DScamp

Just thought I would share with you guys. I was at the corkscrew when the Brabham was hit by a Williams, which caused it to roll.

The driver was ok, but it was sad to see

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=4617565575623

DScamp

Here is a pic

rmackintosh

Pic cracks me up...was that a scene from Driven, the movie, where race car drivers jump out of the car to help the other cars/drivers??? ;-)


The one from the "modern" Ferrari a few years ago two turns earlier than that where the car came apart at the seat and the driver is still strapped in the car and his *** and legs are on the track is the "best" one I have ever seen.....especially since that guy was unhurt too

DScamp

Jesus that is insane

Zoxxo

The interesting part of that Ferrari incident is just what a crap job they do assembling those cars for the paying Ferrarista to drive at speed. Such amazingly shoddy construction would be laughed out of the F1 paddock even in the day of that particular chassis. There's just no way that a modern formula car of ANY series should crack in half like that - along a clear seam. Just mind-boggling. I'd love to hear Charlie Whiting's take on those pics.

Four drivers (Lunger, Ertl, Merzario, Edwards) stopped and exited their F1 cars and saved Niki Lauda's life at the Nurburgring. That used to be pretty normal stuff back in the day when safety crews were one notch above useless.

"Driven" is the kind of movie that should never be made; gives the term "awful" a bad name. Bernie showed his smarts by chasing those boneheads away from F1. Champ Car, not so much.

Glad the Brabham driver is ok. Yeesh.

Z//

rfn026

The Ferrari problem was significant. We just don't have a good history for carbon fiber. We know a lot about the life span of aluminum. We know very little about the life span of carbon fiber. This is going to become a bigger issue as more and more carbon fiber tubs are brought into vintage racing.

Right now some of the fastest racing in the world is taking place at vintage events. Everyone is concerned. I understand that the Ferrari tub was wisked back to Italy. Of course no comments were forthcoming.

Richard Newton
Car Tech Stuff

rmackintosh

I thought I remembered, back when that Ferrari wreck happened, that Ferrari claimed that the car was repaired "for show only" and was not intended to be driven again. I think it was supposed to be a car that Shumacher wrecked badly and got hurt in I believe....this is all just from memory however....

Zoxxo

On the topic of vintage racing, this week's Gordon Kirby posting is a good read:

http://www.gordonkirby.com/categorie..._is_no398.html

Z//

rfn026

Gordon has some good points but he forgets that a sport can't depend on rich people picking up all the bills. Most of the ALMS teams are money losing operations. Mechanics are poorly paid and most have no benefits. A few years back when Penske was running the Porsche LMP2 he was paying the Porsche team mechanics about 1/2 of what the NASCAR guys were getting.

If you want a 401K and hope to put your kids through college you better be working in NASCAR. NASCAR teams are real companies with HR departments and they operate like a real business. You're even covered by workman's comp.

It's nice to talk about the old days but we can't go back.

We can though enjoy the old cars. They're fun to watch - and listen to. If you want to see a bunch of old cars in black and white try my Facebook page.

Richard Newton
Car Tech Stuff

folsomlarry

The driver of the flipped car is Dan Marvin, who I have known for a long time. He is a veteran of many years of racing, for Huffaker, Comptech, and others. We were down on the infield watching so we did not see the accident. The announcers made it sound like Dan had come up on a slower car and his front wheel touched the back wheel of the other car and that flipped him. They did say that the other two drivers stopped and lifted the car enough for Dan to get out before the safety crews could get there. I did not talk to him after the race, but the crew did say he was okay. In general there seemed to be a lot more wrecks this year than I remember in the past.

Zoxxo

They don't operate "like" a real business, they are one. The downside to this (one of many) is that this business entity now has to continue to grow and flourish. And that means giving the real sources of the money - the paying public (most of whom think that what NASCAR provides is traditional auto racing) - more and more of what they want. And if that means manufactured "WWE race-o-tainment" with manufactured ever-closer "closest race finish ever!!" endings, then so be it. Most of the fans won't know the difference anyway.

We haven't left the old days. Formula One and pretty much every other professional racing series in the world is still "rich guys picking up all the bills." F1 seems to have done pretty well thanks to a real businessman (and ex team owner - the flipped Brabham that started this discussion was one of Bernie's cars.) NASCAR is actually the exception to the world-wide scenario where rich guys, manufacturers, and third-party sponsors still do pick up most, if not all, of the bills. But wait! Even NASCAR is in that category. It's all rich guys, too. And television is picking up the bills and paying for those 401ks. Hmmm...

Z//