Carbon disc 'exploded' at Ferrari track session | FerrariChat

Carbon disc 'exploded' at Ferrari track session

Discussion in '612/599' started by Justin Hughes, Sep 4, 2023.

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  1. Justin Hughes

    Justin Hughes Karting
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    Mar 8, 2020
    188
    Oxfordshire - UK
    Full Name:
    Hughesie
    So at Silverstone yesterday and had a bit of a moment at a Ferrari track session (Ferrari Racing Days)

    Was out in the morning session on a cool down lap heading into Stowe at about 100mph and the rear pax disc 'exploded'.

    Its taken out the rear wheel, caliper and part of the hub.

    Car has done 66k miles, fresh from a service and meticulously mechanically maintained.

    First proper track session for it, lots of fast A&B roads driven previously but was doing 2 hot laps, a then a cool down lap. Luckily i was on a cool down lap instead of a hot lap when i would have been approaching the same corner at about 150mph and things could have been very different !

    Thoughts on failure ?

    This is the largest piece of carbon they found on track, obviously tumbled around wheel etc bit pretty shocking i think to fail like that ?

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  2. INRange

    INRange F1 World Champ
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    Jan 27, 2014
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    Yikes! Glad you are okay.
     
  3. George Vosburgh

    George Vosburgh F1 Rookie
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    WOW! So sorry to hear it. This has got to be a first on the 599 thread.
     
  4. Ferrari 360 CS

    Ferrari 360 CS F1 Veteran

    Dec 4, 2004
    6,888
    Cape Town,SA
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    Jacques
    I'd say that is a very unusual failure. Are these the original rotors and if not when were they replaced?

    My guess as unlikely as this may seem, the rotors were hot and somehow an object hit the rotor which caused it to shatter. Would be interesting to know the % of wear on the other side rotor.

    Undoubtedly a very scary experience!
     
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  5. Chindit

    Chindit Formula Junior
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    Oct 18, 2008
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    Nick P.
    To the OP, you have my sympathy and I'm glad you came through it one piece. I was reminded right away of this....

     
  6. vraa

    vraa F1 Rookie
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    Oct 31, 2003
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    How many years old was the rotor?
     
  7. flat-12

    flat-12 Formula Junior

    Mar 18, 2011
    375
    Germany
    Thank you for sharing!
    Can you describe what happend and how you relacted the moment the disc exploded?
    Seems like you have good skills and some luck.

    It would be great if you could post a picture of the other rear brake disc.
     
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  8. Justin Hughes

    Justin Hughes Karting
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    Mar 8, 2020
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    Oxfordshire - UK
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    Hughesie
    Just to update:

    original rotors
    2008/9
    I was on a track so not sure something hitting the hot rotor would have caused this - certainly didn't feel anything.

    As i was on the brakes as soon as i felt the rear go (i thought it was a flat/tyre explosion at first) immediately came off the brakes and went through Stowe corner and just coasted through to the pit lane.

    I'm a pretty good driver but luck was def on my side on Sunday, luckily i was on track, who knows what would've happened on the road!
     
  9. Ferrari 360 CS

    Ferrari 360 CS F1 Veteran

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    Any idea how many sets of brake pads the car has had in its life?
     
  10. Justin Hughes

    Justin Hughes Karting
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    Mar 8, 2020
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    I replaced them 2 years ago as a precaution, they were not low, and they are still very meaty with minimal wear after 10000 miles, so at least 2/3 sets i would say
     
  11. terryGT

    terryGT Rookie

    Jul 7, 2016
    8
    On my friends 488 they weighed the carbon rotors to check for replacement
    He had to replace 2 rear rotors after only 100,000 kilometres
    They showed no signs of wear



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  12. Skidkid

    Skidkid F1 Veteran
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    Aug 25, 2005
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    That was the originally specified say to check the rotors. Noone did that, so they changed to a thickness measurement and visual inspection. The maximum permitted wear is 0.5mm, measured at the innermost track of the brake pad contact surface (most wear occurs there). There is also a special tool to check surface roughness but again, most outside of a dealer do not have this tool. In addition to the two above they measure planarity (how flat the surface is) and parallelism between the surfaces (inner to outer surface of the disc).

    I suspect few cars get a proper, detailed inspection but it sounds like the OP has had the appropriate inspections. IE: the inspection is not foolproof.
     
  13. Condor Man

    Condor Man F1 Rookie
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    Sep 8, 2006
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    I am sorry to read this.

    How many laps had you done on the session before the cool down lap?

    Let’s not forget that these are big cars and the brakes really labour to pull such a car up.

    The heat soak would have been quite extraordinary which is no doubt the main reason this would have happened. Also, a small rock may have lodged itself in one of the cross drilled vents which could have potentially cause a tearing motion.

    I hope that you get this sorted out soon!


    May the Horse be with you
     
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  14. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Jul 19, 2008
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    Terry H Phillips
    Yup, my first thought was FOD damage between the caliper and rotor. Have had that happen on steel brakes and it results in a horrible squealing noise as the stone grinds down. On a CCM rotor, it likely would be carving a groove.
     
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  15. LVP488

    LVP488 F1 Veteran

    Jan 21, 2017
    5,888
    France
    That's scary... also strange a rear rotor failed first, the front ones are submitted to much more stress (although they are larger, which helps dissipate heat).
    I would suspect a manufacturing defect, even though to me the rotors are pretty old for a car sometimes used on track (on my 599 rotors were replaced after about 25,000 km IIRC).
    I also guess it's less likely to happen on the road, since even spirited driving is very far from the intensity of track driving.
     

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