Very, very sad news

[Junkman]

A few hours ago I was still joking in the Samba Rally thread that rally sport is about sinking a shitload of cash into some shite and then drive it into the nearest tree.

 

Now news reached me that exactly this has happened at the Deutschland Rally today, where a Dutch team crashed their Triumph TR7 on a demo run for classic rally cars at the "Arena Panzerplatte", immediately after the jump over the infamous "Gina" crest, which launches cars so they do 40 metres in mid air. The Driver and codriver were killed instantly and pronounced dead at the scene.

 

 

Now, I don't want to trigger a discussion about the dangers of motorsports, but I do feel sad about those two men and my sympathies go to their families.

 

And Faker, please promise me to be careful, you hear?

[stuboy]

bloody hell

 

no roll cage?

[skattrd]

Very sad news.

 

It looks like the roll cage was cut off to get to the occupants, I think that's it on the bonnet.

[Micrashed]

Surprisingly that TR doesnt look that mashed for a couple of fatalities, which just goes to show you never know your luck in a raffle.

[Sigmund Fraud]

[Novanick1]

oh dear, what terrible news 

[RichardMoss]

Surprisingly that TR doesnt look that mashed for a couple of fatalities, which just goes to show you never know your luck in a raffle.

Looking at it, I reckon that the other side and the cabin area are in a much worse state. The roll cage can only do so much to protect the occupants.

 

Sad news but there is always an element of risk.

[Wilko220]

It is, of course, very sad news

 

...although no more sad than the approx 1,754 other road deaths which happened in the UK in the past year, not to mention the other tens if not hundreds of thousands across the world.

[vulgalour]

[Faker]

Now, I don't want to trigger a discussion about the dangers of motorsports, but I do feel sad about those two men and my sympathies go to their families.

And Faker, please promise me to be careful, you hear?

I hear you brother. It is indeed truly sad news. Motorsport is dangerous, however those that take part are aware of the risks. One of the reasons I stopped going to motorcycle road races. Too many fatalities.

 

RIP.

[Pillock]

Roll cages are pretty good in a rollover but it's very difficult to make a cage that protects in all directions.

 

A very sad day for all involved

[fordperv]

Shit me that's such a shame

[hairymel]

this makes me feel sad

[warren t claim]

I do the occasional motorcycle track day and I always wonder if I'm not going to make it home one day. I even make sure my porn stash is nicely encrypted before I leave just to make things easier for my family if they have to go through all my contacts on my PC to arrange my funeral invites.

[Junkman]

I hear you brother. It is indeed truly sad news. Motorsport is dangerous, however those that take part are aware of the risks. One of the reasons I stopped going to motorcycle road races. Too many fatalities.

 

RIP.

 

You mean those total lunatics doing 210 on a bike on a barely tarmaced crowned country lane alongside a barbed wire fence?

Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt. And live to tell the story.

 

I just feel so bad about the Panzerplatte incident because it literally happened while I was cracking jokes about it.

[Station]

That's crazy, the car doesn't look that badly damaged. Maybe was high speed enough to cause internal injuries?

[Junkman]

Speed isn't the problem. Speed has never killed anybody. They went to the moon at 25,000mph having a wank and a coffee while thinking "why isn't that ruddy thing going any faster"?

 

It's rather this what sucks:

 

[Ph.D. mode]

 

 

 

Now, the inherent problem with cars prepared for motorsports, especially the older ones, is that they are reinforced to be as rigid as possible, thus eliminating the effect of the crumple zones, which are there to 'cushion' an impact, to a large degree. Since those cars don't 'give' when they hit something, the ensuing shockwave alone can kill the occupants without any apparent injuries and the car still appearing seemingly intact. The pathological cause of death is shock.

 

[/Ph.D. mode]

[warren t claim]

^^^^ Think Smart Car hitting another head on.

[Junkman]

The Smart Car is designed to 'climb' onto the object it hits by means of its engine/front axle unit being pushed underneath the passenger compartment and thus literally 'falling on its back'. It thus offers a lot more passenger protection in a frontal accident than one would assume just by looking at it. At least more, than a seam-welded and roll-caged TR7.

[Spiny Norman]

The Smart Car is designed to 'climb' onto the object it hits by means of its engine/front axle unit being pushed underneath the passenger compartment .....

 

CoughThe Smart car is rear engined 

Now if you'd been talking about the original A class Merc on the other hand....

 

That TR7 pic is truly sickening, you can see by the angle of the seats and the way the driver's seat (in what I assume was a LHD car) is raised up, that the floorpan has totally caved in.

 

A horrible way to go but maybe rather that, doing something you love, than lying in a hospital bed with tubes all over the place.

[STUNO]

A roll cage in use

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdQHfwll38g

[Spiny Norman]

To be fair, that touring car had quite a soft landing in gravel with no sudden impacts.

Rolling over and over looks spectacular but it rarely does a belted-in driver any serious harm.

 

As I understand it, that TR7 went sideways into a tree at speed. No roll cage is going to save you from that.

[Junkman]

CoughThe Smart car is rear engined 

Now if you'd been talking about the original A class Merc on the other hand....

 

That TR7 pic is truly sickening, you can see by the angle of the seats and the way the driver's seat (in what I assume was a LHD car) is raised up, that the floorpan has totally caved in.

 

A horrible way to go but maybe rather that, doing something you love, than lying in a hospital bed with tubes all over the place.

 

Cough indeed. My stupid, thanks. I'm getting on with the odd years, don't I?

It's only the front axle cage of course.

 

The bent floorpan of the Trummy could in theory well be the result of a shockwave going through the structure.

It could also be impact damage from landing on one of those concrete blocks lining the track, for which the Panzerplatte is notorious.

 

 

We will never know.