Roll Over at Toledo Pro

Todd Breakey · **Posted:** Sun Jul 29, 2007 6:36 pm

PYLNRCR on AutocrossForum.com wrote:

Got word of a Mini Cooper rollover this morning at the Toledo Pro. Not sure of the drivers name or circumstances. Apparently the driver was toted away by ambulance as a precaution and he/she is OK - a little sore I imagine.

I'm sure there will be more info and maybe even pictures or video bouncing around the net in the near future which will generate plenty of discussion. However, I would like to kick it off here by stating that we should all be aware of the nature of our sport and try to keep a level head when pushing our cars like we do. I believe most of the driving incidents that end up in Safety Stewards reports are a result of heroic attempts to save a car that has gone errant on course. What starts out as an innocent little off line wobble will usually stay little if the driver stays relaxed and keeps his focus on looking ahead with a "gentle" recovery to the line they had intended. A big mistake is when drivers attempt to counter measure the lost time by getting on it hard and "making up the time" right after the wobble. That little wobble can turn into trouble - anything from a knocked over pylon to a spin or worse, a flip.

Experienced drivers will have no problem understanding what I'm talking about as we've all had the pucker scared out of us one time or another. Most likely it was not driver skill that saved the day but luck. (I know I've had luck with me once or twice). Experienced drivers are not immune though - it probably wasn't the first event for the Pro driver in Toledo - the experience of literally hundreds of runs and a few visits from mother luck will teach a driver how and when to chill out behind the wheel.

Sorry for using the Toledo drivers incident as a motivator for posting these thoughts but knowing that there are a lot of relatively new drivers in our region with some awesome talent made me want to speak up.

Bruno
OVR Course Chief

Anyone have any more information? The only Tarheelers I saw registered were Eric, Donnie and Bryan. You guys see what happened?

Donnie Barnes · **Posted:** Sun Jul 29, 2007 7:25 pm

Quick update as I have crappy celldata coverage...

Heather Everette was driving Mike Potocki's GS Mini. She was leaving a high speed slalom going into a fast right hand section at about 55MPH when it appears the left front wheel may have fractured and she flipped sort of over the left front corner. She did not slide it sideways at all, as I understand it. It went a bit airborn, but still managed to damage all body panels and land on the wheels. She was fine, though they did take her to the hospital to check her out.

She had been "tank slapping" it a bit through the slalom, but I don't think it was any kind of heroic save attempt. I do love it when speculation starts before real news is reported. *sigh*

--Donnie

Ash Nelson · **Posted:** Sun Jul 29, 2007 8:06 pm

Holy cow. I hope she's OK.

Wes Eargle · **Joined:** Mon Oct 27, 2003 9:47 am **Posts:** 3683

Part failure is a scary thing to have to think about. I believe that Whitney still has the inner part of his E30 wheel mounted on the wall of his garage as a trophy after the outside of it decided to part ways at VIR.

Chuck Frank · **Posted:** Sun Jul 29, 2007 10:06 pm

WOW! Heather and Mike are both good friends, Heather co-drove with Donna in Jeff Jacob's Mini at the 06 Nationals. Heather is an excellent, highly experienced driver, and not someone who would try to "save" a run.
Mike has had nothing but a string of bad luck with Mini's the last 2 seasons.
Last year his HS mini went thru 2 trannys as each would jump out of gear by itself.
The new one at DC pro this year the stability control would reactivate on course after being shut off, an early production software glitch he was told that the dealer had to wait 2 weeks for an update from BMW to correct it.
Now this...

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:13 am

Chuck Frank wrote:

WOW! Heather and Mike are both good friends, Heather co-drove with Donna in Jeff Jacob's Mini at the 06 Nationals. Heather is an excellent, highly experienced driver, and not someone who would try to "save" a run.
Mike has had nothing but a string of bad luck with Mini's the last 2 seasons.
Last year his HS mini went thru 2 trannys as each would jump out of gear by itself.
The new one at DC pro this year the stability control would reactivate on course after being shut off, an early production software glitch he was told that the dealer had to wait 2 weeks for an update from BMW to correct it.
Now this...

Well, that's not his only Mini issue. With his new '07 S, instead doing the 2-3 shift, he did the 2-1 shift and grenaded the engine. The car had less than 5000 miles on it when it happened at an event.

I think he should switch cars just for kharma sake. - AB

BryanHertweck · **Joined:** Sat Jul 14, 2007 8:13 am **Posts:** 35

I was there, but didn't see it until just after the roll finished. I was standing in the grid at the time.

It was a very scary scene...mostly because she was crying and screaming hysterically when she got out of the car...audible in the grid even though she was fairly far out on course. Fortunately it wasn't due to injury.

I looked over the car afterwards...not a single panel was spared contact with the concrete, but the overall integrity was impressive. The windshield cracked, but nothing really crumpled. And that driver's front wheel was seriously mangled. It would seem that maybe the wheel cracked during that high speed right-hander, causing the tire to go flat and sending the car rolling over that corner (those that saw it said that it really kind of rolled over the nose, not a barrel roll like a car that goes up on 2 tires)...the the cracked wheel really got bent when that corner came back to earth.

David Spratte · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2007 12:56 pm

I'm guessing they were on the 17" Enkeis?

BryanHertweck · **Joined:** Sat Jul 14, 2007 8:13 am **Posts:** 35

David Spratte wrote:

I'm guessing they were on the 17" Enkeis?

No, pretty sure they were Kosei's. K1 TS, I think?

Donna Frank · **Posted:** Wed Aug 01, 2007 1:36 pm

I talked with Heather today. I had emailed her Sunday and she got back to me today. I was really worried about her. Basically she's OK.
Glenn (her husband) drove home with her late Monday night. He stays home with their son while Heather autocrosses, but no doubt he raced out there when she called him. :shock:

She says she's just really sore...neck, back and left shoulder, and is missing most of the skin on her left elbow. She figures it popped out of the window when the car rolled over. She's having a check-up done today with her own doctor and figures some drugs and rest will do the trick.
She did tell me that for right now, she'll feel more comfortable as a spectator. She doesn't want to ever experience that again. I trully hope through time she'll get past it. She's a great competitor and friend. And she loves autocross so much.

Todd Breakey · **Posted:** Wed Aug 01, 2007 1:43 pm

Glad to hear that she is basically OK.

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