Ferrari Crash Vid from Lime Rock

Stupid yellow 'Vette! That blue car's pass on the camera car at West Bend was awful late...

 

i could be TOTALLY off yet looks like the yellow vette was WAY too close for a HPDE day at that turn to the Fcar and either vette lost his brakes or ???? My guess, the Vette had a faster driver and the Fcar driver ahead of him braked earlier than the vette guy expected and due to being too close had nowhere to go per se. Cars can be fixed... am glad to hear everyone is ok.

Is the yellow Fcar owner on Fchat?

 

Damn...hope the damage was minimal! That corvette guy needs to have a few track lessons before putting his car on the track, he was way to close to the Ferrari.

 

I think the pack overall looked too packed.... was this just a 'track day' or was it an official
race? I'd rather be LAST than have such a tight pack on a tight turn at high speed... if it
were an official RACE, then you get what you ask for. Just ask Massa....

Tragic either way. Glad no one got hurt but cars

Jedi

 

bloody corvettes

 

It was just a HPDE day, and from the looks of it my guess is that it was either the instructors or very experienced drivers, as NE FCA events have four run groups (newbie needing instructor, experienced novice no instructor, very experienced and instructors). Agree, the pack was too tight for a HPDE day and those vette guys were obviously faster cars than the Ferrari guys. Sadly, they also were doing some stupid sh-t and VERY late passing even from that brief video.

If it was a race, i would have virtually zero problems with the video as stuff happens, yet at a HPDE day...

Looks like the vette guys were racing eachother quite frankly.

 

Amen. Have spent time going down that lane more than a few times at HPDE days. LRP is so small a track and things can really get backed up behind a single (or two) slow cars. This is also what makes WGI events so great, as there is plenty of track and places to safely pass during HPDE events. But then again LRP is such a fun lil place aint it getting airborne at top of hill and carrying speed onto the main straight (plus she is sooo fast now with the repave)

 

"Usually when I see a train of cars on a track like Lime Rock where the passing zones are limited"


Looks like open passing.

I can almost hear the Vette driver saying, "the Ferrari overbraked..."

 

Sh*t happens......

 

Have attended an FCA event at LRP and BEFORE this gets out of hand, Bob Coates runs a GREAT track event and is a great all-around awesome guy. There are set passing places and those places vary depending on the level of the run group. Again, my guess is this was the expert or instructor run group. Seriously guys, anyone who has driven more than a handful of track events knows stuff happens. This is even true in F1.... (bows head, moment of prayer for Massa).

Car Tracking Rule: Do not track a car you could not just push off a tall cliff and walk away from without much, if any, remorse.

PS: Everyone was fine, and THAT is what matters most in my book!!!!!!!!!!!

PPS: Racing at the track is the most adrenalin rush precision driving fast-thinking strategizing human nature manipulating fun i have EVER had in my life with my clothes on.

 

"Car Tracking Rule: Do not track a car you could not just push off a tall cliff and walk away from without much, if any, remorse."

Being someone who spends a lot of time at the track, this is very good advice. There are a variety of things that can happen while out there, regarless of how much experience you have.

 

Amen, and if i may humbly add regardless of how much prep/pro/engineering goes into the car.

ADDED: Ok, front car (yellow Fcar) spins on his own, everyone is tight/close and so others run for cover as they can. Normal track incidents happens.

Here's what can happen when someone up front has a problem (not for the squimish.. affectionately called the WGI 'blender')

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dIX6Wei2d4&feature=PlayList&p=E5BB57041A405DFA&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1

 

I was at LRP for the FCA event last weekend. It was very well run and considering the large number of cars there on Friday, relatively few incidents. That one on the video is a fairly common track problem. Lead car spins out on his own, and others can't stop in time. There did not appear to be a bump from the Corvette. And that bunching up of cars is pretty common at HPDE events. That particular turn, going into the Esses, can be slippery, and the F-car just lost traction, as many do right there.

And yes, Bob Coates runs a very good event. He is very safety conscious, and does not tolerate "hot dogging" or overly aggressive driving. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the cars can all be fixed. It is the reality of this sport -- if you do it long enough, you're going to have to fix your car. But that's also why we install the racing seats, harnesses, wear HANS devices, etc.

 

Owning both Ferrari and vette and racing both ferrari and vette...I have a different perspective. Looks to me like the ferrari should not have been in that fast group or held his line and pointed those guys guy. He got hit perhaps because he tried to stay ahead of the faster pack and out braked himself and got tagged by the vette for his efforts. If you try to hang with a faster pack they will let you play but you'll get "no quarter." He would have got much more respect and they would have given him a wider berth if he acknowledged their speed and just let them through.

 

If someone is being wreckless or taking chances, rearends another car or causes a wreck are they responsible at all? or is it a drive at your own risk situation?

 

Define 'reckless' and 'taking chances'. Driving on the track is taking a chance on its own from the get-go... lock/stock/barrel. That is why you sign a waiver. If anyone has ever read those (i have) just wait until you get to the 'personal injury' section, there is a reality smack upside your head. But MAN, i'd rather be at the track RIGHT NOW racing/HPDE than sitting here typing this post.

As for this specific situation, looks like normal track stuff. As i heard it, the yellow Fcar spun on his own and the normal duck and cover means yes, cars can get damaged. No one to blame really as things like this happen.
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Thanks for posting it and yup, the front yellow fcar spins on its own as told to me from someone who was there an spoke with those involved. Everyone else scrambles for cover and things happen. Normal stuff.

Denting a car at the track due to driving near 10/10ths testing the car/driver limits is much better than a year's worth of posting on fchat

 

ive been there about 25 times (with next visit this monday) and completely typical. ive spun out in the left hander the same way but luckily no one was around and also managed to avoid others that spun in front of me there. i dont think this type of mishap can be avoided in de.

 

I COMPLETELY disagree... The reason why the "mishap" occurred was because there was more than one person not leaving enough margin for error... The HALLMARK of DE's (or rather, it's supposed to be).

I've raced at LRP for twenty-three years (been on pole several times in front of 20K+ spectators) and yes, it's a FAST track with a LOT going on. Still, this accident was avoidable.

See you folks up there over Labor Day. Will be with the sports racing cars on slicks. Black #91.

 

That might be easy for some to say, but for the regular folks among us we'd still like to track our cars in a 7/10's atmosphere with other drivers that are respectful of each other. In this video all I see are a bunch of guys that think they are racing - which they aren't - this is an HPDE event. Each of them should have breathed off the gas, let others make their mistakes, and had plenty of time and space to react. I doubt any of them had SCCA or other sanctioned racing licenses - although they sure seem like they think they're racing.

It must be nice to be able to throw away the value of your car - but not a lot of us can do that. For those of us that can't - please let us run in the slower groups and respect each other and still have a lot of fun. Inexperienced drivers acting like they are racing leads to what you see in this video. I just spent the weekend driving on track at Road America with a lot of newer models, two F-40's, a beautiful Lusso, and even a 250 LWB California GT and we all pushed our cars, had a great time, and were very respectful of each other.

During track events there are a lot of us out there that are trying to have some fun and be better high performance drivers and yet we have wives, kids, and families at home that depend upon us. So please, if you're living out your fantasy that you can beat Michael Schumacher please do so when you have plenty of room. We'd rather not get collected in your fantasy world.