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rabbit
04-29-03, 05:05 PM
Interesting tidbit on AR1:

SAFER Wall may have caused Mario's accident AutoRacing1.com spies have it on good word that the SAFER Wall system installed at the Indy Speedway was the likely cause of America's greatest driver Mario Andretti's violent crash last week. As it turns out, when Kenny Brack hit the SAFER wall, the impact spit out a large piece of white Styrofoam that is used between the metal beam facing of the SAFER Wall and the concrete wall behind it.

It was the Styrofoam that Andretti hit, lifting the nose of his car just enough to get air under it. The car then shot skyward like a rocket ship, hitting the very top of the catch fencing on top of the wall. Had it not been for the curved part of the fencing just catching his car, Mario would have easily cleared the fence and landed in the grandstand, possibly with fatal results.

The video of the crash shows a white object laying on the track, and the size looks about the same as the Styrofoam pieces behind the wall. It was that object that Andretti hit, and there is nothing else that large and that white on Brack's car. I had wondered sort of the same thing. Everyone kept saying Mario hit Brack’s gearbox attenuator, but those are black and the object on the track was clearly white. I had also wondered how much of a factor the SAFER barrier “bouncing” debris back across the track was.

Wheel-Nut
04-29-03, 05:29 PM
When I saw the video I knew that was not a piece off of Bracks car but something else. If Mario would have hit something solid such as an attenuator he would not have gone vertical. I thought to myself that the peice of debris had to be flat enough to get under the nose of the car and lift it just enough without disentigrating the front wing for the car to get airborn.

I wonder if IMS will come out with the source of the debris?

JLMannin
04-29-03, 05:35 PM
Originally posted by Wheel-Nut
I wonder if IMS will come out with the source of the debris?

No.:thumdown:

JoeBob
04-29-03, 05:37 PM
Mark needs to hire better spies if he's publishing that today. I posted about it here last Thursday, and it was confirmed and discussed in detail at Track Forum last week as well.

Napoleon
04-29-03, 05:59 PM
Rabbit, IMO the car did not launch because the foam lifted "the nose of his car just enough to get air under it" because he would have just plowed through it (good God its not a hunk of concrete). What I think happened is that the foam wedged under the lead of the car cutting all air from flowing underneath the car, which dropped the downforce from the tray to zero.

Ziggy
04-29-03, 07:43 PM
Hey JoeBob, I couldn't care less about what is discussed at TurdForum. Maybe You and an assortment of Lemmings jawed it over, and figured Mario was just a sissy. Either way, it has not been talked about on this forum too much. Hardly at all.

Off course, some of the posters on this forum don't have the privilege (and its about Indy baby) to post on such a fine Internet site, run by such "feel good" moderators. We miss out on the input of such legendary posters such as, well, you know who your hangin' with.

"That Jud Larson, He would have put it under 2 foot'a dirt"
"Sammy Hornish coulda dodged that little ole piece of junk liek it was nuthin"
"Sarah would'a crashed way before she got to the accidents"
"Damn Andretti, <edit> flying all the time"

I don't post at TurdForum. I do go there for an occasional laugh. SpeedNet goes "uptown," Be like us or get banned. Tell us another one,wouldya, wouldya????

Little Tony George Lap Dogs

Ziggy

PS - Heil (goose step optional)

RacinM3
04-29-03, 08:03 PM
Damn, Ziggy!:)

Hot Rod Otis
04-29-03, 08:32 PM
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Railbird
04-29-03, 08:47 PM
I see Zig is gettin' his merry merry month of May groove on.

btw

My boy Jud Larson woulda just tossed er through there like it was puke hollar at Langhorne.

pchall
04-29-03, 09:10 PM
Better Ziggy all alone in the groove than any three-wide set of lemmings nailed down to the latest version of the Vision™ by the force of excessive moderation.

;)

Hurling Frootmig
04-29-03, 09:16 PM
If A.J. (fat A.J. kinda of like fat Elvis :-) ) had been in the car it would have never left the ground.

Spicoli
04-29-03, 09:39 PM
If you would like to see a lemming in a complete denial tailspin about the "SAFER" walls - check the crap out on this thread. Get a couple on ice - it'll be worth it.

http://autoracing1.motorsportforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=69566

The paint is about to come off he's chasing himself so fast.

Cam
04-29-03, 10:47 PM
AR1!!!! I feel so dirty..... Where is my shower?:shakehead

pchall
04-29-03, 11:08 PM
The Star is reporting that IMS and AGR have decided Mario launched on Brack's broken rear wing.

http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/2/039445-7012-110.html

pchall
04-29-03, 11:23 PM
A special hello for Turn13 as he stops by for a little slumming fun at OffCamber.

:p

RacinM3
04-30-03, 12:24 PM
Barnhart said all the safety measures put in place by the Speedway, the IRL and the race teams held up. All of the debris, including an errant tire of Andretti's, stayed within the track.

Alright, g*ddammit, which is correct? I read that the nosecone, part of the front wing, and sheared pieces of fence went into the stands.

RacinM3
04-30-03, 12:25 PM
Also, I pulled a photo off of Rahal's site:

http://irl.rahal.com/shared/media/thumb/264_400x320

It only shows the rear wing from the front, but the underside of the damn thing had better be white (I have a strong feeling it's not).

I looked many times at the video and noticed two things about it. 1. the object was white. 2. when struck, it looked like it disintegrated, much like running over a piece of drywall or foam .

I smell a cover up. I trust these guys as far as I can throw AJ.

rabbit
04-30-03, 12:30 PM
That is one ugly car. http://www.gamers-forums.com/smilies/otn/puke/barf.gif

RaceGrrl
04-30-03, 12:39 PM
If Mario hits a piece of the SAFER barrier, gets airborne, over the fence, into the stands and kills himself and some fans, is it still SAFER? :confused:

JSR
04-30-03, 12:58 PM
Originally posted by RaceGrrl
If Mario hits a piece of the SAFER barrier, gets airborne, over the fence, into the stands and kills himself and some fans, is it still SAFER? :confused:

For what it's worth, here are Mario's thoughts on the SAFER Barrier. Read the 6th and 7th paragraph. (http://www.indycarseries.com/indycar/news/story.php?story_id=1188)

RaceGrrl
04-30-03, 01:04 PM
Originally posted by JSR
For what it's worth, here are Mario's thoughts on the SAFER Barrier. Read the 6th and 7th paragraph. (http://www.indycarseries.com/indycar/news/story.php?story_id=1188)

For what it's worth, it was a rhetorical question.

Hot Rod Otis
04-30-03, 01:05 PM
I saw another pic of Brack's car and there isn't any white on it other than decals. However the rear wing support is silver, which could show up as white on a long distance shot. However, the piece of debris Mario hit partially disentegrated into a cloud of smaller pieces. A wing support isn't gonna do that.

pchall
04-30-03, 01:09 PM
Originally posted by RaceGrrl
For what it's worth, it was a rhetorical question.

For what it is worth, rhetorical questions are lost on a lot of people. They miss the point that the irony and sarcasm do not require a response.

RacinM3
04-30-03, 02:58 PM
http://www.theinformationminister.com/press.php?ID=612128567

RichK
04-30-03, 03:54 PM
Originally posted by RacinM3
http://www.theinformationminister.com/press.php?ID=612128567

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: