Re: Race car insurance?

["I.Mannix" <mannix@privatei.com>]

At 7:12 PM -0600 05/07/1997, Jay Docherty wrote:
>When ever I go to races at a track or at autocrosses people bring
>cars on trailers.  Sometimes these cars appear to be just daily
>drivers on a trailer (licence plates, passenger seats, no wacky
>stickers or anything).  But most of the time the cars in tow are full
>blown race cars.  My question is, do these people pay insurance on
>the car?  I know they have to register it but what about insurance?
>
>                                      Jay

Registering a car is lot specific - most SoloII lots allow non-street legal
cars, but I have heard of some (non-SCCA) clubs which do not allow
unregistered cars due to insurance/lot owner requirements.  We get several
non street legal cars at every event.

Typical auto insurance does not cover "racing."  SoloII rules and
descriptions are careful not to call SoloII "racing" for insurance reasons,
but even so, if you roll your car at an event, you're SOL WRT your normal
insurance policy.  AFAIK, there are insurance companies which specialize in
racecars, but those policies are expensive as hell, and I do not know
anyone who uses one.  I *believe* the intent of those policies is for
irreplacable vintage racers and the like, and are priced accordingly.
Could be wrong on that one.  So, on "full blown race cars," I'd feel
comfortable guessing that most are uninsured while on the track - they
might be insured for things like theft and natural disasters, but most of
the time, if you crumple a car on track, you're stuck.

I heard a story of someone who rolled a car at an autocross, flipped it
back over, drove it out on the street, and tried to recreate an accident -
the cops knew the event was going on, asked the people at the event if so
and so had entered, he not only got no insurance money, but got some sort
of fraud charge.  Cool.  Warranties are typically voided if the
manufacturer figures out you're autocrossing.

Now, on rolling your car.  I am sure some of you are wondering how frequent
this is.  It is not - maybe 0-3 cars go over annually nationwide.  Not too
bad, really.  Unfortunately, VWs in general are some of the ones known to
go over - VWs, BMW 3 series, any high center of gravity, softly sprung car.
I've been doing the Solo thing for 2.5-3 years, seen one Neon come *really*
close to inverted operation - he was exiting a slalom into a right hand
(driver down) turn, got a bit loose in the slalom, the car hooked up, went
45 degrees to the ground, came back down.  Cool.  A Fiat did some two
wheeling at an event last year, I've put mine on two wheels - spun on a
Trials course, slid through a patch of snow, hooked up, did'nt know the car
was on 2 until it came back down.  BAM.  Oh.  I guess my wheels were 1-2
feet up - not too bad.

Cars that go over are typically stock cars with sticky tires, and a heroic
driver - the lateral g's that race tires make are not enough to have the
car simply roll.  It normally takes an unsettled suspension, the back of
the car wagging back and forth, and when it hooks up, it can go over.  If
the driver tries to save the run, it'll go.  If the driver steers out, it
typically comes back down.

Experienced autocrossers are more likely to roll their car than novices.
Surprising, yes, but basically due to the fact that a novice driver is not
going to have the speed an experienced driver has, the novice driver is
never getting the car to high enough levels to roll the car.  Not to say
that a novice WON'T roll a car, but IMHO, a novice driver is less likely to
get into inverted operation than someone who is carrying more speed through
the same section of track - the Neon I saw on two wheels was driven by a
very experienced driver.

Once a car is lowered and stiffened with good springs and shocks, the
likelihood of rollover lessens.  I've spun my car at the top of third,
thought bad things as it was happening, but it was fine.  Sciroccos are
high and soft compared to other autocross cars - sure, the Rabbit is
taller, but all of the Rabbit's height is in the pillars and roof - the CG
is pretty similar between the two.  Not the same, but the Scirocco is far
closer to a Rabbit than a Miata.  Sticky tires include BFG R1, Yokohama
A008R/RSII, Hoosier Autocrosser/Radial.  Dunlop SP Sport 8000s are sticky,
but not like those, FWIW.  Basically, don't worry about rolling your car on
street tires, even if they are AVSi, SP8000, etc.

If you slide sideways into soft dirt or a curb, well.......


Mannix(not meaning to scare anyone, but it can happen - I used to worry a
LOT about rollovers, but I'm OK with it now)






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