C7 Corvette Z06 slams hard into unforgiving Nurburgring wall when the car breaks traction at speed.
The video above shows a C7 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 crashing hard on the Nurburgring Nordschleife and while there are no details accompanying the clip, it doesn’t take a world of experience to recognize a glaring driver error. This video comes to us from the Auto Addiction YouTube channel and it perfectly portrays how a driver doesn’t want his or her day to go on the famous Nurburgring.
Battling the Ring
The Nurburgring Nordschleifeis unquestionably the most difficult road course in the world. The track measures nearly 13-miles long and if you count every little bend, there are more than 150 turns during the course of a single lap. Three laps at well-below-record times can take more than a half an hour. In other words, there is nothing in the world quite like the Nordschleife.
For that reason, a lot of people end up crashing on the Nurburgring. In many cases, it is due to changing track conditions or a general lack of knowledge of the track, leading to a driver getting crossed up in one of the many turns.
This is not one of those situations, as the driver didn’t lose track of his place on the course, he simply didn’t know how to keep the Corvette pointed straight under power.
The Crash
The video begins with three cars coming through a sweeping right-hand turn, with a Porsche 911 leading an AMG Mercedes and a C7 Corvette Z06. The first two cars get in and out of the turn without any issue, accelerating up a small hill and into a short straight before tackling the next turn. However, as the Porsche and Benz clear the turn, the Z06 driver accelerates too hard, too early, so as he crests the top of the hill while turning, the back tires break loose under power.
He lifts, but not soon enough, as the back end comes around in a hurry and by the time the driver is off of the throttle and on the brakes, it is too late. The Corvette slams hard, nose-first into the guard rail, destroying the front of the Z06 and moving the railing a bit; giving us a good idea of how hard the car hit the barrier.
From there, the male driver and his female passenger climb out, seemingly unaffected by the crash and they stand in the grass next to the mangled Corvette until the wrecked shows up.
Based on how it went down, it looks as though the driver deactivated traction control, so when he hammered-down while coming out of the uphill, sweeping turn, the car went into a drift that he couldn’t control and the rest was history.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
