Pezhead

It is registered and insured but already checked with NRMA - they don't cover driver training days.

I've started some inquries off mx5cartalk.com. Got a used softtop from there (fit in the back seat of the GTR beleive it or not!). Really the fix will be depending on the ability to sort out any structural damage. I seems like it is mostly minor as doors and boot still close somewhat. Really BIG thanks to the whole SAU Community for your support through this folks!

Hi folks. Thanks for respecting Nick's instructions on discussing "THE INCIDENT". For those that know or don't I've posted my whole story to date in this thread. I know I've had a lot of people PM'ing me about it so I wanted to make sure I could provide as much of the facts as possible to folks. If you want to discuss it please keep your posts in that other thread and keep it positive folks. Even though I'm still a bit emotional over the event, I know the only way out to NORTH is to stay true, optimistic and open to opportunities. For those that also wonder 'bout my shoulder - hurt like a mo-f this morn, but has gotten better as the day wore on today.

I've been debating if I should write anything here about what happened on Saturday. I decided that this club is a tight group of friends and that as friends, we can look at what happened objectively. Even though it is only 48 hours later and my emotions are still running high, I wanted to share with you all what being part of this club means and has meant to me through this ordeal. This is going to be a very long post (possibly multiple) so get a cuppa and get comfy if you want to proceed. [Go get a cuppa now and come back] EXCITED ABOUT A TRACK DAY Many of you saw me around on the Wakefield trackday. I did scruitineering and was handling the photo DVD like usual. I also brought my Wife's Crystal Blue MX5 to run on the day. My GTR isn't getting enough spark on boost so I decided I didn't want to risk any kind of issue on it. My Wife as always, was supportive of me going out to have fun so she graciously let me take her car along. I knew it wouldn't be super quick, but figured it would be a nice change to have a light car to run around the track. So I figured if I got 3 or 4 sessions I'd be a happy chappy. The ride to wakefield was actually a beautiful day. I took the top down, left work really early around 2pm and shot down the Hume Highway. Was a terrific run. I stayed overnight in Goulburn so I could get to the track early to help out. The morning was frantic getting everything in place, scruitineering was flat out due to late forms trying to get everyone through the queue in time for the driver's briefing. Then on to getting people sorted with DVD orders and GoPro instructions for the club rentals. I also had a mate that brought out his evo for the day that ran into technical issues. He lost braking pressure. Of course since I brought a bone stock car, I had really minimal tools. So I went around to borrow the tools and fluid we needed so Aggro Dave and I bled the brakes. Then we noticed two other issues. His car let go a rear main seal so was leaking oil from the transaxle and there were gouges in the brake lines where the rims were hitting. His day was done but he did manage a 1:13 his first time on a race track! Was great to see his excitement despite having only run less than 1/2 a day. I got one run in the morning and forgot to come in early to check tire pressures so the RE001's at 50PSI were useless. OOPS! I dropped them back down and had a great run in the afternoon. After that session I felt like I was starting to get a handle on how the bone stock MX5 reacted. I doesn't have a lot of power but is really quick through turns given it's only running street tyres. I was struggling a bit as I was trying to carry speed into the turn to make up for the lack of power but I kept ending up really out of shape and therefore off the racing line. THE INCIDENT I asked Reece to come out on the passenger session to critique my driving and let me know what my "Bad Habbits" were. We did about 3 laps and I decided I wanted to come in. We had just entered the pit lane and turned right towards the pits when out of the blue the car impact occured and the MX5 spun violently. We spun 1.5 times and ended on the grass. Reece asked me if I was alright and to be honest at that moment due to the adrenalin, I wasn't sure. He was already saying he was sore and in about 60 seconds I started to feel the ache in my right shoulder. About then the other driver did pop his head outside my window and ask if we were alright. We said we were shaken but didn't appear to be any serious injury. Both Reece and I stayed in the car until the saftey worker in a vest appeared and said we could get out. So, what happened? As we exited the race course the 300ZX Race Car (the blue one) apparently lost brakes for the hairpin turn onto the straight. We all know that turn is a very late braking turn so by the time it was discovered there was no way that car was coming around the corner. It exited VERY wide and came across the left side of pit entry's concrete. When the car hit the grass the slicks provided no steering what-so-ever. The entry angle just happened to be pointed directly at the rear Driver's quarter panel of the MX5. The impact was so hard that the MX5 did 1.5 revolutions in exactly 3 seconds. The light Mazda spun so fast in fact that the left bumper and taillight impacted his car again leaving a mark and cracking the rear taillight. I'm sure you're asking now - how do I know so much when I didn't even see the car coming at me when the impact occured? Well I happened to have a GoPro pointed right down the driver's side of the car. I have examined the video closely and that is as close to the facts as I can present to you. At this point it is human curiousity that you probably want to see the video. Am I going to show it to you? Yes, but only in due time. As the club's unofficial videographer, I can tell you that video is about presenting a story. This story is not over - far from it. I promise that when this story has fully unfolded, I will make a video to share the journey you. I've given a lot of consideration about this. If you do have video or photos of this incident as yourself why you are posting it. I personally (as the victom of this event) do not want people to focus on my car or the other driver's. Yes, crashes occur on race courses. However, as I said above this story is only 1/2 over. To show pictures or video now is only telling 1/2 the story. It is your choise to do as you wish, so I cannot stop you. THE AFTERMATH So, It's happened. Every racer's worst nightmare. I was 100% not at fault and the other guy hit me. I did approach him about 10 minutes after the incident and said "I don't want to discuss financials here, but should we exchange details so we can discuss them later?" He replied, "this occured on a race track" and then turned around and walked back towards his car. I was stunned. He wasn't even going to throw me some parts money? I thought about going up to him and getting into it, but common sense told me this was not going to be resolved then and there, so I let it be. Am I mad about this - you bet! But what I have learned in my 42 years of living on this earth is that fair is subjective. The man that learns to drive the best possible outcome out of even a truely twisted situation is a man that is a ease with the universe and his own conscience. At that point I realised I better make the call and tell my wife. Those of you that think this was a mistake - are 100% WRONG! I told my wife that Reece and I seemed OK, but that her car wasn't coming home tonight on it's own. I didn't know the full extent of the damage then and there, but it was going to have to be towed home. She was a bit stunned, understandably. It was a bit windy so it was hard to communicate so she said we'll need to talk later. Honestly the rest of the afternoon was a bit of a blur for me. I knew I had some club duties on collecting the GoPros and to start to collect all my stuff. I was glad, however, to see the afternoon sessions resume so at least the incident was put behind for those that came to enjoy the day. Even though it wasn't my fault, I would have still felt bad if that were the end to the day. LOGISTICS HOW AM I GOING TO GET EVERYTHING HOME? The flat bed took my car off the track and they were putting it back onto the ground when I walked up to have another look at the damage. My mechanical brain had kicked back in at this point and I'm optomistically hoping that maybe the rear wheel is just sandwitched in the rear quarter sheet metal and I can pry it clear to drive home. As I walked up I could clearly see the angle at which the rear tyre was cambered. I had a look and there were broken and bent suspension arms, diff mount and wheel hub - no go. At this point two young guys approached me (no offence guys, but compared to me - you are young). One had trailered his car down to run even though it is street rego'd. He asked me where I live. He then said, "Mate, I'll tow it back to Sydney but I'm planning to stay the night here in Goulburn. Is it ok if I drop it off at your place tomorrow?" Is it OK! These club members had already banded together to figure out how to help me out. I was nearly speechless. "Of course that's fine" I said. He said "Great, give me your phone details and address and well call when we're on our way tomorrow." THIS IS WHY I BELONG TO A CAR CLUB - BUT SPECIFICALLY SAU This to me is what our club is about. Earlier that day I saved my mate from possibly having his own brake failure and the damage that might have resulted. It happened to me where I was the victom, but our club members were looking out to help me. I knew it was important to get home so my Wife wouldn't worry about me so I managed to get a couple of options to get home. In the end our club Pres gave me a lift even though it was about an hour out of his way - thanks Steve-O. We had a good chat in the car and there are a number of discussions going on outside the public areas here on SAU. I can't tell you any details yet, but I can tell you that this club does not take lightly what happened to me and as a club we are looking into ways to make our track days even safer for everyone involved. This is the first major incident for SAU:NSW that I'm aware of in 8-9 years of running club events. It involved a mechanical failure that was unpredicatable. I invest my time into SAU not only because of it's passion for Skylines and Nissans, but because it is focused on providing fun and safe avenues to enjoy our cars. I was one of the tech inspectors in the morning, I can tell you that other track days I've been to with other organisations have no tech inspection what-so-ever. How do you know the car speeding behind you has been maintained/not leaking fluids/not held together with tie wraps? That is not to say there are not inherit dangers with travelling at high speeds. But the track environment is controlled where there are no telephone poles 1 meter off the apex for a corner and is still the ONLY safe place to take your car above the legal speed limit with acceptable risk to it, your person and others around you (ok, I will get off my soapbox soon). THE HOMEFRONT The next day I got an SMS from the guys with my car on their trailer saying they were leaving Goulburn and the GPS put them at an ETA of 1pm. They unloaded the car for me and it is now sitting at home. You guys were absolutely stellar legendary guys. Thanks so much, you really saved me when I needed a leg up. So, I'm sure you fellas are thinking - "Gee, wonder what the homefront's like?" Don't get me wrong, Deb is really upset. She's almost come to tears a couple of times. But, she keeps telling me she isn't upset at me. She just upset that she's lost the car she loves and angry about the situation with the other driver. She did really love that car. It represented FUN to her, top down, sun shining and wind in her hair. I am the luckiest guy in the world! I've promised her that I will find a way to make this right with the least amount of impact to our finances. I don't exactly know how I will do it yet, but I've made the promise to her. I'm an idea man, so I will find a way. She's so upset that she said she doesn't want to see it at all. No pictures, no video and I put a car cover over it so she (and the neighbors) don't have to look at the broken little 5. WHERE TO NEXT So, where does this story go next. I've pretty much brought you up to date, less a few details that are private and are not ready for sharing. I've spent the last 48 hours mulling my options and considering how to make the best possible outcome on this. In truth, I've gotten a couple of ideas that I'll need the club's help to pull off. A number of you have already offered to help me bang the car back into shape. If it is repairable, I will definately be taking you up on the offer. If it isn't repairable, well I'm really going to have to go to the drawing board as it is an expensive car to just write off. Back to paying for parts, I haven't locked in the exact plans but if I'm unable to get financial assistance, I may try to run a couple of social events as fund raisers to pay for the parts - think sausage sizzle, cruise w/donations, movie night at our new club house with entry fee as donations, etc. Once I finalise my plans and outline the budgetary requirements and fund raising alternatives, I'll be asking for our club members to support my initiative. I hope you are still here reading this mini-novel. Sorry it is so long, but I've had a lot of these thoughts rolling around in my noggen for the past 2 days. THIS STORY ISN'T OVER.... ...WE'LL BE MAKING THE ENDING TOGETHER

Hey buddy, any word on these?

Wow Kory those Photos look great. Just a reminder folks, you can still buy the club DVD. The photographers take photos of all the cars so you'll still get pics of your car! PM me if you want in.

Hey folks thanks for the concerns. I am a play by the rules kind of guy so unless my insurance covers training days I will not be pursuing otherwise with my insurance co. I would appreciate if people refrain from posting the pics though. It was a fluke accident that shouldn't happen at a club level track day. For the club's sake and until I can get something sorted with the other driver I don't want people to focus on the negative. Thank you all - Eric

Just pm me you address and arrange $35 transfer

Hey folk the photographers did cone out for the day and shot lots and lots of photos if all the cars. If you still want the photos just respond here or pm me.

Phssssshhhhh. Waaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaa phsssshhhhh

I'm the same - I have photos from almost every event I've entered and I still can't get enough. Got a response from Terry too last night so that's two more, three to go.

Ok that's 4 more to make this a go! (Thanks Kory). Kory shot this of my car the other night at EC in very tough evening light conditions. Having pro photographers get you action shots of your cars is so much better than just a friend with a little point and shoot camera folks!

Aggro and two emails I've gotten means we're still 8 short and only a few days away! Come on folks - it's so cheap!

Here is some incar of Matt in his Evo. I should have done the map like that on my vid. Looks more like a video game now.

Ah Kory, you just made my date mate! Nice Shot!

Love that Pic on the first post Matt - it's full of Awesome!

Yup, this will be a shame if it doesn't go forward folks. Only Three people have stepped up for it. I can't ask these guys to come all the way out for that. I plan to buy one even though I'm driving the Wife's car! We need 11 more people to make this a go. Git in quick!

Thanks Kory. I think that video is actually one of my best ones yet. I finally feel like I'm starting to get the effect and feel I'm going for. If you have any projects that need a music score like the one I used, I found a royalty free composer that shares his work. Google Kevin MacLeod & music. When I saw the big flames spitting out of the evo, I got a big grin cause I knew the GoPro was on the front bar and should have captured the shot. You know that feeling you get when you know you got the shot before you even have to look at it. Did you happen to get any shots of my car? I haven't see any on the JDM or circuit club blogs. Also, here is an in-car video with GPS Telemetry Data overlaid (Expand to full screen to see the position on map better).

Here's my new trick - GPS data telemetry overlay on in-car video.

Just checking of the CDI sold - if not I'm very interested.

I'm interested in the dumps too if Bloodsword doesn't take em.

Not sure if I'll be able to make this one yet, but perhaps a stop at Max Brenner afterwards for those that have a chocko addiction?

Guys, the gopro's are all booked out. If you want to put in for the reserves list pm me your details. Also, hardly any response on the photo DVD offer. Guys this is your chance to get great action photos of you & your car - cheap!

Nice pic Matt. Wish I had those light for the night session at EC!