Nissan DeltaWing crashes in Atlanta (Again)
#1
Thu, 10/18/2012 - 06:57
Nissan DeltaWing crashes in Atlanta (Again)
Oh dear. Just a few months after it was unceremoniously shunted off the track at the Le Mans 24hr race - prompting driver Satoshi Motoyama to break down in tears - Nissan's rather excellent DeltaWing racer has suffered another shunt.
During testing at the Road Atlanta circuit ahead of this weekend's Petit Le Mans, driver Gunnar Jeannette overtook GTC Porsche 911 driver Peter LeSaffre, only for LeSaffre to then come across during the overtake and wipe out Gunnar on the rear left side.
Suffice to say, the speeds they were doing caused the BatWing to roll quite violently into the side and into the wall- apparently, onboard data reckons the shunt maxed out at 7G. That's a big crash. And you can watch it below.
Thankfully, the driver was OK, while the Nissan DeltaWing team said the engineers were working hard on repairing the damage to get the car back on track asap.
Jeannette himself said: "I basically pulled almost completely past and then he cut over to try and take the apex, made heavy contact with the left rear of our car which, erm, sent me for a bit of a ride.
"I've always dreamed of being a test pilot, but not in a race car!"
Just before the shunt, the team posted a fastest lap of 1m 13.686s, during the test day, which is pretty ruddy quick.
Wow. at first I thought maybe the porsche got the rears on the curb and it kicked him over, but I don't think so.
I think you're right oldschool. I the in-car clip, you can see the front tire of the Porsche counter-steering to the left...even though the car is coming across the track to the right. It's also right where the cars are getting light coming to the crest of the hill, which I'm sure didn't help matters any.
Add all that to the fact it's a damn porsche and that's a bad spot on the track.
The porsches are feathering right at the edge of traction in any corner, that's how the make their speed, and then plant and go. I think it got unsettled and planted pointing the wrong way.
Of course that's my extensively tested virtual driving experience opinion, hehe.
lol Oldschool
Even if it wasnt that It might be because:
1. The car is matt black
2. The car is really low
3. The car has a really small profile
4. Its a Nissan
There, I fixed that for ya!.gif "1")
! WOULD paint the damn thing safety green though for sure!
Or even Red lol
Another thought that has me concerned about that design.....it sure did roll over awful easy. Bloody thing may as well be an open wheel car if it's going to jump off the tires of other cars like that.
I wonder how much grass he was chewing by the end of it...
It did look as if the 911 got loose coming off the curb, but the guy should have given him a little more room - Especially where there is a pretty good chance he has not seen you! :)
I am sure the driver of the 911 knew he was there, no doubt. I would be pissed, careless racing yeilds accidents like this.
It was one of those freak racing incidents. Had the 911 not stepped out on the curbing (possibly running wide to give room to the DW), there likely wouldn't have been an incident. But it did, went into a slight slide, and there wasn't enough room to gather it back up. Add the fact that it's in an area of the track where there is little room for error and you have the result.
I have to agree, passing in a zone where the weight comes off the tires in a turn isn't great racing, it's a recipe for carnage...
And the DW could've been further right and still made the pass.
+1 oldschool