VIDEO: What Not To Do At A Track Day

Toronto Motorsports Park, a former airfield that was converted into a 2 mile road course featuring 14 turns, is a great track for novices to dabble in motorsports. The speeds aren’t high enough to obliterate you in a crash, and the 14 turns will challenge a beginner, despite the lack of elevation changes.

TMP’s biggest downfall is the fact that they will rent the track to anyone, and many car clubs take advantage of their affordable rates to host their own lapping sessions. From the looks of it, the incident in the video above took place at one of the uber-cheap afternoon sessions, and was likely hosted by a club with an appalling disregard for professionalism and safety standards.

The driver of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution seen in this mercifully short clip should never have been let on the track to begin with. The driver has no helmet and is wearing shorts, a t-shirt and sandals. But hey, he is wearing a Cosworth flatbill and super-dope driving gloves, so that’s got to count for something.

Common courtesy at TMP dictates that on the front straight, drivers passing slower traffic should give a wide berth and then come back to the racing line as they set up for Turn 1. Instead, the EVO driver came within a pubic hair’s distance from the driver of a Mark II Golf, cut back in, and proceeded to barrel down the straight away and into turn 1, a long, sweeping 120 degree right-hander. Drivers can easily hit 120 mph on the straight away, requiring a ton of speed to be scrubbed off before Turn 1.

Instead, our hero keeps his foot buried to the carpet and only starts braking mere feet before the apex – while steering the car with one hand! The results are predictable, and the EVO makes a glorious exit onto the grass, all while the cameras are rolling.

The Youtube description of the video claims that the brake fluid had “boiled”, causing him to lock the brakes and crash, but we don’t buy that at all. The EVO pilot should have spent money upgrading the driver – and safety equipment – rather than his car.

[Source: Bang Shift]

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