Good journalist wreck

TTAC link appears to be down. Anyone know if it's a glitch or on purpose?

EDIT: It's working again.

I've been slowing breaking into the press test drive circuit the last three years. Pretty much I treat the cars better than my own personal vehicles. I never understood what there was to be gained by wailing on a press car. And when you wreck one, you just screwed over the next guy in line who wanted to review it.

I absolutely love a bit of prose that positively skewers a person that we can all perceive as having erred in an egregious manner. And I truly love that piece!

"Don’t saw at the wheel like a drooling infant swinging a rattle around: that produces the “immediate sideways turn” described by Mr. Evans. "

Otto Maddox wrote:

Reminds me of this classic from Road and Track.

The best of all was either Don Schroeder or Patrick Bedard.

Unfortunately, both of them crashed at over 200 MPH.

Patrick lived. Don didn't.

From his writing, I have always felt that Peter Egan was one of us. Hope that's true.

Lesley wrote: one of which a female blogger managed to munch the gearbox by insisting she could drive stick when she clearly couldn't.

Is that the woman who wrote the famous Veyron article for MSN by any chance?

I dunno, I'm not familiar with that. There usually aren't very many women on these things, and those that are regular attendees are pretty professional.

Understeer – when you crash into the wall with the front clip. Oversteer – when you crash into the wall with the rear clip. Horsepower – how fast you were going when you hit the wall. Torque – how far you moved the barrier on impact.Any questions?

/hah

A close friend has written for Roadracing World for a long time. For a long stretch he was attending many of the bike and tire introductions, generally conducted on the same circuits on which F1/MotoGP is contested. So he gets the new Yamaha R1 at Suzuka, the Ducati 1198 at Mugello, etc.

He also happens to be a successful motorcycle endurance racer and team owner. Tens of thousands of laps and can count all the crashes with his shoes still on. Possibly with one hand in his pocket. He's got loads of tragi-comic tales of journos balling up the new bikes, and how at most events the bikes are set up to be "rideable" rather than optimal.

And regarding Baruth - I spent a couple really fun sessions at NJMP Thunderbolt playing tag w/ him - he was in a Boxster, I was in my e36 M3. Not to inflate my own sense of self worth, but that dude can drive.

chaparral wrote: Patrick lived. Don didn't.

Don was my college roommate and a good guy. I was really saddened by his death.