LM24 Race McNish and Rockenfeller Accidents - Page 8

Mal · 13 Aug 2011, 09:08 (Ref:2939176)

I see autosport have an interview with Mike Rockenfeller on their subscription site - xan anyone post or PM the basics as I dont have that.

Lorenzo S · 15 Aug 2011, 07:01 (Ref:2939774)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mal

I see autosport have an interview with Mike Rockenfeller on their subscription site - xan anyone post or PM the basics as I dont have that.

PM sent.

Mal · 15 Aug 2011, 13:18 (Ref:2939960)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lorenzo S

PM sent.

Thank to you and Chernaudi I have it now

**Adam43** · 12 Sep 2011, 08:21 (Ref:2954250)

There was an interview with McNish on The Today programme on BBC Radio 4 this morning. It will be available for listen again:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/default.stm

He talked about the accident at Le Mans and saying it wasn't until he watched it on YouTube that he realised it was a big one.
He also said that his approach to racing hadn't changed.

nobster · 13 Sep 2011, 11:33 (Ref:2954923)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam43

There was an interview with McNish on The Today programme on BBC Radio 4 this morning. It will be available for listen again:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/default.stm

He talked about the accident at Le Mans and saying it wasn't until he watched it on YouTube that he realised it was a big one.
He also said that his approach to racing hadn't changed.

That was obvious on sunday, another race for the #2 car screwed by mr. McNish...

marcosgt · 15 Sep 2011, 10:06 (Ref:2955816)

Quote:

Originally Posted by nobster

That was obvious on sunday, another race for the #2 car screwed by mr. McNish...

Indeed - Could it be McNish is overdriving the R18 a bit?

It's not like him to overstep the mark between aggressive and out of control, but whilst you could put Le Mans down to a one off, Silverstone makes you wonder if he has an issue with the R18...

M

nobster · 15 Sep 2011, 10:42 (Ref:2955843)

Quote:

Originally Posted by marcosgt

Indeed - Could it be McNish is overdriving the R18 a bit?

It's not like him to overstep the mark between aggressive and out of control, but whilst you could put Le Mans down to a one off, Silverstone makes you wonder if he has an issue with the R18...

M

I hope it has to do with this car but i''m not so sure if that is the case, last few years he seems to drive hot headed to me, very aggressive in his passing specially in the beginning of the races. To finish first, first you have to finish!

Victor_RO · 15 Sep 2011, 10:47 (Ref:2955847)

Quote:

Originally Posted by nobster

I hope it has to do with this car but i''m not so sure if that is the case, last few years he seems to drive hot headed to me, very aggressive in his passing specially in the beginning of the races. To finish first, first you have to finish!

Pressure from outside opposition getting to McNish (although he's probably not going to admit it)?... Actually, looks to me like all the factory drivers for the two factory diesel teams have been guilty of overdriving at some point during the last few years. It's proof of how fierce the competition is between the two teams.

**PascaLM** · 10 Dec 2011, 20:59 (Ref:2998177)

More photos about McNish's crash.

Simmi · 10 Dec 2011, 22:06 (Ref:2998201)

Anyone know if the ACO plan to do anything differently in this area for 2012 or are they just putting it down to a freak accident?

I don't know how much it was mentioned at the time but to me the transition from the regular gravel to the start of the darker, ever so slightly raised section is what lifted the car up fractions before it hit the fence.

In years to come everyone will remember where they were when this happened.

wolfhound · 11 Dec 2011, 13:30 (Ref:2998406)

While McNish's accident was the one that grabbed the headlines because there is so much footage of it and the time it happened, the accident that happened to Rockenfeller was potentially more serious.

However the cause of these accidents is quite common especially in saloons, i.e. front corner to rear corner contact and with the car behind usually flying into the barriers. If this type of contact could be prevented then there would be a safer result.

Dead-Eye · 11 Dec 2011, 18:47 (Ref:2998486)

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolfhound

While McNish's accident was the one that grabbed the headlines because there is so much footage of it and the time it happened, the accident that happened to Rockenfeller was potentially more serious.

However the cause of these accidents is quite common especially in saloons, i.e. front corner to rear corner contact and with the car behind usually flying into the barriers. If this type of contact could be prevented then there would be a safer result.

There (probably) wasn't any contact between Rockenfeller and the Ferrari, the Audi was simply forced off the road by having the door slammed shut on him.
In the McNish accident, I don't think it would have made much difference which part of the Ferrari he hit.

wolfhound · 11 Dec 2011, 19:21 (Ref:2998499)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dead-Eye

In the McNish accident, I don't think it would have made much difference which part of the Ferrari he hit.

Front to rear or side to side contact unless very heavy usually don't result in a big incident but front to rear corners usually do. I have seen several of these in saloon racing. It almost always results in the rear car going off in a big way. An example is a large shunt involving Jason Plato at Donnington earlier this year.

**Aysedasi** · 11 Dec 2011, 20:19 (Ref:2998524)

I saw McNish's accident as a a clear example of pure corner to corner touching. I do think it would probably have been different had the touching been side to side or full front to rear.

Purist · 11 Dec 2011, 21:19 (Ref:2998546)

It would have been different, but I think it still would have been a significant incident. Allan would have been very much on the limit, especially with that shallow line he was on, and the speed differential apporaching the apex pretty much guaranteed that the hit would be hard enough to send at least one of them off the road. Not to menion, those esse bends themselves are NOT slow-speed corners.

Mal · 12 Dec 2011, 14:26 (Ref:2998804)

I think a tarmac run off area where McNish went off would have made a massive difference. He appeared to skip over the gravel without losing much speed at all.

Purist · 12 Dec 2011, 16:04 (Ref:2998828)

The gravel pit is fine. And tarmac is of little, if any, good when the car is out-of-control.

It looks to me like the outside of the road there is slightly higher than the gravel trap, which means it took a little time, and noticeable distance, for the Audi to come down onto the gravel. That's a grading issue, NOT a gravel issue. Note that, in the same incident, the F458 was able to be driven away because of how much the gravel arrested its speed.

They definitely do need a taller guardrail/barrier at that point though.

EDIT: Having another look, there may be a level difference, but also, the Audi may have tried to lift, in which case, the ridges in the gravel helped catch the car and bring it back down, whereas smooth tarmac would have allowed it to keep lifting without obstruction.

wolfhound · 12 Dec 2011, 17:33 (Ref:2998854)

When tarmac is used to slow a car down it works best when the tyres are still in contact with the ground. A car going sideways through gravel is inclined to flip especially saloons.

One thing I notice at Le Mans is that they only use single layer tyre walls in a lot of places, where as a lot of circuits I am familiar with use at least 2 layers and sometimes more with conveyor belting attached in places also. Multiple layers of tyres are very effective at slowing down high speed cars and absorbing the impact. Conveyor belt is more important with single seaters as they can penetrate the tyre wall easily.

At the point where McNish hit there was only a single layer and I don't think there was any conveyor belt. The armco barrier behind the tyre wall was bent over quite significantly after the impact.

Bentley Mulsanne · 20 Dec 2011, 00:38 (Ref:3002069)

The R18 testing at Sebring at the moment has a few subtle differences externally, and by the looks of it a larger 'cockpit window' for better visibility.

Was that a Ferrari to my left??

Images here

Tim the Grey · 29 Dec 2011, 20:21 (Ref:3005289)

Go see the R18 thread? It's been discussed to death 2 weeks back...

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