Both Feet In
By John Vatne
6/22/04

If you are a graduate from an advanced driving/racing school you know the phrases “If you spin, both feet in.” When you loose control of a car you are told to press the clutch and brake to the floor. This will do two things; keep you from stalling the engine and lock up all four wheels giving the car in a predictable path of travel while bringing it to a stop.

When a car locks up all four wheels it will slide in a straight line following the trajectory the car was on just before the wheels locked up. This straight line is the predictable path of travel a following drive can use when trying to avoid a car that is out of control.

Could the incident between Mario Dominguez and Rodolfo Lavin been avoided if this bit of driving 101 was followed?

Take Lavin’s comment on the incident “When a car spins out and rolls back in front of you at such high speed you just have to feel lucky if you get away without a really serious hit.”

If Mario would have kept both feet in and the brakes locked his car would have continued in a straight line across the track. However it looks like he let off the brakes and rolled back across the track leading to his contact with Lavin.

Dominguez is one driver in the field that you can count on making things happen on the circuit. If his laps in technique did not happen, there is a good chance we could have seen more action during the race in Portland.

The addition of Ryan Hunter-Reay as a teammate for 2004 has made the monkey on Dominguez’s back just a little bigger. The first guy you want to beat in a race is your teammate. With no disrespect meant for Roberto Moreno, RHR has raised the level of competition in the Herdez paddock, and should improve the teams overall results. The current score is RHR-1 MD-0.

Everyone makes mistakes from time to time so this can be Dominguez’s one for the season. Mario, if you spin in Cleveland please keep both feet in. There is plenty of run off room and given the opportunity Champ Car fans would rather watch Super Mario work his way back through the filed, then see the Herdez car on the hook.