The curse of turn 3: fact or myth?

Late in the 2012 men’s Little 500 race, Cutters rider Kevin Depasse attempted to bypass a Beta Theta Pi rider during turn three. Depasse slipped during the process, creating a huge crash and affecting multiple teams’ shots at the title.

The third turn of the race has long been characterized as the most dangerous. While sophomore Jeff Jones of Sigma Nu agreed with this assessment, junior Teter rider Mackenzie Lloyd had different thoughts.

Mackenzie Lloyd, junior, Teter

IDS Is turn three the most dangerous?
LLOYD I would disagree with that. I think turn four would probably be the most dangerous one. I know for us, we’re always in turn one. This is our first year we’ve done turn three, so it’s definitely going to give us a different edge as to where we burn out on the track and how we approach those tactics.

IDS What makes turn four so dangerous?
LLOYD If you’re directly in turn four, you have to burn out directly after the turn, get into your pit. So for us, we have the straightaway before our pit. We have a whole straightaway to burn out, so it’s kind of like an awkward going-around-the-turn, slows you down. By the time you’re in your pit, most likely the pack has already passed you.

IDS How do you avoid crashes in turn four?
LLOYD We always ride in what we call “Teter position.” We never stay inside toward the gutter. We’re always on the outside, either in second position or third position. If a crash does happen, we can easily avoid it by moving toward the outside. If you’re on the inside in the gutter, and if someone crosses in front of you, you’re going to go down unless you have supersonic senses or something. Our coach is really good about, during the race, telling us how our position is and if we need to change it.

IDS How much do you practice on turn four?
LLOYD We go every day. We try different burnouts. We try to burnout different areas of the track. We’re used to doing turn one. Now, we have to adjust how we race and where we come out of the pack to exchange riders.

IDS Are there any rules that could be implemented to help?
LLOYD I think it is what it is. I think it has to do with your riding experience and your riding ability. The experienced riders know how to work their bike to make it easier and make it safer and faster at the same time to go around turns. At the end of the day, your bike-handling skills are up to you and if you want to improve those or not.

Jeff Jones, sophomore, Sigma Nu

IDS Is turn three the most dangerous?
JONES Yeah, most likely, because at Fast Friday there was three wrecks in the first three laps, and I’ve never really seen wrecks anywhere else.

IDS What makes turn three so dangerous?
JONES I think it’s the anticipation of turn four and the start and finish line coming up right after that, so people kind of get antsy. Also, people are making exchanges coming through that. People are wanting to get out and get their exchange, so it’s kind of a more anticipated turn.

IDS How do you avoid crashes in turn three?
JONES Definitely just be predictable. That’s the main thing. That’s what they preach to all new riders. I guess that’s just the most important thing to try to do on the track.

IDS How much do you practice on turn three?
JONES We focus on it quite a bit, I’d say. Our captain always tells us, “just stay predictable, especially in turn three.” They kind of emphasize turn three a lot.

IDS Are there any rules that could be implemented to help?
JONES I don’t think there’s anything off the top of my head. I mean it is a race, and people are gonna be aggressive. So, implementing rules and stuff like that would probably just take away from the race and what it’s meant to be.