i agree...unfortunately, he has no recollection. I know that he wanted to bring the pack up and be slow about it???!!! Also, he has a reputation of not doing any group drives for safety issues. I have no idea, but I AGREE. I have a distinct feeling that the CHP are going to be very liberal with tickets. A sport biker broke 12 ribs, removed his speen and 1/2 is lung.....he comes by on wed. night and sunday. I am getting tired of all this bad news...PLEASE BE SAFE...spirited is one thing.....but stupid/reckless whether in a car/bike is not acceptable. BEST WISHES I AM DONE ON THIS TOPIC
d

 

Sunny does make an interesting point regarding the skid marks. Doesn't seem like the wheel was turned at all - Just tire marks going in a straight line, right off the cliff.
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Glad everyone is alright... You folks be careful out there.

 

s4dustin
I had no Idea what happend when you called, I hope your friend will be ok...

 

I think that part of Steve's problem on that day were the fact that the Mondial was very new to him and he was inexperienced with it's handling characteristics. I was a few cars back but saw things happen ahead of us, and it seems that the group behind him was probably pushing him to drive more aggressively than he was used to. When combined with loose dirt and gravel, the results can get ugly.

It's unfortunate that many people go on these cruises and drive like it's a race. Unfortunately following that close to anyone (outside of a track event) leaves very little margin for error (especially on a city street).

That being said, there is a whole technique to driving on a track or on a mountain road when someone is harrassing you through your rear view and side mirrors. Unfortunately, sometimes that is a hard lesson to learn. This time he was very fortunate that only the car was hurt.

I think that Dom can probably vouch for a similar thing that happened to him at Willow Springs on turn 4. The tendancy is to tighten up and over react... which is when mistakes happen.

I am very glad that everyone survived that day up in Malibu Canyon.

 

What do you do when you get someone following too close either at the track or on a canyon run??

Joel

 

Speed up or pull over.

DL

 

Do not speed up if it is at or beyond your limits. You hold your speed and your line until there is a safe area for them to pass and wave them by. Speeding up was exactly what got Steve into trouble to begin with.

The key is to stay focused on what you are doing and don't tense up and overreact... do not focus on your mirrors and who is behind you. On track, they are trying to get you out of your game.

On a mountain road like Malibu Canyon you would be crazy to pass on most of that hill. The road has blind turns all over it and two way traffic. Notice that there are no barriers to stop anyone from going over the edge...

Brad