Photos of 350Z crash during SCCA track event

edkwon · September 11th, 2008, 6:40 PM

http://picasaweb.google.com/jeffdegr...idOhioSept2008

Pretty dramatic album of photos, 350Z gets caught in a corner, flips thru the sandtrap and pretty much undresses both front and rear ends by the time it stops rolling over.

heres the in car camera view leading right up to the crash

+ YouTube Video

IceBone · September 11th, 2008, 6:43 PM

O SHI...

Nicely missed braking point there.

I love how none of the FIA fences stopped the thing. Shows just how useless they are.

edkwon · September 11th, 2008, 6:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IceBone

O SHI...

Nicely missed braking point there.

I love how none of the FIA fences stopped the thing. Shows just how useless they are.

According to what i read, driver tried braking....brakes failed on him. Probably weren't built up enough to handle track stress.

AnGuRuSO · September 11th, 2008, 9:18 PM

Damn you Takuma Sato!

otispunkmeyer · September 11th, 2008, 10:03 PM

roll cage FTW.....

rx7_ted · September 11th, 2008, 10:32 PM

the interior cockpit held up pretty well in that crash, i hope he had a hans device for his neck though. and yeah if you watch the video it shows how the brake pressure immediately falls a second after he steps on it. first time i watched it i was like why the hell isn't he 100% on the brakes?

fbc · September 11th, 2008, 11:13 PM

Wow, nasty stuff. Quite lucky that the car was rolling end over end, leaving the passenger compartment relatively undamaged.

edkwon · September 12th, 2008, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rx7_ted

the interior cockpit held up pretty well in that crash, i hope he had a hans device for his neck though. and yeah if you watch the video it shows how the brake pressure immediately falls a second after he steps on it. first time i watched it i was like why the hell isn't he 100% on the brakes?

I seriously doubt in a SCCA race and mildly track prepped street car he'd have a passive neck restraint system set up in his car.

torqueless · September 12th, 2008, 6:24 PM

actually, he did have a HANS...

also, that turn is the same place where the ALMS aston martin went "flying"

http://www.videovat.com/videos/2095/...ar-flying.aspx

the same thing happened to the aston martin, brake failure and since the turn is a banked turn, it acts like a little ramp when you go over it.

From the driver

"Hey all, here are the pics of my crash at mid-o this wknd. Data said I was going about 95mph when I went off the back straight before 7. Some kind of brake failure. Had brakes for a split second then nothing. Slowed from 130 down to 95. Someone said I flipped about 9 times. Cartwheeled over the gravel trap and catapulted over the tire barrier and then over/through a 18 foot fence and ended up in the spectator area. Officials said they have never seen a car go that far out or seen a crash like that at mid-ohio. I’m completely fine though, just a small bump on head. Can't say the same about the Z. Thanks to everyone out there that helped me out especially cat killer, ralphy and ed.

Yes, i had a hans on. That's what probably gave me the bruise on my forehead. Hans stopped my helmet but my head smashed into the inside of my helmet. I had a racetech seat with wings and head bolsters. Did not have a net on the right. Had a 5 point harness (2 groin belts combine into one buckle). Car never really had a hard impact. Just kept on doing cartwheels over a long distance dissipating the energy. Looking at the in car video looks like instinct took over and i tried turning at the end of the straight so i started flipping almost before i left the concrete. Should of gone off straight into china beach and hopefully had the gravel slow me down b/f hitting tire wall. Thing that bothers me the most is not knowing what happened to the brakes. Childs is conducting a csi investigation. My data showed a 1.2 G slowdown at the 400 mark just like always but only for a split second. Pedal felt good. Then my G's gradually dropped to 0. I remember lifting and pushing in the pedal again and the data showed my G's came back up to .7 then quickly dropped back down to 0 before i turned the car and flipped. I don't ever remember the pedal just hitting the floor. Brake fluid reservoir was still filled after the crash. Looking at the in car video, the car really shimmied at initial braking, almost looking like the rear brakes were working but not the front. Only evidence we have so far is on the front left wheel, the rotor had a weird discoloration and was completely scoured and gouged as if the caliper was stuck. I don't see how this happend though b/f the crash though b/c the car was pretty dead on straight, not drifting to the left as you would expect so maybe it somehow got scoured after the crash. Car does have ABS but I don't think it ever activated. Braking was totally fine going down the keyhole just prior."

and from one of the track workers:

"I was the blue flagger at Station 7 when the flip occured. From my view, I knew you were in trouble around the 300 ft mark. All four wheels were still turning. No sign of tire lock or slowing down at all. My communicator was already yelling emergency just as you went into the beach, we knew it was going to be big, when you turned sideways because it was close to the same path as the Aston Martin took a couple of years ago.

All I can say is I have never picked up som much debris in my life after a crash, next time try to keep it a little cleaner

I am glad you are OK with only a bump on the head, it was a scary sight from our perspective."

Steve Levin · September 12th, 2008, 6:55 PM

Anyone who races without a HANS is a fool, IMO. Especially since with the new sliding tethers even those who complain about visibility have no more issues.

Steve

MattW · September 13th, 2008, 4:30 AM

Shit, that's a biggun. Glad he's okay!

MadCat360 · September 13th, 2008, 7:34 AM

Damn. Gotta say brake failure never crosses my mind when I'm on the track.

I sure as heck might give it a thought or two now though.

Thankfully safety devices are very, very good now. If that crash was 20 years ago, the guy probably would've died or at least been critically wounded.

flyingfridge · September 13th, 2008, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edkwon

According to what i read, driver tried braking....brakes failed on him. Probably weren't built up enough to handle track stress.

Dunno about that, 350Z track spec has a pretty decent brake setup from the factory. Must have been a genuine failure of some kind

47 · September 13th, 2008, 11:48 PM

Now THAT is an accident!!

he's lucky, that could've ended a lot worse!

Viper007Bond · September 14th, 2008, 10:00 AM

For those who have forgotten:

+ YouTube Video

MattW · September 14th, 2008, 5:02 PM

Just realized, that if this was on an ALMS weekend, some spectators would have been SERIOUSLY hurt.

September 11th, 2008, 6:43 PM	#2
IceBone Experienced Crash Test Dummy Joined: Jan 14th, 2007 Last Online: 9:27 AM Location: Slovenistan Age: 25 Posts: 9,303 Rep Power: 186	O SHI... Nicely missed braking point there. I love how none of the FIA fences stopped the thing. Shows just how useless they are. __________________ Bridge to Gantry time: 11:07

September 11th, 2008, 9:18 PM	#4
AnGuRuSO Joined: Aug 25th, 2006 Last Online: 7:51 AM Location: Sydney, Astraya Age: 21 Posts: 1,287 Rep Power: 20	Damn you Takuma Sato! __________________

September 11th, 2008, 10:03 PM	#5
otispunkmeyer Joined: May 15th, 2006 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Loughborough UK Age: 23 Posts: 3,359 Car: '03 Skoda Superb (Comfort) 160HP Rep Power: 39	roll cage FTW..... __________________ Transport History: 96' Ford Ka 1.3 02' Ford Focus 1.4 CL 03' Skoda Superb 1.9 TDi (160bhp) in blue

September 11th, 2008, 11:13 PM	#7
fbc Moderator Joined: Jan 8th, 2005 Last Online: November 11th, 2009 Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 34 Posts: 11,776 Car: 2006 MY07 Astra SRi Turbo Rep Power: 128	Wow, nasty stuff. Quite lucky that the car was rolling end over end, leaving the passenger compartment relatively undamaged. __________________ www.sniffpetrol.com

September 12th, 2008, 6:24 PM	#9
torqueless Joined: Feb 5th, 2007 Last Online: November 19th, 2009 Location: road atlanta Age: 25 Posts: 574 Car: rsx type s Rep Power: 14	actually, he did have a HANS... also, that turn is the same place where the ALMS aston martin went "flying" http://www.videovat.com/videos/2095/...ar-flying.aspx the same thing happened to the aston martin, brake failure and since the turn is a banked turn, it acts like a little ramp when you go over it. From the driver "Hey all, here are the pics of my crash at mid-o this wknd. Data said I was going about 95mph when I went off the back straight before 7. Some kind of brake failure. Had brakes for a split second then nothing. Slowed from 130 down to 95. Someone said I flipped about 9 times. Cartwheeled over the gravel trap and catapulted over the tire barrier and then over/through a 18 foot fence and ended up in the spectator area. Officials said they have never seen a car go that far out or seen a crash like that at mid-ohio. I’m completely fine though, just a small bump on head. Can't say the same about the Z. Thanks to everyone out there that helped me out especially cat killer, ralphy and ed. Yes, i had a hans on. That's what probably gave me the bruise on my forehead. Hans stopped my helmet but my head smashed into the inside of my helmet. I had a racetech seat with wings and head bolsters. Did not have a net on the right. Had a 5 point harness (2 groin belts combine into one buckle). Car never really had a hard impact. Just kept on doing cartwheels over a long distance dissipating the energy. Looking at the in car video looks like instinct took over and i tried turning at the end of the straight so i started flipping almost before i left the concrete. Should of gone off straight into china beach and hopefully had the gravel slow me down b/f hitting tire wall. Thing that bothers me the most is not knowing what happened to the brakes. Childs is conducting a csi investigation. My data showed a 1.2 G slowdown at the 400 mark just like always but only for a split second. Pedal felt good. Then my G's gradually dropped to 0. I remember lifting and pushing in the pedal again and the data showed my G's came back up to .7 then quickly dropped back down to 0 before i turned the car and flipped. I don't ever remember the pedal just hitting the floor. Brake fluid reservoir was still filled after the crash. Looking at the in car video, the car really shimmied at initial braking, almost looking like the rear brakes were working but not the front. Only evidence we have so far is on the front left wheel, the rotor had a weird discoloration and was completely scoured and gouged as if the caliper was stuck. I don't see how this happend though b/f the crash though b/c the car was pretty dead on straight, not drifting to the left as you would expect so maybe it somehow got scoured after the crash. Car does have ABS but I don't think it ever activated. Braking was totally fine going down the keyhole just prior." and from one of the track workers: "I was the blue flagger at Station 7 when the flip occured. From my view, I knew you were in trouble around the 300 ft mark. All four wheels were still turning. No sign of tire lock or slowing down at all. My communicator was already yelling emergency just as you went into the beach, we knew it was going to be big, when you turned sideways because it was close to the same path as the Aston Martin took a couple of years ago. All I can say is I have never picked up som much debris in my life after a crash, next time try to keep it a little cleaner I am glad you are OK with only a bump on the head, it was a scary sight from our perspective." __________________ 2001 evo...goodnight sweet prince. we will never forget. Last edited by torqueless; September 12th, 2008 at 6:35 PM.

September 11th, 2008, 10:32 PM	#6
rx7_ted Joined: Jul 18th, 2008 Last Online: Yesterday Location: GTA, Ontario, Canada Age: 21 Posts: 178 Car: 93' RX-7 LFS Status: Rep Power: 8	the interior cockpit held up pretty well in that crash, i hope he had a hans device for his neck though. and yeah if you watch the video it shows how the brake pressure immediately falls a second after he steps on it. first time i watched it i was like why the hell isn't he 100% on the brakes?

September 12th, 2008, 6:55 PM	#10
Steve Levin Master of Disaster Joined: Jun 7th, 2006 Last Online: 5:16 AM Location: Sunnyvale, California Posts: 1,077 Car: Spec Racer Ford! Rep Power: 52	Anyone who races without a HANS is a fool, IMO. Especially since with the new sliding tethers even those who complain about visibility have no more issues. Steve

September 13th, 2008, 4:30 AM	#11
MattW Joined: Jul 29th, 2008 Last Online: August 29th, 2009 Location: Southington, Connecticut Age: 19 Posts: 114 Car: 1990 Volvo 740 Turbo, 1979 Datsun 210 Rep Power: 7	Shit, that's a biggun. Glad he's okay!

September 13th, 2008, 7:34 AM	#12
MadCat360 Joined: Apr 15th, 2008 Last Online: 9:20 AM Location: Infineon Raceway Age: 19 Posts: 2,836 Car: 80's Dodge with lolsprings & lolrods LFS Status: Rep Power: 46	Damn. Gotta say brake failure never crosses my mind when I'm on the track. I sure as heck might give it a thought or two now though. Thankfully safety devices are very, very good now. If that crash was 20 years ago, the guy probably would've died or at least been critically wounded. __________________ Chump to Champ, an aspiring racing driver's blog

September 13th, 2008, 11:48 PM	#14
47 Joined: Mar 6th, 2006 Last Online: 9:22 AM Location: Croatia Age: 25 Posts: 1,432 Car: Focus 1.6, Kawa ER6n Rep Power: 30	Now THAT is an accident!! he's lucky, that could've ended a lot worse! __________________ 47 - tuned by Medtronic

September 14th, 2008, 5:02 PM	#16
MattW Joined: Jul 29th, 2008 Last Online: August 29th, 2009 Location: Southington, Connecticut Age: 19 Posts: 114 Car: 1990 Volvo 740 Turbo, 1979 Datsun 210 Rep Power: 7	Just realized, that if this was on an ALMS weekend, some spectators would have been SERIOUSLY hurt.

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