Motorsport OMG / WTF moments - Racing Funnies, Fails, Crashes, And Randomness

  • Thread starter Thread starter Furinkazen
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Here's a clip from the Legends race. In hindsight, probably not a good idea to race really old race cars on a wet track:

 
I found it almost nerve-racking to watch. All those classic cars just one wheel spin away from disaster.:scared:
 
Vintage race at Oulton Park. Flipped the car, can't believe it was only a broken collar bone:

 
TheCracker
Since when was 20-25 years old considered really old? :lol:
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Every time Apple makes something new in the iPod family :sly:
Seriously, I think it's kind of a grey area because technology has advanced so much in racing in general
 
TheCracker
Since when was 20-25 years old considered really old? :lol:
Click to expand...

Well time is relative...I think anything past 10 years old in motosport is definitely "really" old as so much changes.
A lot of people used to talk about last year's Dallara Indycar chassis as being "really" old and that was 9 years old.
 
So the current V8 Supercars are old? (Current project blueprint rules came in near on 10 years ago, but the basic rules have beven in place for 19 years) :sly: haha
 
These videos are more omg... then OMG but I thought I'd post them here rather then start a new topic.

Amazing how some racecar drivers never, ever admit to being at fault for any accident, ever.

Some of the most ridiculous claims of "I'm innocent!"

1st example. I'm a Michael Andretti fan but this is just shameful. Andretti claims that his spectacular flip at Mid Ohio was caused by PJ Jones' running into his right rear. The video shows otherwise, and clearly. They were far past the kink where Andretti claims PJ Jones did not hold his line. Andretti simply pulled over too soon and spun off of Jones' front wing.

Starts at 1:06



2nd Example. Jacques Villeneuve spins Danica Patrick. Afterwards he claimed he was out of control by clipping the grass leading up to the braking point. Replay evidence shows that he was able to gain control in time for the braking point and simply "wheel hopped" the car by locking up the brakes deep in the braking zone and slid into Patrick.


His interview was so shameful afterwards that his sponsor apologized for his comments. Here is his post race inteview.

Spin is at the start of the video, Interview tarts at 1:30



Anybody have Piergiuseppe Perazzini interview after he took out Anthony Davidson? Unapologetic and completely shameful, placing all the blame on Anthony Davidson.
 
Beerz
That's because it was Davidson's fault.
Click to expand...

Furinkazen
I call racing incident. Even Liz Halliday said if she was in Ant's shoes, she would have thought she was clear.
Click to expand...

It's a difficult one to call. On one hand, Davidson should have been a little more cautious diving up the inside of a car that was already, or just about to, brake into the heaviest and probably trickiest braking zone of the circuit. Perazzini focus wouldn't be and shouldn't have been looking into his mirrors at that point. On the other hand, Perazzini stated in his interview that he knew that Davidson, or one of the prototypes, was closing in - so he should have left room just in case. He might be classed as an 'amateur' but he's experienced enough to know what potentially could happen.
 
Earth's post reminded me... this is from a year ago, but I don't think it's been posted here, and it's definitely a "WTF?" moment. Jacques Villeneuve tries to use the pit lane exit to make a pass on a restart, forgetting that by its nature, the pit lane exit, you know, ends. It might be the most boneheaded move I've ever seen a professional race car driver make. And, as seems to happen way too often, he took out two other drivers while escaping mostly unscathed himself.



He only half-apologized afterwards. His comments, in full:
Jacques Villeneuve
Well, on the restart, we were all bunched up, and I had the wall on my right, and as soon as the pit wall stopped I pulled to the right and that's when I realized the track got narrower, so I got off the gas but put two wheels in the grass, and that was it, so then it was a bit of bowling after that. Took a few guys out, so I think I made a few people unhappy, but it wasn't done on purpose."
Click to expand...
When the stupidity is of this magnitude - how in the world can you just "forget" that the pit exit doesn't extend indefinitely? - the "it wasn't done on purpose" excuse just doesn't hold water any longer.

Incidentally, the entire end of this race was a constant stream of OMG/WTF moments.



Some highlights:
4:45 - Villeneuve makes his idiotic maneuver.
6:48 - The leader, Michael McDowell (a younger driver who has not been successful so far in his career but was dominating this race), overshoots a corner to lose the lead.
7:02 - McDowell proceeds to overshoot the very next corner, as well, and spins trying to get back onto the track as several other cars also crash behind him.
9:29 - A caution flag is displayed on the final lap because cars have spent the previous lap pinwheeling off-course.
9:39 - The third-place driver, Ron Fellows, forgets to slow down for the caution flag and illegally blows past the second-place driver, Reed Sorenson.
10:05 - The leader runs out of fuel. The rules dictate that passing in the normal sense can't take place under caution, but you can still lose positions if you can't maintain the speed of the pace car. All the leader had to do to win the race was finish this lap at 55 mph, but he couldn't, so he finished 19th.
10:50 - The new leader and second-place car, Sorenson and Fellows, cross the finish line side-by-side in the confusion, since Fellows was ahead on the track after making the illegal pass under caution but Sorenson knew that he had the position.
11:31 - Both drivers that Villeneuve took out express their displeasure with him as they pull into the pits after the race.
11:58 - The correct guy (Sorenson) is declared the winner. Villeneuve shoved aside several cars in the final few laps after his blunder in order to finish third.

Needless to say, this was a truly wild race.
 
Watch from 29 mins for the WTF moment. The coverage of this one is brilliant, they got interviews with both drivers within about 5 mins of the incident.



Plato just pushes Sheddon straight off, appsolutely outrageous. What makes it worse is his rubbish explanation, he braked early I got caught out and thus ended up pushing him, but plato if he braked early then so would you and thus you both would enter the corner slower, instead you ended up overunning a corner after supposely braking earlier, hmmn I call bs on his explanation.
 
Plato knew full well what he was doing there. He was all over Shedden heading to that corner, and could've easily got past with the speed he was carrying down the straight. That kind of manoeuvre didn't need to happen.
 
Earth
These videos are more omg... then OMG but I thought I'd post them here rather then start a new topic.

Amazing how some racecar drivers never, ever admit to being at fault for any accident, ever.

Some of the most ridiculous claims of "I'm innocent!"
Click to expand...

Austin343
Earth's post reminded me... this is from a year ago, but I don't think it's been posted here, and it's definitely a "WTF?" moment. Jacques Villeneuve tries to use the pit lane exit to make a pass on a restart, forgetting that by its nature, the pit lane exit, you know, ends. It might be the most boneheaded move I've ever seen a professional race car driver make. And, as seems to happen way too often, he took out two other drivers while escaping mostly unscathed himself.


When the stupidity is of this magnitude - how in the world can you just "forget" that the pit exit doesn't extend indefinitely? - the "it wasn't done on purpose" excuse just doesn't hold water any longer.
Click to expand...

I guess you guys haven't heard of the term "racing drivers excuses" then?

A lot of this kind of behaviour comes from being in professional sports where competitors know that admitting fault leads to penalties.

But also part of it is the fact that a lot of these incidents happen in seconds. I don't know if either of you have been involved in real racing (even just karting) or even in incidents or accidents on the road but I know personally that this kind of stuff happens so fast you don't have time to register all of the details. When you try to think back about what happened mere seconds ago you actually find you can't really remember much detail. Especially in racing where you are already focusing on something else - be it checking if the car is still drivable or focusing on the next corner.

Notice that a lot of the interviews where these excuses come out are usually immediately after a race where the driver in question hasn't seen the replay footage and the adrenaline is still pumping. Its not surprising that they come up with what seems like stupid excuses because very likely they don't actually remember exactly what happened.

Personally I feel that too many people are too quick to condemn drivers who are interviewed like this. I mean its not sportsman-like sure, the drivers could always just refuse to comment or say that they'd rather see the footage first or whatever.

Also I'd like to point out that I don't think they consciously know they've forgotten - I think they only remember vague details in their mind but decide to come up with their excuse. I don't think they always realise how little they remember.

Nothing wrong of course with using these examples as why people shouldn't start coming out with excuses - but I don't think its as easy as simply saying the drivers are dishonest, forgetful, stupid or un-sportsmanlike.

Of course also a lot of it is personal pride, for some people to admit making such mistakes is to question themselves perhaps a little too deeply than they like.

TheCracker
It's a difficult one to call. On one hand, Davidson should have been a little more cautious diving up the inside of a car that was already, or just about to, brake into the heaviest and probably trickiest braking zone of the circuit. Perazzini focus wouldn't be and shouldn't have been looking into his mirrors at that point. On the other hand, Perazzini stated in his interview that he knew that Davidson, or one of the prototypes, was closing in - so he should have left room just in case. He might be classed as an 'amateur' but he's experienced enough to know what potentially could happen.
Click to expand...

To me that is the very definition of a "racing incident". Both drivers could have avoided collision but didn't precisely because they are in a race where you make up time by taking risks. You can't expect drivers to push 100% and drive carefully, there will inevitably be a time when neither will budge and the two collide.
 
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Ardius, I race karts and I dissagree with you on quite alot of that. I'm on my iPod so I won't do the explanation of why now, i'll type it up in the morning when I have a proper keyboard.
 
I'm sure for some people its different - there probably are people who remember every detail of an accident or incident.
But from my personal experience I find I can't actually remember a lot of details and I find I can't describe what happened in anything more than vague descriptions.

I therefore think that the same thing happens for some or perhaps a lot of racing drivers too. When I've been karting with mates and one has had a spin or collision, if I ask them after the race "what went wrong, what happened?" frequently they can't describe it in much detail and find themselves that they can't remember the specifics.
I've had incidents myself in karting, driving Formula Fords and accidents on the road and in all of them I've usually found I can't remember the important seconds before the incident that clearly. I've always put it down to the fact that I'm so focused on avoiding or reacting to the situation that I'm not really taking things in any more that I can remember.

I have had the odd incident when I can remember everything very clearly. Usually its been when I'm in a situation that has built up, say I was in a battle for a position and I've been trying to overtake for several laps. If contact happens in these situations I seem to find I can remember everything in some detail as it wasn't a surprise and I was focused on the very details that culminated in the incident.
But usually a lot of incidents/accidents come as a complete surprise with little time to react. In these scenarios my brain seems to chuck the short-term memory out the window and just focus on reacting! If some of the details that enable you to predict things aren't there then its a surpise and so you aren't going to remember much as there was little to remember!
 
Hugh accident for Toomas Heikkenen during practice for the Global Rallycross Championship round at the X-Games.

Just a quick warning - no crash is ever pretty, but this one is absolutely bone-jarring; Heikkenen broke an ankle and has "abdominal injuries" as a result of the impact.

 
Oh jeebus that looks nasty. Saw that earlier today as well as the final in the stepup comp from the X games 47ft......now that's pure wtf if somebody can find it (severe data cap)
 
I was just gonna post that. Toomas has had some horrible luck since he slammed Pastrana into a wall and spun out Dave Mirra. I mean, DQed twice and now this crash? Karma's not liking him too well.
 
Holy, that's brutal! :crazy:

Lucky he was able to get out of the car in time before the whole car got swallowed by the fire. Hope for a speedy recovery!
 
F3 Spoiler alert


























Somewhat WTF: there's no winner in today's Norisring F3 race:

Autosport
'No winner' in first Norisring Formula 3 race after Daniel Juncadella's exclusion

By Marcus Simmons Saturday, June 30th 2012, 17:17 GMT

The amended result of the first Formula 3 race of the weekend at the Norisring has been published - with no winner.

Daniel Juncadella was excluded from his on-the-road victory for collisions with Pascal Wehrlein and Raffaele Marciello. It was fully expected that, with his exclusion, all other drivers would move up one place in the classification.

But William Buller, who stood to inherit the win, remains second in the results, with everyone else keeping the same positions.

It meant that the eighth-place slot on the reversed grid was left vacant, with Juncadella forced to start at the rear and ninth-placed Sven Muller - who would usually be expected to have moved up to eighth and inherited pole – keeping his fifth-row position.

The result also deprives Buller of the chance to move to within one point of Juncadella for the F3 Euro Series leadership.

It is understood that officials claim there is a precedent for this (it also happened during the 1983 Formula 1 season, most famously when Keke Rosberg was excluded from second in the Brazilian Grand Prix), and that it is because the exclusion was for a driving infringement rather than a technical illegality. But Buller's team principal Trevor Carlin is understood to be protesting the result.

Juncadella's Prema Powerteam team-mate Marciello also had to start from the rear of the grid, as a result of a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change.
Click to expand...

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100839
 
Ardius
I guess you guys haven't heard of the term "racing drivers excuses" then?

A lot of this kind of behaviour comes from being in professional sports where competitors know that admitting fault leads to penalties.

But also part of it is the fact that a lot of these incidents happen in seconds. I don't know if either of you have been involved in real racing (even just karting) or even in incidents or accidents on the road but I know personally that this kind of stuff happens so fast you don't have time to register all of the details. When you try to think back about what happened mere seconds ago you actually find you can't really remember much detail. Especially in racing where you are already focusing on something else - be it checking if the car is still drivable or focusing on the next corner.

Notice that a lot of the interviews where these excuses come out are usually immediately after a race where the driver in question hasn't seen the replay footage and the adrenaline is still pumping. Its not surprising that they come up with what seems like stupid excuses because very likely they don't actually remember exactly what happened.

Personally I feel that too many people are too quick to condemn drivers who are interviewed like this. I mean its not sportsman-like sure, the drivers could always just refuse to comment or say that they'd rather see the footage first or whatever.

Also I'd like to point out that I don't think they consciously know they've forgotten - I think they only remember vague details in their mind but decide to come up with their excuse. I don't think they always realise how little they remember.

Nothing wrong of course with using these examples as why people shouldn't start coming out with excuses - but I don't think its as easy as simply saying the drivers are dishonest, forgetful, stupid or un-sportsmanlike.

Of course also a lot of it is personal pride, for some people to admit making such mistakes is to question themselves perhaps a little too deeply than they like.



To me that is the very definition of a "racing incident". Both drivers could have avoided collision but didn't precisely because they are in a race where you make up time by taking risks. You can't expect drivers to push 100% and drive carefully, there will inevitably be a time when neither will budge and the two collide.
Click to expand...


There is a line, you can have a small unintentional incident of which you don't remember much about since it didn't knock you out of focus, I have done that many a time in karting, ask me to recall the details of the start of a race just after it has happened and if it is in a large grid and thus rather chaotic I won't remember much. Racing driver excuses are used in this situation simply because we like to justify something and make sense of it to ourselves, the b-s mostly comes from piecing together a very small amount of data we remember. This is only appropriate in non intentional incidents however.

However in the case of the Plato incident he planned it, that was a concious decision he made, he wasn't just racing he came out of focusing on racing to do that move and push the other person off. Plato in that interview was plain lying, to do that move he must have thought about it, and the fact that his reason was so false shows how bad he is at lying.
 
Ddrizle
I'm no physicist, but the height and distance of the ramps just seemed flawed and shouldn't have been attempted.
Click to expand...
It's not like Heikkenen was going at full speed when he went off the ramp. It's basically the same course that was used at X-Games 17. I think he's simply misjudged the distance and took it too slow.
 

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