F3 crash at Sandown at the weekend

[PVDA]

Although I've posted this on the aussie sub forum in the events thread I thought I might share it with the wider marshalling family.

http://speedweek.com.au/?p=1096

How close did that come to cleaning up the guys at FP5??

No one was hurt, except the drivers budgets, although the marshals involved were a bit shaken up by it.

[Tall Chris]

I guess they build higher kerbs so the drivers don't use them and then this is the result. Lucky everyone got away with it.

[Apple]

The camera man stuck to his job
Note to self: look at the cars coming at you even at the back of the pack
Glad everyone was OK

[Red_08]

Whoa, that's a bit scary. How easy did that car lift off then.

I can imagine that the mornings briefings will be a little different on that post now. The Marshals scattered well and thankfully they were all ok but the cameraman didn't flinch. He'd do well at the Afghanistan F1 meeting.

[Greem]

Wow. That was close.
Great bit of marshalling though - face-to-face flaggies and a comms marshal/observer; the car lifts off and the guy facing traffic obviously utters something along the lines of "oh my word, a car has taken to the air by jove, we'd better move!"; the guy with his back to traffic reacts perfectly. No turning round, just taking cover, and yellows out straight away.
That should feature in some training material as a great example of how face-to-face can work to avoid horrendous moments.
Glad everyone was OK.

[PieMan]

They put a hefty curb in to stop corner cutting but when somebody gets squeezed onto it you get a big accident - what is the solution?

I heard a Alfa rolled at Vale during the Silverstone 24 Hrs support races in a similar incident and this footage reminds me of the flying F3's at the no longer used turn 1 (pit exit) chicane at Rockingham.

[Cynic]

Originally Posted by PieMan

They put a hefty curb in to stop corner cutting but when somebody gets squeezed onto it you get a big accident - what is the solution?

I heard a Alfa rolled at Vale during the Silverstone 24 Hrs support races in a similar incident and this footage reminds me of the flying F3's at the no longer used turn 1 (pit exit) chicane at Rockingham.

I used to regularly work that chicane back in the ASCAR days. The club chichane at Thruxton is another good example - I've seen saloons roll there. I came up with all sorts of comedy solutions - my favourite being concrete marker posts - but I think the only thing that would work would be draconian penalties for the drivers, although in this case the guy who took off would no doubt claim they were forced onto the kerb.

I have to echo the comments about teamwork though. The yellow flag marshal doesn't so much as turn his head, one minute he's there, the next he's gone. Top marks all round.

[Woolley]

Originally Posted by Greem

That should feature in some training material as a great example of how face-to-face can work to avoid horrendous moments.

Couldn't agree more, perfectly done and the right result. Glad they're OK, please pass on the regards of everyone in the marshalling fraternity for a job well done and a safe outcome.

The problem seems to be not that there is a kerb but that it's so sudden. Perhaps a smoother ramp at the front might not have pitched the car nose up so suddenly. It would also help if flat floors meant all the way to the nose cone instead of a stop behind the wheels thus providing a point of impact. Finally it would be good if drivers would respect that if they have a car alongside them, even partially, they need to leave a car's width. This isn't Playstation racing and they need to drive accordingly as accidents have consequences in real life.

[Robin_D]

Originally Posted by PieMan

I heard a Alfa rolled at Vale during the Silverstone 24 Hrs support races in a similar incident.

On the first lap of this video.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dyaD7c7dmA

[numbersix]

Originally Posted by Greem

... "oh my word, a car has taken to the air by jove, we'd better move!"; ...

LOL!

[PVDA]

Knowing the guys on the post it would've been a word similar to or rhyming with "Duck".

The two drivers are best mates and shared a pit garage at the weekend.

The guy in the Red car didn't realise the other car had pitted to check something and this was just after a Safety Car restart for another incident so thought he was stone motherless last.

[gravel_monkey]

i love the benifit of the way the flaggies were set up,done it myself, bloody scary though when you see the other flaggie start to move very quickly and you cant see,
speaking of high kerbs i belive the tech 9 guys blamed high kerbs for there large crash at oulton the other in brit gt

[PieMan]

Originally Posted by Robin_D

On the first lap of this video.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dyaD7c7dmA

Thanks mate.