Corvette autocross wreck shows importance of proper course design
Autocross is generally a rather safe form of motorsport. A proper venue, a well designed course, and a well-informed crew are the basics. Following a driver’s meeting and course walk, novices and experienced cone-kickers alike, should be able navigate the course safely.
This video shows what can be described as typical spin-out but with horrible results. Watch the video and pay attention to the course. In the middle of the course is a van, alongside the course are walls, and there a few light poles in between. Add to that the curbing which the Vette slams into and you have a recipe for disaster.
[source: youtube via VWVortex]
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That was strange. It didn't seem like he was even traveling that fast for an impact that harsh.
That sucks. Safety was always #1 when it came to course design with the SF SCCA region making sure the cones were well away from walls and poles as the Coliseum, Golden Gate Fields, Candlestick and Marina. Instead of thinking of how to make the course "more awesome" they always thought "how are people gonna screw up and try to kill themselves and/or car". I haven't autocrossed in a while as it was my gateway drug to LeMons.
I have never been to the other ones, but I always liked Marina for its lack of poles and curbs. Nothing like a big ass open airfield for adding confidence.
Now if the course workers would just pay better attention, maybe it won't get shut down…
This was not an SCCA event.
SCCA rules mandate a minimum distance from the course for certain hazards, but if I recall correctly they only require a 20-foot buffer from curbs. This looks close to that, and the course would have probably passed safety muster since the slalom ended well away from the curb and led into a low-speed sweeper pointing the other direction. You'd expect cars to be spinning out in the other direction at that point of the course. The driver either tried to punch it for the entire 60 feet before the turn entry, or hit the gas when he meant to hit the brakes, and the car just took the worst possible trajectory as a result.
SCCA rules say the course is 15ft wide, and that the curbs would need to be a minimum of 25ft away from the course; therefore you're talking about 40ft distance between the cones the car would pass on the curb-side of them, and the curb itself.
BTW – did anyone see the vid of the 2 Corvettes dragging on the street in a straight line, with the left Vette doing this same maneuver and catching the other Vette in a sideswipe? RWD + power = demands respect.
I watched the ~4s where he starts to spin like 5 times and can't make sense of it. It's probably the camera angle, but he doesn't seem to be doing anythign to make it come around…looks more Mario Kart banana peel than anything.
it's like his foot almost slipped or something, but even then, the car and its wheels were seemingly straight.
must.not.make.animated.gif.
If you don't, I will. But I have to work, so it will be much later.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/WkdDI.gif" title="Hosted by imgur.com" alt="">
And now the truth can be told. (Thanks for the idea, Mad_Science.)
Did his foot slip off the brake and onto the gas? He was very clean up until the spin, and he was heading into yet another very low speed, tight slalom section. I can see why the course designer might not have anticipated theatrics at that point.
Huh, I thought autocross events at Auto Club Speedway were held outside the track area. I have done a small "autocross" in that same area for a Michelin tire event.
I really have to wonder what happened there, seems like the least likely place for a spinout to occur. Either way, looks like he turned his traction control off.
Yea- it looked like just goosed it and the rear came around. But he didn't look to be going fast enough to do that kinda damage.
I was expecting to see a fast corner or chicane too close to a curb- poor course design we'd seen at non-SCCA events.
I don't think I've ever seen an accident minor enough not to disable a Corvette.
This is in the lot adjacent to the infield track.
Right… I didn't think they held any autocrosses in the infield at all, but it appears I'm incorrect.
I guess you could pay more to run the infield in a hot-laps, track day fashion…
Yeah, I've been there three times – two NASA track days (using the infield road course) and a Michelin tire event which was a combination of 4 different events.
Have you ever been out on to the oval? Every time I've been, it's a no go… dying to get the green light to run on that part.
Part of it, yeah. NASA runs this configuration:
<img src="http://hpdedriver.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/calspeedrovaltrack.gif" width="500/">
Got the LTD up to an indicated 130 MPH at the end of the front straight but I have no idea what speed it really was. Getting up on the banked portion of turn one is a hell of a pucker inducing feeling the first few times around. It was fun humbling WRX and C5 Vette drivers in my boxy Fox
<img src="http://www.ltdlx.org/albums/Racing/caspdwy4.sized.jpg">
That is awesome!
I think my max is about 130 on the straight under the bridge… in a Jag XK-R or C63 coupe.
Ha yeah, quite a bit more power and aero than my car I'm sure. I ran JUST the infield course in a Lexus IS-F at the Michelin event. I kept on screwing up the lines because my brain was programmed to run the NASA configuration. Got up to 110ish under the bridge.
I would love for you to see how badly all the journos drive the infield course during MPG Track Day.
I was behind an Evora, and the driver was braking MID CORNER!!
Looks like he picked the worst time to hit the gas. Hopefully he came out unscathed.
Course layout aside, there seems to be some serious driver error there. From that angle that section did not appear that difficult. Of course, not having ever autocrossed, what do I know?
It doesn't appear the driver had traction upon exiting the slalom and applying throttle. Then began turn in without traction and car started to come around. Driver stayed on throttle attempting to control/correct.
I never saw brake lights.
A driver risks his life and ride anytime they enter a race course, no matter the size.
Chalk this up to driver error more than poor course design.
The point about "course design" isn't so much about the course itself, but how the course is placed in relation to things like curbs (or that effing van in the shot).
Good course design looks for every way to anticipate drivers blowing it and still avoid serious consequences.
Agreed, it was poor design. But the driver never tried to stop.
My opinion is that both are at fault but more driver error than poor course design.
This looks like a combination of driver error and bad design- I'd imagine that if you can help it at all, you want to keep people away from curbs and poles and whatnot when you're setting up your course.
Granted, you can never mitigate every possible risk, but it just seems like having the course go within a carlength or so of the curb was asking for trouble (because, let's face it, this is amateur motorsport- you're going to have people making mistakes).
He's going way too fast into that Chicago box.
He probably just upgraded to the Vette from a narrower, FWD car where you can let off before the zig and get the back end a little loose and dance it through the zag without loosing much speed. He didn't account for the reduced traction he'd have on the back tires due to being RWD and slowing by dethrottling as opposed to braking (think handbrake turn).
Also, people who do not autocross may not realize that a lot of parking lot surfaces are slicker than street pavement. And they get marbles (gravel knocked loose from the pavement) around corners after 1/2 a day of autocrossing. So afternoon runs car be deadly slick around tight corners (harder cornering breaks more marbles loose). Hitting a patch of marbles mid corner is like hitting a patch of ice.
80% of all autocross accident involve Corvettes…
I just made that up, but it's totally true…
hahaha
lift-throttle oversteer in Corvette.
Either that, or (given how slow he was through the rest of the course) he's a complete newbie who got bit hard.
I've never autocrossed (only helped with tech inspection), but it looks to me like driver error (he overcooked it) exacerbated by very poor course design. The course is way too tight, with curbs too close on all sides, not allowing for a spin. And the van and the 911 in the middle of the course is a bad idea, too. The autocrosses that our Corvair club has run are supervised by Equipe Rapide, a local autocross association that has lots of experience running events. We also have liability insurance through CORSA, the national Corvair club.
They appear to be doing timing and scoring out of the van and it it close to the start line. That might not be too big of a deal if the course doesn't loop around back too close to it, hard to tell from the video.
I used to do a little bit of Solo II back in the 1990s. I also worked on the FSAE team in college. I remember taking my car out on a test track of cones we had laid out in a parking lot one night. Another guy got his car out their too. We quickly realized the course had a figure 8 style crossover and managed to stop before we did anything really stupid.
Oh c'mon, that would just add to the fun!
I'll just leave this here…
<img src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/35383_1526438845471_1369652107_1383067_2602106_n.jpg" width="600">
Is that the airfield at Manzanar?
It's Marina near Monterey Ca. We crashed a regional Corvette meet and actually beat a few…
…mostly because they spun out and/or hit a bunch of cones. It was good for a few laughs.
That is a shame. No Shadenfreude here. The driver was doing this on a closed course. This is 20/20 hindsight but it does seem that there was very little space for runoff on that corner (before hitting the curb) and it does seem like the driver mistakingly hit the accelerator The problem is that impact causes some severe chassis damage (besides wheels, hubs, lower valance). I would imagine a whole laundry list of repairs.