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  Dec. 15, 2008 3:23 p.m. dougie New Reader

  Hello,

  I watched a great Discovery Channel program yesterday about a Vintage Aston Martin race team completing in the Spa 6 Hour in Belgium this year. Great in car filming, a wonderfully produced documentary. I highly recommend it to all car lovers. Here's the replay schedule:

  http://dhd.discovery.com/tv-schedules/special.html?paid=66.15710.121612.0.0

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  Dec. 16, 2008 6:52 a.m. Tim Baxter Online Editor

  Thanks Dougie. I'll be watching for it.

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  Dec. 16, 2008 8:37 a.m. OFracing New Reader

  I caught that show too and thought it was great. It seemed to catch the real effort that goes into running an event, from the driver and support team with out making it into an over dramatic reality show. Just a bunch of friends out having a good time.

  mike

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  Dec. 16, 2008 10:33 a.m. dougie New Reader

  Mike,

  Help me out here, I've watched the sequence were the Aston meets the wall over and over, even in slow-mo, I see no reason for his apparent driver's error. The cars in front appear well ahead of him when he locks the brakes and later states they crossed in to his drivers line. Am I missing something, maybe he was carrying more speed into the corner than you can realize from the film, but I think he had plenty of time to correct and not ride the skid into the wall.

  Back seat race driver here looking for some interesting input. Oh, ya I did record this gem so I could enjoy it all winter. My families gunna looooooove me.
  

  Dougie

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  Dec. 16, 2008 6:54 p.m. aeronca65t Reader

  Once in while when I hear stuff like this, I think about joining the modern era and buying a TV.

  Then I look at all these car projects that I have and I say, "Nahhh!"

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  Dec. 17, 2008 11:55 a.m. OFracing New Reader

  Dougie, I've had the same thoughts when I've spun my Spitfire while racing, I should be able to catch this. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. A racecar usually has a much stiffer suspension and once you cross the limit, even though it's a higher limit, you're a passenger in for the ride.

  My car, while way down in horsepower from the Aston, is a smilier configuration. There's a lot of weight in the front and not much in back with skinny tires. Once the back end starts to come around you have a very small time window to get it back in shape.

  The side forces (slip angle) start to build up while the weight comes off the back end and transfers to the front further reducing the grip at the back. Hitting the brakes or an abrupt gas pedal lift, puts more weight on the front and makes it worse. Once you hit the grass, especially heading backwards, all bets are off, there just isn't enough bite to allow the tires to do their job. Recovery is easier in a car with 50/50 weight distribution (spun them too) but in a LBC it's different.

  It looks like the walls are very close at Spa, much like Watkins Glen. There's just enough room to parallel park if you can pull off in a controlled manor, no real room for spin recovery.

  I'm just wondering how much it's going to cost to fix the thing. It looked like the rear quarter is a bolt on part, not welded so it may be easier from a labor point of view but I'm guessing not cheap.

  mike

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  Dec. 17, 2008 12:25 p.m. Karl La Follette Reader

  cool thanks for the heads up on the dates

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  Dec. 17, 2008 6:16 p.m. dougie New Reader

  Thanks Mike,

  I agree with your thoughts, especially on the weight balance with the LBC. Even with some lightening and suspension upgrades on my Healey, it can still be a real pig if you get it wrong entering a corner a speed.

  Doug<a href="">

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  March 25, 2009 8:53 p.m. roamic

  It certainly looked like that Aston driver just lost it.

  there was nobody in front and when he spun, you could see nobody in back either.

  Are the results of that race anywhere on-line?

  I'd love to know who won?

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