Raceit has it right. The race was a multitude of conditions. Dry from T5 to T14 but damp at first in T15, T16, T1 and T3. A dry line began to appear and all was good. I was running 2nd in ITS 4th OA when it started to rain again. I backed way off and let Paul Ronie (#44 ITA Integra) and John Jackson (#85 ITA BMW 325E) go by. They were having a great race and I wasn't interested in throwing it off the track to stay in front of them. It began to dump buckets at T13. The whiteout down the backstraight was insane. The front stretch was worse. I lifted across the paint (start finish) and got back on it. Just then our crew (thanks again Julia) got on the radio that there was a huge crash in T1. I lifted and touched the brakes. Nothing. ZERO grip!! Again...nothing. I started to try to turn left but the car kept going straight. I was heading toward the cars in the wall and somehow I got enough grip to move the car left. It swapped ends and I locked up. I barely nudged the wall (no damage), grabbed a gear and drove off. As I turned toward T3, I saw Wayne Yetto (#121 ITA Nissan Sentra) go straight in at a high rate of speed. He contacted the BMW in the rear and the car exploded. There was a 30 ft ball of flame. Then Steve Goldin (#29 ITS Mazda Rx-7) lost control under braking at the bridge and slid into it all. It was an immediate red flag. The tire wall was on fire and seemingly out of control. It burned for at least an hour in a driving rain before it was under control.
How no one, including the corner workers and fire personal were not injured is a miracle. I saw Pauls car afterwards. It's pretty bad. LF pushed back, right side crushed from the fender to the back of the door.
It is unfortunate that we had such a terrible incident to end an otherwise fantastic weekend of racing.
I am just glad everyone is okay.
Originally Posted by Mazmarc63
Raceit has it right. The race was a multitude of conditions. Dry from T5 to T14 but damp at first in T15, T16, T1 and T3. A dry line began to appear and all was good. I was running 2nd in ITS 4th OA when it started to rain again. I backed way off and let Paul Ronie (#44 ITA Integra) and John Jackson (#85 ITA BMW 325E) go by. They were having a great race and I wasn't interested in throwing it off the track to stay in front of them. It began to dump buckets at T13. The whiteout down the backstraight was insane. The front stretch was worse. I lifted across the paint (start finish) and got back on it. Just then our crew (thanks again Julia) got on the radio that there was a huge crash in T1. I lifted and touched the brakes. Nothing. ZERO grip!! Again...nothing. I started to try to turn left but the car kept going straight. I was heading toward the cars in the wall and somehow I got enough grip to move the car left. It swapped ends and I locked up. I barely nudged the wall (no damage), grabbed a gear and drove off. As I turned toward T3, I saw Wayne Yetto (#121 ITA Nissan Sentra) go straight in at a high rate of speed. He contacted the BMW in the rear and the car exploded. There was a 30 ft ball of flame. Then Steve Goldin (#29 ITS Mazda Rx-7) lost control under braking at the bridge and slid into it all. It was an immediate red flag. The tire wall was on fire and seemingly out of control. It burned for at least an hour in a driving rain before it was under control.
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