http://youtu.be/e-9XSOM5eIo

I can't believe the guy walked from this!




Sorry if repost.

 

He's lucky.

 

This video is really getting around... I had a female friend post it even. :P
It is a pretty gnarly wreck though.

 

Wow and I'm surprised they let him take off his helmet.

 

Fuuuuuuuck...extremely lucky ...this is why I'll never get a convertible...his harness n his helmet did their job


That gopro took a massive beating n it's still works

 

Seen this on a couple sites already and all I can say is that guy was very lucky.

Also heard that he had planned that to be the last track event for the car before he sold it...

 

I want a factory 5 cobra too. No way in hell unless it had a real roll bar above me.

 

I was wondering when it would show up here. I had about 15 people forward this to me over the course of the past few days. This video bothered me before I even saw the crash.

Most people don't know how much safety stuff the challenge cars have vs this one. We have a full cage, and there is even a roll over brace behind the dash. Most cars our have the Halo and the front bars too. This car sure makes me nervous with a single decorative hoop that even his head is above. With that it looks like he has 4 pt harnesses, no arm restraints, and what looks like no other safety supports in the car. He has a full race suit, but foam neck protection.

Overall I wonder how much time was spent on making the car look good with lots of power vs making sure it was safe enough for track conditions.

 

I don't think I have ever seen an organization let any of the replica cobras out without arm straps....

 

In slow motion, it looked like the helmet was coming off. A tad bit too big?

 

I know that track very well...raced there numerous times. He was braking and turning in turn 1 after the big straight. Speeds are usually 120- 130 going into the turn and you have to slow down to 70 or so as you turn. If you don't get it right, you'll go off. I know of a fellow racer who launched his car and *endoed* over in that turn..never raced again..almost lost his arm.
I'm pretty sure he lost control there as he turned in....but you never know.

 

He wasn't close to the braking zone for turn 1. He was probably 100 yards past the start finish (not even to the turn 1 bleachers) when the car steered right.

 

Yeah have seen this one on couple sites. No arm restraints, his harness was mounted too high, he had nothing but a style bar behind him, probably self teched (I hear it was a kit using BMW rear suspension and it came loose) No areo on a car known for light tail.

He was probably one of the luckiest guys I have ever seen take a hard rolling crash at over 100 MPH.

 

He was way past the observation tower (see frame 26sec) and track entry point..that's turn 1 territory and you better initiate braking there if you're going in at 130.

Here's a reference vid..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gaqw1dOPbL8

 

He was about 1.5 seconds past the start finish line when things started to go wrong, which at 130mph is about 190 fps. That puts him about 300ft. past the start finish which is where the turn 1 bleachers start. If you look at the 27 second mark you can see when he begins countersteering and as the car rotates past 90 degree you can see the first set of bleachers behind him. He hasn't even got to pit out yet on the front straight and was already 90 degree to the track. That would be very early braking for turn 1 which in most cars is a 90 mph corner. My stock 350Z on the OEM Bridgestones went through there at 80 mph in 4th gear.

 

Look at the slow motion part at 51 seconds in the video. You can still see the pit out gore point off his left shoulder. He's already 30+ degrees sideways at that point.

 

I would agree he was far back from typiical braking zone but he didnt impress me as being the greatest driver. A stock Cayman S passed him into a braking zone because he was too braking early in his longer video. So perhaps he was braking and started to get loose? Hard to say after a crash like that if it was truly mechanical problem.

Could he have had real light rear end and overbraked? Or maybe had a brake balance issue? He mentioned car feeling loose at speed just before the issue. Suspect he has never had to try to steer a car at 100 MPH plus before. To inexpereinced driver that might feel like something is broken. Suspect what he was feeling was terrible aero of his car at 100 MPH plus.

 

Wow, he's extremely lucky. I can't believe that car was allowed on a track...

 

The BackDraft Cobra's tend to be rear weight bias (think older 911 characteristics) but I am not sure how this one was built, or how the BMW rear suspension was even done. brake Bias is definately something that can be a issue on these cars due to the OEM brake systems are built for cars with front weight bias. That is why many of us go to a dual master setup. If you look at some of my videos you can see I have been struggling with brake bias myself. For 2012 I will have the full Wilwood dual master setup.

 

Having been a Porsche guy all my life I find that hard to believe they can have rear weight bias? Perhaps 50/50 weight distribution on a full out race car but I dont see these cars having Rear 60/ Front 40 of a 911? Most all the stats I read put these cars at Front 53/ rear 47 with driver in the cockpit. Having driven real Cobra can say its equaly most exillerating and scary thing I have done. I got up to about 110 and car was getting floaty in the rear going in straight line. Of course I didnt have harnesses or even a helmet. LOL! I'm sure modern kit car versions have addressed some of the issues with originals. However even old 911's get a little scary at 130 MPH with no aero or wings.

But still aero on these cars is very scary at 130 MPH.