Warning: NSFW language, turn down the volume.
https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Ffacebook%2Fvideos%2F10215773333903638%2F&width=500&show_text=false&height=281
So this year's Pagoda Hillclimb wasn't as successful as last year's. The course was wet, so I was backing off quite a bit, but not enough. If you look closely, I am a little too far to the right (left hand side of the frame in the video) and I hit a little dip in the road near the guardrail. That took what little weight was on the rear end away, made worse by the fact that I was braking and turning slightly. The back end snapped out, the front corner hit the hillside and I went right over.
It's embarrassing to screw up so monumentally, but I share it for the safety message. The car had a full cage, not just a roll bar, and I was wearing restraints, a fire suit and a helmet. I walked away just fine. The only thing I suffered was a sore neck, and had I impacted something hard, it could have been much worse. If you are going fast in a car where you can roll or impact things, have a cage and don't skip the HANS.
https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Ffacebook%2Fvideos%2F10215760407860495%2F&width=500&show_text=false&height=281
T.J.
MegaDork
6/26/18 10:04 a.m.
Glad you are ok. Where the video is supposed to be I just see a lot of empty white space. Looking forward to seeing it.
EDIT: I can see the video on my phone. One of those everything was going just fine until it wasn't type wrecks.
In reply to pinchvalve :
Ouch! It didn’t appear to cause too much damage to the car though?
T.J. said:
Glad you are ok. Where the video is supposed to be I just see a lot of empty white space. Looking forward to seeing it.
Works for me in Firefox and Edge but not Chrome oddly enough...
Looks like if you'd been just a tiny bit quicker with the countersteer it would've kept the nose off the grass and kept you shiny side up.
Also look like the car's windshield frame and front roof area crushed in when it flipped, nothing short of an exo-cage will prevent all damage to the roof panels and pillars in a rollover though.
Duke
MegaDork
6/26/18 11:32 a.m.
Wow, I'm glad to hear you are mostly OK! Sorry to see the car is damaged. Best of luck in getting everything back in shape.
In reply to GameboyRMH :
True, but only a roll bar is required by many venues, not a cage. The roof crushed to the roll cage but not beyond. Had I been relying solely on the stock A-pillars, it would have come down a lot more I bet.
Wow that happened quick. We're you aware of that dip beforehand?
In reply to Stampie :
Looked like you were off power (maybe a bit of brakes?) - ass-end was light. Been there, done that, met the wall at Road Atlanta (got the T-shirt?). Happens faster than you'd believe. Glad you're OK, thanks for posting the video
Hot Damn! Glad you're OK. Safety is always a good thing. Wrecked a car flipping it, when I was kid. Wasn't racing, just being young and stupid. Not real fun.
I can get the link to play but my malware and ghostery and what not does not like it at all.
Been there done that. Accidents happen really fast. Looks like the bar did its job.
Needed some power to go with the countersteer.
84FSP
SuperDork
6/26/18 4:41 p.m.
Well that escalated quickly. The dip off power just ended it so quick. Glad you invested in safety and sorry about the car.
I rode up and down that road on a bicycle once and drove it more times than I can recount. It's a nasty road at normal speeds, I am glad you were ok.
Glad you're okay.
Did something break when you hit the dip?
Glad you walked away with minimal injuries. Everything looked just fine right up until it was all upside down. Good reminder on the safety factor needed in motorsports. 
What I was surprised by is how little it took to put the car on it's lid, it didn't look like it was that far up the bank.
EDIT: I watched it again from the in car and yeah I see what flipped it.
Man, given the number of trees - that's about the softest way you could have landed upside down. Glad to hear the car protected you, that's its job.
Glad you walked away ok. That is a fun hill, but can definitely bite you.
I'm sure you uttered the corner name at some point in that whole ordeal...
(Oh E36 M3 for those that don't know.)
Well you stayed on the road, but you didn't stick the landing. I give you a 8.5.
Next time go for the full roll.
I took the novice ride up the hill (again) and was told about the dip, which was pointed out by the Chief of Novices specifically. I wasn't the only one to be bit by the dip, but I was the worst.
I'm sorry. It has to be said... That'll buff out.
That had a lot of opportunity to go very wrong. Glad it didn't.
