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Nissan Delta Wing Crash


Automoda

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1/ The Porsche was headed to the pit lane (Drivers Right)

 

2/ If Nissan didn't want people to not see them, don't paint your car that stealthy flat black! Didn't they learn anything from LeMans?

 

3/ I can't watch that car and not think of this:

 

4/ Call me old fashioned, but I don't want this car to succeed. It just looks wrong to me! The only reason it's fast is, super light weight and no frontal area.

 

5/ It's got be a bitch to drive. You have to leave a set amount of room with the front so that the rear clips the apex. Plus when passing when you stick the nose in will the rear fit?

 

OK, I'm done now. I'm glad I got that off my chest 8-)

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Its true that the car is flat black to look cool but in fact the color is camouflage. On top of that, the shape makes it hard to be next to and not hit.

 

However I think the green car hit it because he was about to spin anyhow. Look at the front wheel just as he hits the Delta. Its turned well away in the opposite direction. I'm going to call this 'just bad racing luck". Also the delta looks like it tends to roll easily as powderbrake suggests. This would have been much less dramatic if the green car had hit another 4 wheeled car.

 

BMW Racer-- I know you hate the car but you have to admit its the fastest thing on the scene. Its just that its new technology and approach have created something thats not fit for bumper-to-bumper racing. I have a recumbent bicycle and its similar. Easily faster than other bikes but I dont participate in pace lines because of the crash danger (Pace lines are dumb anyhow and cause a ton of the worst kinds of crashes on bicycles). I'm not sure what kind of event the Delta should participate in. SCCA Solo or something. I'd like to see them continue to develop the idea. Caster wheels on the top side and corners would probably be quite an improvement.

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Yep. To me it looked like the Porsche lost it (on part of the track that scares me) before it hit the deta wing. This kind of thing is part of the hazard of racing with multiple classes in an open car. I don't like the idea of being on track with vastly different cars, speed, protection. Fortunately it looks like everyone was OK.

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Allot of factors to consider at this point on the track. I agree that the Porsche was pushing his adhesion limits, he was way out on the rumbles which shake up the suspension and reduce traction, comes back on to the track the tires bite and push him to the right at the very point the car is unloaded and the lightest point on the track. If you get this part of the track wrong you will play hell to catch up and get it sorted out before you hit the wall at the bottom of the hill. You pretty much pick out a point on the bridge and drive towards that, you really can't see where you are going to land. Without a doubt the scariest and most fun place on any track I have been on. You definitely do not want to be turning or trying to recover from anything when the suspension unloads from the vertical acceleration. Get it right and it is one of the most satisfying combinations of turns and elevation changes in racing. IMHO.

I doubt the Porsche driver ever really saw him on top of it all.

Edited by 7evin
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7evin,

Did you ever get to drive Road A before the DIP was removed? That made 11 very exciting.

I was a corner worker there for 20 years and I saw many ways how not to take 11.

 

How long ago was it taken out?

Road Atlanta I probably my favorite track.

I am sure you saw plenty of action in 20 years. :)

10a and 10b have their fair share because of the drag strip before them, real test of braking power and balls.

11 seems to have plenty because of handling and balls. :)

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How long ago was it taken out?

Road Atlanta I probably my favorite track.

I am sure you saw plenty of action in 20 years. :)

10a and 10b have their fair share because of the drag strip before them, real test of braking power and balls.

11 seems to have plenty because of handling and balls. :)

 

The Dip was filled in to make 10A & B. They raised the track be 18ft or more. I think it was around 1998. It was a straight line (more or less) from Turn 9 to the Bridge. GTP's were hitting 195mph before braking going up the hill. There have been some wild and ugly incidents there. Bob Wollek had an "off" at 11 in a 962 that was wild, and a Formula Atlantic touched wheels and went airborne under the bridge... ugly.

If you didn't have your braking done before the bridge, you were in trouble. The track drops fast and your suspension unloads and it's

OH S#!T

 

The new 10A & B make good viewing at the Petit, terraced seating and a big screen to boot! And for the drivers, a big gravel trap.

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