|
|
|
#1
05-09-2007, 01:41 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Lost my race car yesterday in a big incident...just need to vent.
Just wanted to post on here given that I have a lot of friends on the site here that check in with me frequently and my racing activities or have helped me with my 348 over the years.
<copied from my initial write up on Trackpedia.com> Not to much to say really other than at least I went out in impressive fashion. Had the first test day with the Stohr all back together at BIR yesterday and things were going great in the afternoon after some purely crappy weather and rain in the morning. Got in two great session in the afternoon and then came in to fuel up and head out for the last one. Little did I know it was the last one for a long time. Had little teething issues all day but worked through them and figured the car wasn't that bad and I had been lucky. My luck ran out on my 8th lap of my final session. Just turn in my personal best lap at 1:43 on the dash and headed down the front straight after passing Steve B in a SRF between 9-10 up to 140 under CarreraRS, PawPaw, Rob and others in the control stand with Conan up ahead and then turned in for one. Car squirmed and I looked in the left rear view and just saw a big orange glow. Thought first I just blew the motor, but then realized that it was on the opposite side of the exhaust so I checked my other mirror and same thing big orange ball. So pretty impressive site to see I can image...140mph (with given I could see nothing else in the rear view besides fire) with probably a 30 foot set of flames behind me in the middle of T1 at BIR. First thoughts were honestly "why me?" followed by kill all the fuel, etc and get the car slowed down which was a pain as the fire was hot enough it was eating through the rear brake lines. As soon as I got the car straight and down to probably a 80-90mph I pulled the extinguisher and NOTHING happened. I dicked with the handle trying to pull it on the canister itself and nothing, pulled the dash handle one more time and said f*ck it I am out of here as I had fire now around me coming out the air intakes by my head. Slowly got the car down to 20 and just had my belts undone before she stopped rolling. Hoped out, ran away from the car and then just sat back and watched it burn. What seemed like 30 minutes later but really was only a few the crew arrived on the scene and ran over to the car thinking I was still in it. Gary Curtis was the second one out there and also thought I was still in the car. After seeing I wasn't we started spraying the car down. Fire crew had a hell of a time putting out the car as it was pretty much engulfed in flames from the cockpit back and as I am sure you will see in some pictures later was burning really damn hot and kept reigniting. I'll never forget looking up and seeing Sean's face after Rob, Mike and him got out to the scene. I think the look pretty much summed up everything I was feeling. It was just one of amazement. After getting the car scraped off the track and dumped off back in the paddock the Trackpedia crew... (Sorry Gary Curtis just called to check up on me - Once again probably one of the nicest guys in racing. Pointed out a good visual parallel to my car from his vantage point of a WWII fighter being shot down with flames out the back is what my car looked like.) ...and I stood over the mass of mangled fiberglass and carbon fiber looking for the cause and there it was right in front of me. The top outlet of the oil cooler had blown right off the units body. Were not talking the AN fitting came off, no this is the whole threaded in section of the cooler blew apart. Thus 188 degree oil at 60 some PSI (I had checked passing the start finish line) came rocketing out all over the cowling and side pods when then ignited when it touched headers. The Trackpedia crew on hand helped my scoop the remains back into the trailer and haul it home. It now sits at another friends place a big piece of ash from cockpit on back. This was going to be a really short update as I have of course been swamped at work but it turned out to be my full account. My feelings on all of this at the moment are mixed. Number one all I can think of is I am ok. When you look at where my belts were burned too as I was getting out of the car and when I think back to being able to see flames around my head while still moving at a good clip I am happy I don't have a scratch on me. Also considering this was at the turn in to the fastest turn in North America at 140+ mph I got damn lucky I didn't end up upside down or worse. Secondly I just am thankful that I have the friends/TP buddies I do that were concerned enough about me to have the expression Sean had and the concern Rob, Steve, Conan, Dave Billy, Eric, and Mike had. Lastly I am pissed that I didn't do this to my car. I can handle my mistakes breaking something or me screwing up but I just turned in my best lap ever in the car everything was perfectly fine with the gauges and then as David Hobbs would say Kablamo. A stupid part rated to a way higher psi then I was running blew up. I really wish I had screwed up because then it would have been on me and I feel much better when its my fault. If I had a car I would be back in it tomorrow. As long as it was painted Black and silver with the number 4 on it carrying the Trackpedia logo proudly. So rust in peace Stohr S/N 13. You were the most awesome thing I have ever been in...to bad our time together didn't even include the first race that I had bought you for. Warpedcow will have pics shortly. Maybe even a few of its last few laps alive. <end of copy> So pretty amazing incident and really bummed me out. Figured I would dump the 348 and get a real race car because i was worried about balling it up. Well I topped that one.  Lots of pics here including the final few laps alive: http://www.trackpedia.com/forums/showthread.php?p=23814 
|
|
#2
05-09-2007, 04:52 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
WOW!!! great to hear that you're alright and the only damage was to the car and not to you. Really sucks that you aren't at fault at all and just a mechanical breakdown on a catastrophic level. I'm assuming you were in full nomex? if so guess it paid for itself many times over. Hopefully you can get back on the track soon, best of luck.
(since you're alright and no one was hurt I figured it's fine for me to say I'm disappointed that nobody got a picture of you at 140 with the flames out the back)
|
|
#3
05-09-2007, 05:20 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
!!!!!
Glad you are ok. RIP to the car, what was it again?
|
| Non-Sponsor Ads |
|
|
|
#4
05-09-2007, 06:52 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Wow, that sucks.
Glad you are OK, a good friend of mine died the day after a racing crash from burns. I know it's small solace to say 'at least you can get another car and race again', but you really need to believe that. You could have crashed in flames and ended up upside down, given the speed you were going, you really need to count yourself lucky. Chase, it was a Stohr: http://www.stohrcars.com/ Last edited by Whisky; 05-09-2007 at 06:55 AM.
|
|
#5
05-09-2007, 09:34 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Sorry to hear this, bro. Glad to hear that you were unhurt, you can always get another race car.
Quote:
My brother had a big shunt a few years back. He fortunately emerged unscathed though the same can't be said for his car. I asked him afterwards what went through his mind as he went off. He replied, "I was wishing I were somewhere else..." 
|
|
#6
05-09-2007, 12:17 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Sorry to hear about your incident. That's a wicked fire. As other and yourself have said, luckly it was only the car that suffered (and your wallet!)
Other than this unfortunate accident what was your experience with the car, would you get another one in the future? I'm intrigued by Stohr cars with bike engines.
|
|
#7
05-09-2007, 12:28 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
WOW!!!
Glad you are ok. what engine and specs. was in there?
|
|
#9
05-09-2007, 04:18 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
John:
glad your OK. I would like to know what caused the fire bottle not to work. Once you look into that please share. Also amazing to see you got out without removing the steering wheel. I am 6-3 and would still be sitting in the car with the wheel on Car is replacable, a life is not Happy Birthday!
__________________
Martin @ Cavallino Motors.com "Spider Pig, Spider Pig, does whatever a Spider Pig does..."
|
|
#10
05-09-2007, 04:18 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
Looks like you discovered a new way to make toast. Glad you're allright. Last edited by 2NA; 05-09-2007 at 04:22 PM.
|
| Non-Sponsor Ads |
|
|
|
#13
05-09-2007, 06:53 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Thanks for the words guys. The whole thing happen in SLLOOOOOW Motion. Started rebuilding her today!
I decide I'm not going to let the girl die as she was just to much frigging fun when she worked. I wanted to get in 80 laps of my test session and only did 30 or so but was just too damn addictive in the three days that I have had her on the track that I have to rebuild it. Got lots of work ahead of me stripping her down to chassis and then building her back up but ah well its always a labor of love...adversity makes winning races all the sweeter. Martin not sure at all why the hell the system didn't go off. My feeling was that the handle on the dash would not pull out (keep in mind this is my recollection with flames nipping at my helmet) and then when I reached down and tried to squeeze the handle that felt jammed as well. I will take the system out here in the coming days when starting the rebuild and will see if I can get it to fire. It almost felt like the firing pin was in the system but it was in my pocket. Safety crew asked if I fired it, I said no then they asked if I pulled the pin and I produced it from my pocket. Pull it every time I get in the car after buckling in. For those interested in the car the stohrcars link above is excellent and shows off his latest and greatest WF-1 (newer model than mine) and you can also check out http://www.westracecars.com/ who is the one that is still reving my version. Overall after driving a lot of cars on the track this thing is the funnest car I have ever had the pleasure of driving. 13,000 RPMs is something that just blows your mind from inside the cockpit and the cornering grip is amazing. I've never been in a Formula Atlantic but from everything I hear these babies are more fun. Last edited by jjstecher; 05-09-2007 at 06:55 PM.
|
|
#14
05-09-2007, 09:38 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Kinda like being in slow motion before a car crash "Ohhh $hit, this isn't going to good". Sorry for the loss
 .
|
|
#16
05-10-2007, 10:04 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
JJ,
Sorry to hear but glad you were not hurt in the least except the wallet. I am like martin always concerned about firebottles. One thing that concerns me is typical aluminum lines that can get damaged and pinched so if you hit the button sometimes the spary does not go where you want it. I worry about dirt in the nozzles. I use AFF foam so I worry about freezing overnight and having a slushy in my bottle so if I hit the button nothing happens. This winter I raced in about 7* starting temp. The track was cold! AFFF prevents reignition better than Halon but makes more mess. Flop tubes in firebottles can harden so if you are upsidedown and hit the button you get less foam. I had my guage drop to the end of the green zone. I added nitrogen from my tank and the guage did not move. It was stuck in the green low end. So I depresurized the system and the guage still read good. The guage failed! I put a new one on and repressurized it. Basically, if the nitrogen leaked out I would never know it because the guage reads good. I say look at your guage in the morning and make sure as the day gets hot that the guage moves. In you case a 5L bottle would probably not help with an oil fire but still you want it to work. It is also hard to tell if a fire is electrical or fuel so remind yourself to cut the electronics too on the way out. I am sure you did that. You may also want to check to see if the chassis can be reused. Hot fire can damage the metal. I would disassemble down to the chassis and have it very carefully inspected by a pro without washing it so he could see where the fire was the hotest. If you anneal parts of the chassis you could have failure points and or bending to ultimate failure. At the least I would contact sthor to find out what they say. Next time you don't want to loose a wishbone mount on that turn at 140mph. Good Luck
__________________
The way Enzo intended 12 cylinders! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7zgo6TUNvw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd4FS...eature=related
|
|
#18
05-11-2007, 06:12 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
The other thing to think about is when you are setting up firebottle nozzles, try to put them on a part of the car that won't twist or deform in a wreck. I've seen them on dashes, steering columns, things that can be moved on impact, and if they move, so do the nozzles (directions they are pointed).
|
|
#19
05-11-2007, 06:59 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Glad you are OK---cars are replacable...you are not..
__________________
|
|
#20
05-11-2007, 08:49 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Wow, scary stuff. Good to hear you made it out ok.
__________________
"I can't complain but sometimes I still do" - Joe Walsh
|
| Non-Sponsor Ads |
|
|
 |
| Thread Tools | |
|
|
1974 MGB GT
1989 348TS
Esther
