The 10 cent diamond

Overtaking another car is a great feeling. Passing 5 cars in one lap makes you feel like a driving ace. Passing 5 in one corner is a sign that something is out of the ordinary. Is there a yellow flag you haven’t seen? Is there something dangerous afoot? Is your car/driving just that much better than everyone else? If someone sells you a diamond for 10 cents, it’s probably not worth a dime. And if you just passed 5 cars, it’s might not be on your merits.

Watch below as the unfortunate driver learns a hard lesson about stomping on the throttle on a cold, damp track. Around here, we call such power-oversteer crashes Karma Supra. Video #2 is the rear view.

This YouTuber’s channel features some more entertaining moments (below). From watching their normal race videos, the team appears to have decent drivers and a well-sorted car (which sounds amazing). Sadly, shit happens all the time. Well, if it looks like shit and smells like shit, really, you don’t have to taste it before deciding whether or not to step in it. So be on the lookout for 10 cent diamonds and dog shit. They’re everywhere.

The 7 deadly spins

Christianity brings us the seven deadly sins.

Lust: Uncontrolled desire, often in a sexual or monetary context.
Gluttony: Overconsumption and wastefulness, usually with food.
Greed: Hoarding of material possessions. Opposite of generous.
Sloth: Laziness, mostly in a spiritual context (e.g. not praying)
Wrath: Hatred, anger, range, often against other people.
Envy: A desire for what others have or sorrow for their successes.
Pride: A belief that you are superior to others. This is considered the deadliest of the 7.

In the church of racing (which I just made up), there are seven deadly spins (the links below refer to previous YSAR posts).

Lust: Your uncontrollable desire to go faster clouds your judgement about when to brake. By the time you realize you’re going too fast, you’re fail-braking out of control.
Gluttony: You overuse the clutch. It’s not a brake, and using it as one makes you prone to down-shitting all over the track.
Greed: Your oversteer recovery uses the whole track: left-right-left-right. Around here we call that a tank-slapper.
Sloth: You’re lazy and rely on hope/faith instead of experience/skill. As you begin to run out of track, on-track-praying isn’t nearly as effective as opening the wheel.
Wrath: Your anger in the slowness or incompetence of other drivers causes you to stomp on the throttle and spin out of control. Enjoy your instant karma-supra.
Envy: When you see another driver spin, your immediate reaction is to take advantage of their misfortune by passing them as quickly as possible. Doing so, you walk straight into a dope-a-dope.
Pride: You’re a little too enamored with yourself and your driving ability. You can’t help but show off. You love donuts, burnouts, and drifting. Hey everyone, look at me!

FYI, the team was banned for the season.

Karma-Supra

A spinning tire has almost no grip in any direction, including sideways.

Even if it feels good, aggressively stomping the throttle pedal is never a good idea. On a loose or slick surface, or in a car with a lot of horsepower, the tires may go from grip to slip very quickly. In a RWD car, you get the typical power-on oversteer exemplified in the clip above. It’s hard not to spin in such a situation, and attempts at recovery may make matters worse. When anger-oversteer results in instant retribution, we call that a Karma-Supra.