New York event - First driver up the hill rolled his Audi and broke his pelvis in three places.
And then a High HP 'vette lost it coming through timing and scoring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKOkchJJ_Yk
No one hurt... driver of the staged car that was hit by the 'vette was transported to hospital but he's okay. Narrowly missed spectators, course workers, torn up timing equipment and tents. Both cars totalled.
This reality TV is getting a little too real. Bandit did fine and Per Olof did fine but ... I don't see us running anymore of these. The NASA guys involved in event management are not happy with the direction things are going and may pull out. It's a shame, it could have been fun and a great show if the producers had not been too busy playing Hollywood to run a motorsports event ...
How...HOW did nobody get hurt during that wreck. Someone must have had a lot of saved up Karma to keep that from killing anyone...
Hey, it's just like rallying in the rest of the world. F*ck spectator safety, put on a good show!
Bleh. Sorry it turned out this way.
That sucks
The WRC and Baja races have done similar things for years, but I hate that they didn't organize better. Safety should be the number one concern.
They had a camera on the side nerf bar beside my shifter pointed at me ... another on wing on front of Bandit.. and a chase cam helicopter flying over me the whole run up the mountain. I had the only open wheel car and the camera guys saw the footage said it was awesome. May never see it... boo. Still a wild ride and a lot of fun. Great bunch of drivers to hang out with and a few with more dollars than sense.
Ted
(06-28-2010 05:09 PM)Theodore Wrote: [ -> ]and a few with more dollars than sense.
I hope you weren't expecting anything different?
(06-28-2010 05:09 PM)Theodore Wrote: [ -> ]few with more dollars than sense.
I thought that was a requirement for racing, otherwise you'd save your money for later instead of doing something that could kill you. haha
(06-28-2010 09:45 PM)HKYStormFront Wrote: [ -> ]when's the SC event Ted?
Probably never. I think this last event probably killed the show. Not sure what they will do... under financed, and problems with production crew and poor site selection. The road was horrible and I have to think it was chosen for that reason... there were spots were asphalt had ripples and uneven spots in turns we were hitting at over 100... lots of time with car in air (in straight it's un-comfy but do-able... in curves, it's really bad.) The rally is a great concept but it's struggling trying to decide if it's a race or a reality TV show. I'm cool with driver's deciding to take chances in competition but not so much when it endangers course workers, spectators and other drivers WAITING to run.
The friend of mine owned the M3 that got totaled that was sitting waiting to run. Event managers told the driver to stage the car exactly where he did and it was obviously in harm's way. Event management is taking no responsibility and not only are they not paying anything for losses, they are charging both drivers for towing fees from accident location to safer area so event could continue AND to a storage facility that night - $530 without owner's permission. That's adding insult to an injury that the rally is making money from. Not really too cool. While the driver in the M3 was being put on a backboard and being transported, they had cameramen all over him and a producer pointing saying "get that....get that."
I have to commend NASA involvement... they tried to push for improvements and added safety measures and were turned down. Joe Cosella from NASA felt so bad about the M3 getting plowed like that he is donating a free chassis he had to the car owner to help him rebuild it. THAT was impressive. I really enjoyed getting to know Joe, his son, Todd Reid and several other NASA drivers involved in the show. Great bunch of guys in these events ...including Carl who has a broken pelvis from his serious accident at Tuxedo and Jeff who is still healing from his serious accident in Berlin.
In SCCA hillclimbs, we go faster and have far less accidents... difference is site selection, site preparation, car preparation, driver training and certification and event organization and execution. We don't charge $1000 per event to run either. I really think Ferrari prizes and TV cameras bring out the testosterone and egos that result in accidents and people pushing beyond their limits.
that's a shame ted, i was looking forward to it. that whole debacle with your friend's M3 sounds like grounds for a lawsuit, even if he had to sign a waiver of some kind, that just sounds like ignorance on the event's part
I'm definitely disappointed to hear about the turn for the worse. I know you're very thoughtful of what you do and don't say especially for an event that I know you were so excited about, so I know this is some serious stuff. I'm pretty disappointed to see how much glamor and reality show stuff has even made it's way into some potentially good shows. The "Bull Run" show seemed like a fun idea, but wow, take mostly untrained drivers with more money and testosterone than they know what to do with and put in huge irrelevant explosions and 1000 camera angles and you have a recipet for something most guys like us DO NOT want to watch. I am excited to see some SCCA, Aussie sedan and F1 racing on speedvision on the weekends though!
I say if these guys are acting as unsafe and unprofessional as it seems, throw the book at them.
It's a two edged sword... no one made them pay $5000 to compete. No one made them pack up their car and tow vehicle and drive that far. No one made them get in their car and start it and press the right pedal down so hard they wrecked their cars... and no one forced them to sign a waiver agreeing to hold rally innocent in all charges and accept responsibility to pay for any and all property damages. YOU are your best safety equipment and the best gear you have is between your ears. Accidents happen in safe cars with all gear on a track closed environment with an instructor in the car. It all comes down to some personal accountability... as one of the owners said "Hey... it's like that lady that sued McDonalds and got $600K for getting burned by coffee. She didn't know it was hot? Get real! Everyone sues everyone and it is killing America. If you don't want to go fast, lift your right foot. If you are afriad of wrecking your car while competing, stay home under the mattress and collect stamps for a hobby."
ON THE OTHER HAND... the drivers deserve the right to be treated with respect and deserve efforts to find, build and maintain a safe course to race on. Basic safety precautions MUST be performed ... basic protocals in staging and race administration and communications and flagging MUST be done. The promoters are claiming they have iron clad waivers and that they bear no responsibility... this all the driver's fault. They did this to themselves... but safety began to go away with bad site selection and went down hill fast after that. Five drivers blew out shocks that I know of... and that's just tearing up equipment and taking chances...that's not racing.
After my discussion with the part owner, I did some research on McDonald coffee story... turns out there is more to the story. The lady was 72 years old and wearing sweat pants. She put the coffee between her legs while driving. She hit the brakes, clenched her legs and boom.. she got burned. Bad. Court awarded her $600K I think it was. But there's more to the story.
The suit was apealed and settled out of court. Why did McDonald's appeal and settle out of court? Because industry standards show coffee should be served at no more than 140 degrees. McDonald's procedure manuals state coffee should never be served at more than 140 degrees. Her coffee was served at close to 180 degrees which resulted in third degree burns. this was not a frivolous law suit... and there is a responsibility to server... as there is with the rally.
Just my opinon... I could be wrong. Don't listen to me...I was one of the darn fools hitting 100+ on a rough road you could not ride a mountain bike on for no prize, no money and no trophy.
IT sure was fun though. First prize should have been a case of Preparation H.