Sorry bout that ???

[steve b]

Yesterday was only my 7th race so bare with me if this is a stupid question. I had my first incident where I tried a pass by out braking on the inside going into a turn and went in a little too hot and I was unable to keep the car down on the apex.

I ended up about 1 1/2 car widths off of the apex, leaving about 1 car width (at best) for the other guy. I don't know if he ended up taking the outside line or if he had to check up to keep from hitting me.

I went over to him after the race and appologized for the incident. He acted like he didn't expect an appology but admitted that it did surprise him a little.

My question is; at the time the incident happened, I felt I needed to acknoledge to him that I messed up and I was sorry. So I ended up waving an open hand to him. After doing so, I realized that it could have been misinterpreted to mean that I was checking up or that I was an ass and was waiving bye bye or sarcastically thanking him for giving up a pass.

So, is there a sign for "my bad" or should I not worry about it until after the race is over?

[dickita15]

That is interesting. First you did the right thing by talking to him. As far as the wave I think that by waving you at least acknowledged that you knew he existed which is not bad. In the heat of the moment he may misinterpret but there is not much you can do about that. I really don’t think you can do much more, from inside a car all you can really do is wave, shake a fist or indicate IQ and the last may been seen as a wave or a fist anyway.
By the way I will not bare with you but I will bear with you.

[rthiele]

Steve, it is always nice to have racers who care about their fellow competitors and not just go banzai into the corners with no thought about others.

My recommendation however is to fully concentrate on the race, and sort things out afterward in the paddock. Temperatures should be lower by then and you can exchange views in a real dialogue.

[ulfelder]

My recommendation ... is to fully concentrate on the race, and sort things out afterward in the paddock.

+1.

Your instinct is correct: the wave could be misinterpreted in several ways.

Steve

[joeg]

Incident? Did you hit him??

If not, you made the pass...congrats.

[Knestis]

I've been told that the "peace sign" V is pretty universally understood on German roads as "Sorry, my bad." We should have something like that here.

K

[RacerBowie]

I've been told that the "peace sign" V is pretty universally understood on German roads as "Sorry, my bad." We should have something like that here.

K

The peace sign is what I do if I screw up.

[tom91ita]

I've been told that the "peace sign" V is pretty universally understood on German roads as "Sorry, my bad." We should have something like that here.

K

my first rental car experience in Germany and someone motioned me out and i gave them the typical american version of "ok" back with my forefinger and thumb in a circle.



but in that area of Germany apparently means "asshole"

[steve b]

Incident? Did you hit him??

If not, you made the pass...congrats.

No. There was no contact, but I'm pretty sure he had to take some sort of evasive action to avoid hitting me. To say the least, I was unpredictable.

Hopefully there won't be a next time, but if there is, I think I'll follow the advice here and do nothing during the race and just discuss after the race.

The peace sign sounds like a great idea (could possibly difuse hot tempers before they occur), but until that is more commonly recognised, I think I'll hold off on that.

[JeffYoung]

Steve, glad you got back out racing......

You did the right thing in approaching him and apologizing. We all need to remember to do that. But the good thing is it occurred to you to do it...

As far as the wave goes, doubtful he saw it, but I'm with Kirk and Bowie, give'em the peace sign next time.