Posted: July 15 2004 at 3:17pm | IP Logged

Well, here I am.  I've got my helmet, gloves and shoes all ready to go.  The ole' M Roadster is polished up and I'm almost ready for my first Speed Ventures event.  Before I leave however, I have a couple questions. 

1).  On this insurance website   http://www.lelandwest.com/Drivers_Ed_Events.cfm , the author talks about all the things that shouldn't be at a track driving day if you want to be covered in the event of an incident.  The Willows Springs event however will have each of those things present.  Now, to start, I (like everyone else I hope) don't intend on having an incident.  I would however like to have an expectation that is close to reality concerning my insurance coverage.  Do any of you have any experiences in this area you'd like to share, or any comment on the tips provided by the author of the page and how they apply to Speed Venture's events.

2).  Brakes, Brakes, Brakes.  How will I know I need to replace my rotors?  I'll certainly be bringing an extra set of pads, but what will give me clues as to whether or not I need new rotors (other than large cracks and a vibrating pedal and steering wheel)?  My current rotors have a barely "feelable" lip on the inside from current wear, should I replace them to be safe? 

I appreciate your time and thanks in advance for replying. 

-Keith  

Posted: July 16 2004 at 11:38am | IP Logged

Keith, this is a tricky question, and I'll answer as best I can.

First the easy one: Brakes. You'll be fine without another set of rotors, don't worry about that.

Now for insurance. Insurance varies from carrier to carrier. The first step to determine whether you're covered is to check with your carrier. Some will insure nothing that happens on a track. Most will insure you if you are not "racing". Clearly, if you were in our wheel to wheel race, you'd not be insured if your insurer knew you'd been in the race group. The lapping sessions are much less cut and dry. If you're not timing, you should be covered. If you have an instructor in the car with you, you're even more likely to be covered. Unfortunately, neither SV nor any other group can guarantee you you'll be covered should something happen. All we can say is that to our knowledge, every claim that's been made for incidents at our events have been covered by the driver's street insurance.

The article you mention is interesting. The reference to "Practicing for racing" refers to an incident that happend in Florida at Sebring, and in our opinion doesn't apply to our events at all. The driver in question was in a fully race-preppared Viper, and was at a RACE school to qualify for his race license. Somehow that never gets mentioned when people talk about insurance issues, but it's certainly what sunk his claim, and to be honest in my opinion his claim was pretty rediculous. A race license school is quite different from the instruction at our event, as you're participating in practice wheel-to-wheel races to prove you can race safely. Apparently the guy in question could not, as he totalled his car...

Anyway, I've gotten a bit off the track. If you are concerned about being covered you can do the following things to maximize the likelihood of coverage: Don't time, and sign up for instruction. This won't guarantee any claim will go through without any hassle, but it should allow you prevail if the insurance company tries to deny coverage. That's about all we can say on the subject.