Scary accident video

[brgbrm]

I just came across the below, and I find it really scary, because I can't see what he did that was so wrong. Before I saw this, I was under the impression that going a bit too fast would just cause a skid or a spin?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m69P1wt5 ... re=related

[Ekona]

Too fast an entry speed, clipped the kerb as he was too tight, spun round and dug in on the grass. That's why you always try and point the car towards the soft if you can, stops it digging in.

[monkeyra]

That's why you always try and point the car towards the soft if you can, stops it digging in.

How the hell do you do that when you hit the grass sideways then like happened in the video? As far as I can tell, there was chuff all he could have done?

[kaiowas]

That's why you always try and point the car towards the soft if you can, stops it digging in.

How the hell do you do that when you hit the grass sideways then like happened in the video? As far as I can tell, there was chuff all he could have done?

When I arrive at a corner too quickly on track it usually becomes apparent at the instant I turn in at which point there's generally enough time to abort the corner, straighten up, scrub speed and run wide. The guy in the video tried the alternative approach of trying to drive through the slide and ran out of talent. Rolling the car was just unlucky though.

[brgbrm]

I don't really understand what you're saying here, the 'abort corner' vs 'drive through slide'. Could you expand on what each means, in a bit of depth?

The more information I can get to help me avoid this kind of catastophe, the better ...
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the instant I turn in at which point there's generally enough time to abort the corner, straighten up, scrub speed and run wide. The guy in the video tried the alternative approach of trying to drive through the slide and ran out of talent. Rolling the car was just unlucky though

[Ekona]

That's why you always try and point the car towards the soft if you can, stops it digging in.

How the hell do you do that when you hit the grass sideways then like happened in the video? As far as I can tell, there was chuff all he could have done?

You can't. He got everything too wrong too quickly and with no space to react, as well as being desperately unlucky. Sometimes bad stuff just happens in cars, but that can apply on the road as well as the track.

Abort corner: Realise you're going too fast, jam on the brakes and straighten the wheel to stabilise the car. You end up either off the racing line if you're lucky or sitting in the grass if not, but either way you were in control.

Drive through slide: Go with the slide, basically. Steady throttle, turn into the slide, and as you exit the corner you straighten the wheel. Powersliding if done on purpose, oh-bu88er-me-I-didn't-want-this if not.

[tonigmr2]

The remarkable thing about this video I think is the driver hardly reacted at all, ended up doing a 180 and dug in sideways. He'd have been better to over-react and get into a tank slapper IMHO!

[Lauren]

That vid is ancient.

Just a useless american driver.

Zero talent, not a clue, in a nutshell that about covers it.

[monkeyra]

What's the age of the video got to do with it? Not all of us spend all our waking hours on the internet. I for one found it interesting to watch, doubtless others did as well.

[greeny]

The more information I can get to help me avoid this kind of catastophe, the better ...

I wouldn't worry too much, i just think this chap was a little short on, well......talent!

A little unlucky on it digging in though!

[John145]

He only turns into the skid 1/4 of a turn from centre, no wonder the car dug in, if he went full lock left imo he wouldn't of rolled. All wheels pointing practically forward more likely to roll the car.

[easty-5]

Just a useless american driver.

Zero talent, not a clue, in a nutshell that about covers it.

I wouldn't worry too much, i just think this chap was a little short on, well......talent!

I love the fact that IMOC is inundated with professional, talented racing drivers.

Is Alonso talentless because of his off at Spa at the weekend?

[Lauren]

I love the fact that IMOC is inundated with professional, talented racing drivers.

Is Alonso talentless because of his off at Spa at the weekend?

I think the guy could have avoided it. What's Alonso got to do with it?

[John145]

Think there's a talent requirement difference between racing in the wet in an F1 car and cruising around on a track day lol.

[brgbrm]

It's interesting what you say about aborting. If I was going round a bend and lost ht eback end somewhat, as in the video, then, in the MR2 or the Elise, I'd steer to correct the skid, I would do that intuitively. What I'm less sure of, is, my head tells me it might be an idea to use a little throttle, whereas I might back off a little 'instinctively, probably the wrong thing to do?

The last thing that would occur to me, is braking. Would aborting have saved him, do you think?

That's why you always try and point the car towards the soft if you can, stops it digging in.

How the hell do you do that when you hit the grass sideways then like happened in the video? As far as I can tell, there was chuff all he could have done?

You can't. He got everything too wrong too quickly and with no space to react, as well as being desperately unlucky. Sometimes bad stuff just happens in cars, but that can apply on the road as well as the track.

Abort corner: Realise you're going too fast, jam on the brakes and straighten the wheel to stabilise the car. You end up either off the racing line if you're lucky or sitting in the grass if not, but either way you were in control.

Drive through slide: Go with the slide, basically. Steady throttle, turn into the slide, and as you exit the corner you straighten the wheel. Powersliding if done on purpose, oh-bu88er-me-I-didn't-want-this if not.

[John145]

If he aborted whilst starting the skid without opposite lock he'd 180, weight transfer forward would make sure of that!

[Rustyracing]

Wow, how useless is this guy?

His line's all wrong, hasn't scrubbed enough momentum, he's moved in too early for the apex, tried to turn even harder to make it, then as he starts to slide his reactions are awful, there was a good second or two where he could have countered the initial skidding, straighten out and run wide.

And why post it online? If that was a vid of me getting an impreza so far out of shape, i'd be utterly ashamed of my lack of skill, not sharing it with the world.

[Lauren]

Okay sensible post and I guess more directed at Marc's original question.

Obviously on a trackday there will come a time when you just enter a bend too fast (like this guy). At this point you know you are going to have an off so what do you do?

IME what I do is think about all the options at that moment. If there is room on the inside of the bend, then that is the preferred place to spin. In order to do this, you keep the lock on put the clutch in, but don't touch the brake until you have spun 180degrees. Then brake hard and you'll spin into the infield.

If, there is no room on the infield due to there being a barrier there but there is room on the outside, either, put more lock on (most people do this by mistake anyway) and you will spin the other way to the outfield, but wind it off as soon as the car straightens.. Or just brake at the point of spinning but take the lock off. You will carry more momentum if you spin out rather than 'in' so to speak. Also you will probably go further. Or abort the corner and go straight on and brake!

I once had a situation where I rather stupidly tried to enter Pouhon at Spa at 110mph in my SC. Normal quick entry speed would be around 95ish. As soon as I turned in, I knew I was in trouble. There is nowhere to go on the infield due to close barrier proximity. On the outside of Pouhon (back in 2006) there was gravel, tis now tarmac). So I couldn't go there either.

What to do? Well the car went into a big slide, I put as much lock on as I could and pushed the brake pedal through the floor in order to overheat the front tyres. They overheated and the front came back round and I was able to drive out, albeit with tyres like 50p's which I had to drive all the home on afterwards! Still, it saved what would have likely been a roll in the worse case scenario.

HTH.

What this guy did, is not notice what would likely be a dip off the inside of the track and in all honesty he was pretty unlucky that the car rolled so quickly and almost the moment the car goes into a spin. In that situation you'd expect to spin on the infield. However it is worth remembering that you never ever want to spin onto grass sideways. Either go off backwards or forwards but never at a 90 degree angle. Obviously you've only got a very short time to make a decision pretty quickly and get it right. That's why it's so important to look very carefully at the risks associated with going off at particular corners before you are really going for it.

[brgbrm]

Thanks very much for that Lauren, sorry I took so long to respond, I missed the notification somehow. I'll have to read it a few times before I try commeting