Not sure who's at fault. The Mazda didn't defend the line at all, but I'm not sure the MINI had 3/4 car length, either.
The Mazda knew the MINI has just pulled along side it on the straight and if he wasn't sure where the MINI was he should have gone wide in the corner.. Looks like he took his regular ( maybe ) line an assumed the MINI would let him have it.. As the result it cost them both..
Randy, text on the Mazda's in-car vid said something about the MINI losing ABS. What's the rest of that story? ------------------ Sorry, I meant Freedom Autosport's text on the YouTube page BELOW the video.
It is difficult to tell exactly, but maybe both cars were a little out of position as it seems the Mazda clipped the MINI at almost a 90deg angle. Where was the MINI going for the Mazda to cut the corner and almost come across the MINI's front at 90 deg. Again, difficult to really understand from the vid. So, are there any aerial shots? Maybe something from a satellite? Ok,,,,,,,,maybe not.
What does not show in any of the videos is VJ's early reaction to the Mazda who was going to shut the door. When the video is slowed, you can see VJ putting +90 degrees of left steering input while attempting to avoid. When he then went hard to the brakes, the ABS locked. This is normal for the ABS. The wheels need to turn freely for the ABS to function properly. It is unclear what the relationship of the two cars was. It is more than possible that the Mazda had the line and was entitled to hold it. The Mini's closing speed would imply that VJ owned the line, HOWEVER, look at the 'G meter' upper right corner and you will see that VJ was hard on the brakes (1.2 G's) BEFORE the steering input. He may have seen the 'future' and was trying to back out. When the Mazda came across, the brakes locked and BOOM! To me . . . it appears either driver could have avoided the incident. While, the ultimate cause was locked brakes, how they got there is the question. Anyway, I chalk it up to a racing incident. VJ was penalized with a stop and go so Grand Am believed it was his fault. You be the judge.
Randy thanks for posting the videos. From my perspective it was just one of those racing deals. Been there done that myself many years ago. As far as the penalty goes it stinks for you guys, but I'm glad to see Grand Am policing things. Otherwise it can be a real crashfest as you know. Congrats on the win! Now go for the 3 peat!
The new video posted on the other thread actually backs up both VJ and the Mazda, VJ clearly saw what was coming and tried to back out very early, but it certainly looks like the wheels locked up way before the steering input, also suggesting that the ABS failed on the MINI.