Just wanted to let you all in Tampa know about a strange incident today at an event up here in New England. A Mitsubishi Lancer (non evo) lost it in a tricky left right left slalom and in the process of trying to save it, went to full lock, rolled the driverside front tire so far over on the sidewall that he caught the lip of the wheel on the pavement and completely flipped the car. The car rolled onto the drivers side, then roof, passenger side and finally back onto all fours. To make matters worse the driver put his arm out the window, in what people only described as a feable attempt at keeping the car from rolling over, and broke his arm pretty bad.

It isn't exactly clear what caused the tire to roll so badly, tire pressures were in the mid 40's all around, pretty much stock suspension. I can only imagine that it was a result of inexperienced driving, tall sidewalls (205/55/15), and bad luck. The course was not poorly designed, there were no ruts in the pavement to catch the tire and not the result of anything foreign object hitting the vehicle.

In the end the driver was ok, broken arm and a nice trip to the ER. All SCCA, track and emergency contact info was prepared properly. All people at the event did what they were suppose to do in staying out of a situation they couldn't help. The car was a total loss, extreme body and suspension damage.

This just serves as a reminder that strange things like this happen no matter how safe we think this sport is. I give this as an example of why it is so important to have people around that take the responsibility to run these events, deal with insurance, safety control etc... very seriously. Hopefully CFR won't ever have to deal with something like this, but be vigilant in tech inspection and inform Novice's how to handle any such incidents whether in the car or working on track.

 

things hapen to cars that go out to autox that arent setup for hte event. A stock Lancer
(mostly) is gonna have problems. Im not gonna take a jeep liberty to an autox. same principal. Just an ignorant kid driving out of his level.

 

this can happen to cars that are set up to autox even to drivers who've been autoxing for years and are at the top of their class, nationally


if you weren't there & don't know the driver you can't say he's an "ignorant kid driving out of his level" due to something you read on the internet.

 

he wasn't a kid, nor was he driving out of his level. he was just presented with a situation that he wasn't prepared for. it can happen to anyone out at a track. i am just presenting to you a reminder to always be prepared. no matter how many events you have done or how good you think you are. there was no explanation for why the car flipped, 3 national champions were at the event and no one could give a logical reason, it just happened.

 

WTF??? Have you ever been to an autox? A stock lancer is gonna have problems? Can you please explain?

 

This was something I was a borried worried going into autocrossing. Luckily it seems these happenings are rare and dn't occur too often.

I just try to tell myself that if I ever get in a situation like above, that I would just push the clutch in and give up, rather than try and save myself.

 

At the SOLO II Nationals in Salina in 1986, 2 employees from the Tampa Malibu Grand Prix entered a modified Malibu GP car in AM.

Half way thru a 12 cone slalom, one of the dirvers in this car got the car up on 2 wheels, reaching a 45 degree angle to the pavement, and got the car come back down on all 4 wheels. Both left side tires were pulled off the beads in this incident. I would have never believed this could happen if I had not witnessed it in person.

I have also witnessed a Volvo 144 do a complete roll at the 1985 SOLO II Nationals, and a Rabbit roll in Orlando while driven by a very experienced driver.

Point is, it can happen to any one, at anytime, in any car.

 

Makes me worry..does insurance cover damage at an autocross event?

 

Ouch but glad to hear the driver was okay and that the SCCA was ready to do thier job.

Some insurance companies do cover autocross events, what type of coverage they'll provide for damages occured I am not sure but some don't and will even drop you if they find out that you are (or so the rumor goes)

btw BeQuietandDrive your signature is way disturbing

 

The event insurance DOES NOT cover vehicle damage to any participant in the event. (that means anyone who is there for the event and signed the waiver) It may cover damage to a site-owner's vehicle, such as if someone drove through the fence and hit one of the cop cars at SPC.

Your personal vehicle insurance may or may not cover autocross damage. Some insurance companies do, some don't. Most will try not to, but if the exclusions on your policy aren't written just so... they might have to. (that's not to say that they won't then immediately cancel you)