Fly Fly! Be free!

"Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius" (rex-imperator) 03/31/2015 at 08:48 • Filed to: SCG-003

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Not going to say I condone this, but it sure looks awesome.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius 03/31/2015 at 09:05

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You don't condone it? That's the Flugplatz - all fast cars fly there.

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 03/31/2015 at 09:13

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Yes, but with unhappy consequences this weekend.

An street driven M3 or 911 GTS catching air there is one thing. A 100% flat-bottomed race car is something else entirely.

I just found my own Oppo post on Google search. Time for some shameful self-promotion.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius 03/31/2015 at 09:28

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Yes, sadly... What was the conclusion of the error made with that GT-R? Would more venting like shown in your article have prevented the problem? Tons of cars (and race cars) get air there every year - what was unique about the GT-R, or to the situation that led to the tragedy?

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 03/31/2015 at 09:44

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Nothing unique to GTR in my opinion, it's just that when everyone else broke from the ground, the car stayed flat. When the GTR broke that particular time, the front end came higher and caught the wind. If the bottom of the car was left exposed, the airflow would be more turbulent and possibly *possibly* the car would not have flown away like it did. They make the bottoms 100% flat to promote the effect of the diffuser, but when it starts to fly, the effect is exactly Burnoulli's principle of flight, just like in my Bentley photo. Faster moving air above the car + slower moving air under the car = lift.

On a boring flat F1 track, that GTR would have never seen flight. It's the sudden crest at Flugplaz that makes it possible. VIR used to have one call 'the Chute' and the cut the hill down 20-25 feet just to avoid this. I had the old EA Sports game 'GT Series' and the best corner in the whole game was turn 2 at Mosport. I could take a Mosler Raptor full speed through turn one, take flight in turn two and not touch the ground again until the grass near turn three. So much fun digitally. No broken spine. No dead fans. Somehow the car always drove itself back to the pits and crew had me patched up in 10-15 seconds.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius 03/31/2015 at 09:50

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Any prediction on what changes will be made at the 'Ring to let the banned classes back on course?

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 03/31/2015 at 09:54

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You know, given the ownership of the 'Ring, I would make absolutely no predictions whatsoever. They may decide on Thursday to just shut the whole place down.

I do think that major disruptive features like Flugplaz need to be abated for safety. I just do. Flame suit time.

Jumping cars there for decades is cool. Dead people aren't.

James Hunt retired because he said there was no way he would risk 20% death risk for 6th place.

GhostZ > Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius 03/31/2015 at 09:56

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RiceOwl > Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius 03/31/2015 at 10:03

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I'm hoping that the solution will be something as simple as moving the spectator area near the Flugplaz farther back from he track and putting someone there during races to enforce it.

Whether the Nurburgring needs to be seen doing more than that in light of the tragedy of the incident could mean more drastic changes, though.

You're right about the ownership, though. I don't see them wanting to pour money into modifying the crest. Though the incident was certainly emotional and tragic, I hope level heads prevail and choose a simple, effective solution.

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > RiceOwl 03/31/2015 at 10:11

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I think a track can have crests, but does not need to have ones quite this severe. In fact, if they still allowed street cars through this section, but made full-bore race cars go a different way or a chicane a few hundred feet before to slow cars this fast.

They can do what Le Mans did and name the chicane so we don't think of it as so lame.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius 03/31/2015 at 10:39

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To be honest, I'd hate to see it changed, but it's very hard to disagree with you...

The thing is, the 'Ring is dangerous. Almost all of it, not just this spot. Drivers die there nearly every year (not spectators, granted), but they keep coming back. At some point, it's a personal decision to take on the inherent risk of an activity. Like you said, at some point, Hunt decided it wasn't worth it. Regardless of every conceivable safety measure, as long as there are human drivers inside these cars, people will die participating in motor racing. If there are known areas where accidents are much more prone to occur, because there is so little run-off room at the 'Ring, these areas should be off-limits to spectators to avoid tragedies like we just witnessed.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius 03/31/2015 at 10:41

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A temporary chicane before this section for events including full-aero race cars seems to be a very good and simple solution.