DEKE01
Viper Owner
A Tale of Two Vipers
It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…it was my fourth trip to the track. But it was my first trip to a wet track (cue ominous evil music). In fact, my experience with Vipers and wet pavement was so near zero, that as I drove to the track in a gentle rain and very thick fog, I remember wondering if in the year I had owned this car, was this the first time I had used the wipers.
As I pulled into the pits of Summit Point Motorsports Park (the Summit Point track) I saw a thing of beauty, an evil looking all black Viper Vert, just like mine. OK, just like mine, except mine has 4 years of wear and tear and his ’08 has a cool hood, 100 more HP, and 30 day temp plates. I parked beside that brand new beautiful black beast; the driver was no where to be found.
I hoped we would run in the same bracket, but he was in the novice-never-been-on-a-track-before group and I was in the novice-but-probably-won’t-kill-anyone group. We weren’t racing; this was high speed driving with in-car instruction. All the instructors are good and have lots of race experience, but some of them got their race experience in low budget cars. One awestruck Miata driving instructor once told me, “your brakes are bigger than my wheels.” The instructor I selected for the day ran the highest HP car during the instructor driving session, an F360. Late in the day when the track dried out, while I was passing an M3, F360-man gave me a, “WOW!” and admitted my basically stock Viper had acceleration his car can’t touch. I point this out only to demonstrate that while we had good instructors; most do not speak fluent Viper, which might help explain the “worst of times” that would happen later.
Eventually I found the ’08 and driver on the starting grid. He confirmed this was his first high speed driving experience. The starter was ready so we didn’t get a chance to introduce ourselves or chat beyond agreeing to speak later. The course was fully wet, standing water in places, with a misting rain, and a low 40s temp. During his first run, I’m told new-Viper-guy spun out twice. Vipers, an inexperienced driver, cold wet track, cold wet tires - not a great combination.
As he was coming in, I was going out. During my first lap, I warmed the tires and refamiliarized myself with the course, keeping my speed to no more than 75 mph. On the second lap, I passed an A4 and brought it up to 100 mph on the long straight but as a cautious safety measure, used 400 feet of the braking zone (what I would use at 140 mph on a dry day) to set up a 40 mph turn. My third lap, I was feeling a bit more confident. OK, over confident.
Hitting the apex of turn 10, the high speed turn entering the long straight, I kept on the racer’s line. Correction, I kept on the racer’s DRY line, not the then appropriate racer’s wet line. I touched the recently painted and rain-slicked striping at the right edge and launched into a 270º spin at about 65 mph (my first track spin ever). During that eternity when I didn’t have anything left to do but hang on, I thought about what I would tell my wife when I had the car towed home. But no worries, I managed to keep it on the track and learned a valuable lesson about patience, speed, and wet surfaces.
I finished that run at a slower pace, giving the painted zones a wider margin, and then headed out to the skid pad in the track’s ****** Caprice for much needed practice in cars at the edge of adhesion. After the skid pad, the race course was unusually silent. In the pits my Viper sat alone; the ’08 missing. The loud speaker announced the track was shut down and we were taking an early lunch. Hmmm, that never happens.
Most of the rest of this story is second and third hand info, so I don’t swear to its accuracy. All I know for sure is that I never saw new-Viper-guy or his car again, but I did see the trees that had been cut down because of his crash. He spun out a third time; exiting turn 9 he did a 270º spin and went backwards into a wooded area.
According to instructors, the driver never hit the brakes. I checked for myself and saw no skid marks on the track (not surprising due to the wet conditions) or the grassy swale between the track and trees. I was told that the car was wedged between trees, that the wheels were 4 feet off the ground, and trees had to be cut down in order to extract driver and instructor from the car and the car from the woods. Hmmmm, it doesn’t take the jaws of life to get someone out of a vert if the doors are jammed shut, maybe there’s a bit of exaggeration in this tale.
The rumor mill said that the driver was seriously injured, the instructor less so. Late in the afternoon I checked with the ambulance driver who transported both to the hospital, but she wouldn’t tell me anything about their condition other than the driver’s wife was coming to see him that night.
Another instructor said the Viper’s frame was bent, the rear wheels turned about 30º sideways, with body damage to front, rear, and sides. It sounds like it is totaled and that there’s one less Viper in the Viper nation. Sorry, no pix available.
Throughout the rest of the day, people asked me for explanations, analysis, and Viper expertise, not because I know what I’m talking about, but because I was the only Viper driver available. All I could offer was a guess. In my first visit to the track, I took that turn in second gear, but an instructor with high HP experience told me that turn nine in a Viper in second gear was for pros or people with a death wish. It’s just too much power and torque for most people to handle in that situation – especially on a wet track. Maybe new-Viper-guy never got that piece of advice.
I finished out the day going faster and faster as the sun and cars dried out the track, hitting 135 in the straight, 5 MPH short of my personal best, but good enough for the track conditions. I made peace with that turn where I had spun out. And I drove my car home. For me it was the best of times and I go back in 2 weeks.
For new-Viper-guy, it was the worst of times. If you’re reading this, new-Viper-guy, please let us know how you’re doing.
It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…it was my fourth trip to the track. But it was my first trip to a wet track (cue ominous evil music). In fact, my experience with Vipers and wet pavement was so near zero, that as I drove to the track in a gentle rain and very thick fog, I remember wondering if in the year I had owned this car, was this the first time I had used the wipers.
As I pulled into the pits of Summit Point Motorsports Park (the Summit Point track) I saw a thing of beauty, an evil looking all black Viper Vert, just like mine. OK, just like mine, except mine has 4 years of wear and tear and his ’08 has a cool hood, 100 more HP, and 30 day temp plates. I parked beside that brand new beautiful black beast; the driver was no where to be found.
I hoped we would run in the same bracket, but he was in the novice-never-been-on-a-track-before group and I was in the novice-but-probably-won’t-kill-anyone group. We weren’t racing; this was high speed driving with in-car instruction. All the instructors are good and have lots of race experience, but some of them got their race experience in low budget cars. One awestruck Miata driving instructor once told me, “your brakes are bigger than my wheels.” The instructor I selected for the day ran the highest HP car during the instructor driving session, an F360. Late in the day when the track dried out, while I was passing an M3, F360-man gave me a, “WOW!” and admitted my basically stock Viper had acceleration his car can’t touch. I point this out only to demonstrate that while we had good instructors; most do not speak fluent Viper, which might help explain the “worst of times” that would happen later.
Eventually I found the ’08 and driver on the starting grid. He confirmed this was his first high speed driving experience. The starter was ready so we didn’t get a chance to introduce ourselves or chat beyond agreeing to speak later. The course was fully wet, standing water in places, with a misting rain, and a low 40s temp. During his first run, I’m told new-Viper-guy spun out twice. Vipers, an inexperienced driver, cold wet track, cold wet tires - not a great combination.
As he was coming in, I was going out. During my first lap, I warmed the tires and refamiliarized myself with the course, keeping my speed to no more than 75 mph. On the second lap, I passed an A4 and brought it up to 100 mph on the long straight but as a cautious safety measure, used 400 feet of the braking zone (what I would use at 140 mph on a dry day) to set up a 40 mph turn. My third lap, I was feeling a bit more confident. OK, over confident.
Hitting the apex of turn 10, the high speed turn entering the long straight, I kept on the racer’s line. Correction, I kept on the racer’s DRY line, not the then appropriate racer’s wet line. I touched the recently painted and rain-slicked striping at the right edge and launched into a 270º spin at about 65 mph (my first track spin ever). During that eternity when I didn’t have anything left to do but hang on, I thought about what I would tell my wife when I had the car towed home. But no worries, I managed to keep it on the track and learned a valuable lesson about patience, speed, and wet surfaces.
I finished that run at a slower pace, giving the painted zones a wider margin, and then headed out to the skid pad in the track’s ****** Caprice for much needed practice in cars at the edge of adhesion. After the skid pad, the race course was unusually silent. In the pits my Viper sat alone; the ’08 missing. The loud speaker announced the track was shut down and we were taking an early lunch. Hmmm, that never happens.
Most of the rest of this story is second and third hand info, so I don’t swear to its accuracy. All I know for sure is that I never saw new-Viper-guy or his car again, but I did see the trees that had been cut down because of his crash. He spun out a third time; exiting turn 9 he did a 270º spin and went backwards into a wooded area.
According to instructors, the driver never hit the brakes. I checked for myself and saw no skid marks on the track (not surprising due to the wet conditions) or the grassy swale between the track and trees. I was told that the car was wedged between trees, that the wheels were 4 feet off the ground, and trees had to be cut down in order to extract driver and instructor from the car and the car from the woods. Hmmmm, it doesn’t take the jaws of life to get someone out of a vert if the doors are jammed shut, maybe there’s a bit of exaggeration in this tale.
The rumor mill said that the driver was seriously injured, the instructor less so. Late in the afternoon I checked with the ambulance driver who transported both to the hospital, but she wouldn’t tell me anything about their condition other than the driver’s wife was coming to see him that night.
Another instructor said the Viper’s frame was bent, the rear wheels turned about 30º sideways, with body damage to front, rear, and sides. It sounds like it is totaled and that there’s one less Viper in the Viper nation. Sorry, no pix available.
Throughout the rest of the day, people asked me for explanations, analysis, and Viper expertise, not because I know what I’m talking about, but because I was the only Viper driver available. All I could offer was a guess. In my first visit to the track, I took that turn in second gear, but an instructor with high HP experience told me that turn nine in a Viper in second gear was for pros or people with a death wish. It’s just too much power and torque for most people to handle in that situation – especially on a wet track. Maybe new-Viper-guy never got that piece of advice.
I finished out the day going faster and faster as the sun and cars dried out the track, hitting 135 in the straight, 5 MPH short of my personal best, but good enough for the track conditions. I made peace with that turn where I had spun out. And I drove my car home. For me it was the best of times and I go back in 2 weeks.
For new-Viper-guy, it was the worst of times. If you’re reading this, new-Viper-guy, please let us know how you’re doing.
