T2 Crash OVR Mid O

[dj10]

Anyone know how the driver is of the 350z that did about 10 end over ends at the back straight @ Mid O last weekend? Someone needs to post some pictures, I only saw a couple from a phone camera. I heard he walked away but I bet he is sore today!

[mbuskuhl]

From another forum

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

[JoshS]

Full discussion and comments from the driver here:

http://waterfordhills.com/cms/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1358

[lateapex911]

It seems that kudos go to Chris Childs, who was the apparent builder of that former T2 car. For those who don't know, Chris posts here, and runs an ITA Neon.

[Xian]

And a video link from another forum:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvdaMMrmkF8[/ame]

[R2 Racing]

Wow, I'm awfully confused right now. I was actually at Mid Ohio last weekend, I this is the first I'm even hearing about this accident. That's unbelievable. This must've been Sunday afternoon and the reason why I was cursing back in the paddock about what the hold up was and why there was so much down time. Now I now. I've been going to Mid Ohio for over 20 years now and I have never seen a car go where that one did. Unreal.

[C. Ludwig]

When is M-O going to do something about that turn? I was there Saturday and we were talking about the Aston that cleared the gravel trap when it launched in a similar manner.

[Dave Burchfield]

That was my race group......they checkered us early. I saw the Porsche in the gravel at the exit of the Keyhole when the safety car came out and thought that was a bit of an overreaction. On the cool-down lap I saw the Z on the spectator fence and was shocked.

I also work either on a wrecker or a rope tow at Mid-Ohio for events that I do not drive. Much of the time I am located at turn 8 and have seen much there including the Aston Martin during the ALMS weekend. I have NEVER seen anything to match this one. After talking with some of the people who responded to this incident, I think I understand better how the event happened.

Go over to the SCCA forum and look at the sequence of photos and it will give you a bit more insight. It was, without question, scary.

[lateapex911]

What's interesting to me is that the speeds weren't THAT high. I think he hit the brakes at about 135 or so, and they failed. He reapplied a second time, and had less success. Still, he left the track at under 100. His G meter shows his frst brake application achieving 1.2 Gs, so there was some retardation.

Yet, he ended up further from the track than anyone has.

Why?


I'm guessing it has much to do with the unpredictable way that sand/gravel affects a cars travel. I think it's affect is different based on it's dryness or wetness, but moreover, the shape of the car, and the angle the car strikes the gravel has a lot to do with what happens next.

Also, the weight of the car is at that point, inertia. More inertia, more trouble.

It's another example of how pavement would be better. (Assuming the "launch angle" was mitigated, of course) The car would have settled, and speed would have been scrubbed off in the spinning. Of course, there are cases like these where there is no braking, so attenuation must be in place. But, for the majority of incidents, pavement would be most effective, and would allow cars to sustain less damage and return to racing. And events would operate better, with less down time

[Rabbit07]

I am heading down to Mid-O this weekend to pick up the car. I am going to try to root cause the brake failure as best I can with what is left of the car. The drivers name is Jeff DeGrieck and thank god he is ok. I too am very shocked that any car could make it all the way into the spectator area the other side of China Beach?

[jmark]

Chris you build a great cage! I understand he was leading the T2 regional race when this happened.

[Rabbit07]

Chris you build a great cage! I understand he was leading the T2 regional race when this happened.

I wish I could take credit for the cage, however the car was mostly complete when I became involved in it. The cage really wasn't much of a factor in the crash. Jeff is here to tell the tale because of a good seat, a Hans, six point belts, SFI pading, and a window net. There is only one small spot that the roof touched the cage. Most of the impacts were used up by factory crumble zones. Nissan builds a good sports car and need some Kudos also. Both doors still open and close with the latches!

[dj10]

I wish I could take credit for the cage, however the car was mostly complete when I became involved in it. The cage really wasn't much of a factor in the crash. Jeff is here to tell the tale because of a good seat, a Hans, six point belts, SFI pading, and a window net. There is only one small spot that the roof touched the cage. Most of the impacts were used up by factory crumble zones. Nissan builds a good sports car and need some Kudos also. Both doors still open and close with the latches!

Chris, I'm pretty sure Jeff was the t2 car I was battling with just a few laps before his crash. He got lose behind me and I got away from him. We were really close a few time at the end of the back straight. Please tell him I said , glad he's ok.

[RacerBill]

Go over to the SCCA forum and look at the sequence of photos and it will give you a bit more insight. It was, without question, scary.

Dave: Where? I could not find it on the SCCA website.

[Dave Burchfield]

If you look at the sequence of photos on www.sccaforums.com, you will notice that the car made contact in China 6 or 7 times at it tumbled. It is my opinion that the reason he got that far is because not enough surface of the car came in contact with the pea gravel and the car was tumbling. As you will notice, one end of the car came in contact with the gravel just before the tire wall which served to launch it into the upper part of the catch fence which gave way in such a way to allow the car to continue.

I believe this was one of those freak instances where each and every possible thing happened that allowed this to continue. Had the car stayed on its wheels, it would have been stopped halfway through China.

One thing that did impress me was seeing the course workers running to the car before it stopped. Love those course workers!

http://sccaforums.com/forums/thread/320303.aspx --- this is the thread with the photos