Marty, thank you for posting that. It echos what Javier told me today and what I assumed all along. I never thought or said to anyone that he moved over on purpose. No one would do that in our racing series.
I accepted immediately that it was a mistake (or less likely a mechanical failure) but that mistake cost me a car and possible serious injury. I felt Javier needed to own up to the responsibility and was very angry and frustrated when that wasn't forthcoming immediately. I've had very little contact in my 10+ years racing but my experience has always been that whoever caused it, if it could be clearly established, apologized and offered help ASAP. I may have underestimated how hard it would be for a "kid" (yes I'm old) to own that but it does show a lot that he had the guts to call me.
The location of the mistake unfortunately made minor contact a major wreck. I do think better mirrors would have helped but when someone disappears from your view, you leave room and make no sudden movements because they didn't vanish - they're somewhere. That speaks to a lack of experience in wheel to wheel racing and I hope this very expensive lesson is carried forward. At least the cost is only in the form of money and time to rebuild.
Thank you again for posting this. It means a lot to me and I suspect to the whole community. There is no "requirement" in the process to be a stand up person but that is certainly the spirit of our class.
