Two Caterham Crash Videos at Hillclimbs

[scannon]

YouTube - Caterham R500 - Guernsey Hillclimb - Upside Down!!

 

YouTube - Caterham R500 - Berg Cup 2010 - Crash

[rnr]

The first guy is a graphic description of why you should use arm restraints.

[pksurveyor]

On the second video, those trees scare me!! I did a track day last weekend at the local law enforcement academy training track and it has street lights around the track like those trees. I addressed the issue with the academy's chief instructor and he said the architect screwed up by installing lights for night training exercise except that police cars have headlights. After lunch a Z06 did a 360 and the tail hit one of the light poles.

[Mondo]

If it was me, and the camera was still running, you'd see me getting sick at the thought of all the damage I just did.

Guess that's why I don't race;)

 

 

,

[athens7]

The first guy is a graphic description of why you should use arm restraints.

 

Or the brakes...:leaving:

[Kitcat]

First guy= cold tires.

Second guy=never saw the turn. Never even moved the steering wheel.

Auto-X poles/trees=if they are there, someone will figure out a way to hit them, regardless of course design.

[snookwheel]

 

Add hay bales to that list! two weekends ago at an autocross I watched a BMW M roadster lose it and spin into a field next to the runway a course was on and broadside a hey bale. Trashed his passenger door and rear quarter. It sounded like he mashed the gas on his way off the course. It was a modified roadster with a supercharger generating 418 hp at the wheels.... not a good day for him. It threw the hay bale an amazing distance! The course never should have been set up the way it was.

[Kitcat]

I have seen a tree impact 15 feet above ground level at an auto-x.

 

A friend borrowed my Miata and hit a tree on the inside of a curve with the far side of the car (nearly impossible to do)tho if you slide wide, go off, keep the gas floored, lurch back onto the track, then the spinning wheels will catch and continue to rotate the car in a perfect 360 throwing it into a trajectory opposite of entry into the turn and allowing the car to then hit the tree on the opposite side.

 

And we had drivers at 2 different sites launch themselves totally off site and land in the middle of a busy adjacent highway (Previously considered impossible). Kiss those two sites good-bye:).

[Croc]

First guy= cold tires.

Second guy=never saw the turn. Never even moved the steering wheel.

 

 

Did something break on the car in the second video? He started his braking, almost started a right turn but then stopped and steered for the break in the trees. Thats a weird situation.

 

First one definitely a cold tires trick - check..done that!

[supersportsp]

Did something break on the car in the second video? He started his braking, almost started a right turn but then stopped and steered for the break in the trees. Thats a weird situation.

 

First one definitely a cold tires trick - check..done that!

 

I just think he knew he had no chance at making the turn and thought it was better to go straight off than to possibly try to make the turn and go off sideways and barrel rolling into that tree or big ol' bush.

 

Having done something similar on a motorycle years ago, it was like deja vu.

Edited November 4, 2010 by supersportsp

[David C]

I just think he knew he had no chance at making the turn and thought it was better to go straight off than to possibly try to make the turn and go off sideways and barrel rolling into that tree or big ol' bush.

 

Having done something similar on a motorycle years ago, it was like deja vu.

 

Thought he made a good decision - trees are bad news and a surprisingly small tree can kill you. Just ask the guy who nailed about a 6-7 inch tree with his Chevy PU outside my work, except you can't as he didn't survive.

 

Also did the same thing with a motorcycle & 10 mph curve whose sign I somehow missed. But my obstacles were not trees but rather honey buckets at a small rest stop. Fortunately no one there & missed everything. Type in Dante's View, Death Valley in Google earth and you'll see the sharp right hander shortly before reaching the top.

[Sevnn]

I just think he knew he had no chance at making the turn and thought it was better to go straight off than to possibly try to make the turn and go off sideways and barrel rolling into that tree or big ol' bush.

 

That was my take on it as well. You can see him braking, look to the right, start his turn and realize he wasn't likely going to make it, go back left and miss the trees. It was a quick decision and if I was him I wouldn't regret going that way.

 

The first guy was definitely cold tires and I'm curious about steering issues as well. You can see him turn right, and continue to turn the wheel but the right front tire doesn't seem to continue to turn. It might be an illusion from the angle of the fender but it looked like he might have had something setup incorrectly and couldn't get all this turning ability. He would have hit the tires either way though. He did make one good decision and that was to pull his thumbs back out of the wheel. When he clipped the tires it spun the wheel violently left and could have hurt himself more if he was trying to hold onto it still.