This is a CT 260Z which was doing the Full-Tilt-Boogie at LRP, when it met a Canadian female XK-E driver who had stopped dead in the middle of the straightaway.

https://youtu.be/XiFCngPUBgM

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1970 240Z

IMHO - both drivers were at fault. The Donovan Jag driver should have gone around again if they couldn't make a clean pit-in.

THE ONLY TIME YOU STOP ON A HOT TRACK IS FOR A RED FLAG, AND YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO CAREFULLY PULL OFF THE TRACK IN THAT CASE.

Lydell in the 260Z was in a tough spot, but probably should have been looking further down-track.

Are you sure the Jag driver was Courtney Crone? (She's American BTW, pretty talented at 20 years old, first time at LRP and in a vintage racer.) I haven't been able to get a clear answer as to who the Jag driver was - Busch, Rabe, or Crone.

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Colin F. Gentle
1970 Datsun 240z #11137

That should be able to be buffed out........

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John Kish
1971 240Z - original owner

We overheard Courtney bragging to the event staff about her car just before the race, while we were filming the Donavan pits. She went thru the drivers' meeting and understood the flag system before the race and had raced several previous heats that weekend, so there's no excuse for this. If you slow the video to .25x speed and follow the Z frame by frame, you can see the Z pass 4 flag stations before this collision. At station #3 a local yellow showed at West Bend for a number 77 car which was parked well up on the chicane and out of danger. Then there as another flag station where nothing was displayed in the driver's camera. There was no black or red flag visible to the Z driver before this collision occurred. It was said that some unnamed driver got black-flagged for a false start (number unknown) and was pitting for that. Others followed, maybe thinking the flag was for them, or for the full-course (?). In any event, the black flag wasn't visible to the Z driver anywhere along the back of the course.
The corvette was gaining on the string of cars closest to the pit exit and, when they all slowed to get off, he pulled left into the center of the straightaway to pass them.
The Jag, far out on the left (fast) side of the track, suddenly slams on her brakes and stops. You can see her brake lights are still on at the moment of impact. You can hypothesize all you want about why she did that; there was nobody ahead of her.

The Z, seeing her stop, tried to pass on her right but the Corvette closed the space where the Z would have done that. The Z then whipped back to the left, possibly thinking to pass off-track in the grass(?) but ran out of room before it could get aimed far enough left to pass her.

You can also look at the jag driver's helmet; Busch and Rabe sit far taller in the saddle. I can't see the number on the Jaguar but others have said the driver was a "Canadian" first-time LRP Vintage female guest, and other said flat-out it was Crone. (I know Donavan is out of Massachusetts, thanks).

Still others have said there was a slight mixup in Big Bend, involving a few cars including the Bob Sharp clone. Until they could get those cars removed, it was said they called for a course-wide black flag. I'm not even sure that was on this race, on this day because I wasn't there the whole weekend. But again, if you follow the Z video around the course, there is no black (or red) flag shown from any station ahead of the Z driver.

Finally, Courtney's FB page follows every step of her New England racing season, including very positive comments about her first races on LRP with the E-Type. Suspiciously there are ZERO comments about this final race. All that might be totally circumstantial and mean nothing, but at this point the preponderance of evidence indicates it was her, with no justification for stopping in traffic on the straightaway.

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1970 240Z

Just got confirmation it was Crone. The whole incident was a shame - she had a respectable showing otherwise that weekend that we saw.

Other than Jag driver confirmation, I stand by my other comments. Boneheaded move by Crone, and Lydell not being conservative enough. FWIW at the downhill it looks like the worker is pulling in the black flag. If it were me, I would certainly be laying back and hyper vigilant with the yellow clearly visible at West Bend and then a questionable black (or remnant thereof) at the downhill...

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Colin F. Gentle
1970 Datsun 240z #11137

That's an excellent enhancement screen shot, thank you. If he as pulling the BF in, then it had applied to that individual car which jumped the start, and not to the whole field. If he had been waving it, it would have required everyone to stop racing.

The resultant confusion cost some expensive intercourse on the front straight. Obviously some cars thought it was either a whole-course BF, or that they had been individually BF'd. Equally obvious is that others (Corvette and Z) either didn't see a BF or were sure it didn't apply to them.

More modern tracks have light systems which replace the manual flags, but again, this is vintage racing so the flags are actually appropriate here!

I'm sure the rumor is untrue that Ms. Crone was trying to set her GPS, but it wouldn't work while the car was rolling. (Sorry for the snark). Glad no one was hurt.

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1970 240Z