Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Mosport?

[George (ygpz4re]

Lashdeep,

I haven't driven it, but we had quite the weekend there in '97.

Started with the driver I was supporting going off in 2 and plowing into the retaining wall on driver's right.  Flattened the front end of his 355CH.  (I had one of the fenders from that car - autographed by the driver for me! - hanging in my garage - my *old* garage.  Sadly that fender, like the garage itself, is no more....)

Then, right at the end of qualifying, our top driver was going for pole.  Probably would have gotten it, too, but for *just* dropping a wheel over the curbing at the exit of 10 (I think?  coming right onto the start/finish straight).  Car spun to the inside pit wall, impacted w/ LR corner, snapped around and impacted again w/ RF corner, snapped around again and came to rest sitting across the track, pointing away from pit lane.  Initial impact to the pit wall was enough to put a sizeable hole in the wall and move the low guardrail that was inside the pit wall.  Driver on the radio to let us know he was ok, and was told to stay in the car.  But when he saw cars coming at him, he leaped out and cleared the pit wall like a gazelle.  Got the complimentary ride (with his wife) to hospital for checkout.  Docs there told her to wake him up in the middle of the night and ask for he SSN (judging cognitive abilities).  When she woke him up, he gave her *her* SSN, so she figured he was ok.  🙂

That impact to the pit wall, and the subsequent hole it left, cancelled the rest of the weekends activities.  But it's astonishing how *HUGE* the cars look when they're coming down the track - *sideways*!

Ah the good old days...…

gp

p.s. - no HANS in those days.  It wasn't until he crashed the same car at Road Atlanta in '98 that he decided he'd dodged one too many bullets, and was one of the first Ferrari Challenge drivers to use a HANS.  Story for another day.....

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From: Lashdeep Singh <lashdeep [at] yahoo.com>
To: ferrari list <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>

Has anyone run this track before?

What a monster!

Bring big cahones, a Hans device and your medical insurance card...