Goodwood 74 MM

[Pete]

That looked horrific, the driver escaped with a broken collar bone!

[rich@minispares.com]

That looked horrific, the driver escaped with a broken collar bone!

I bet it was his nuts that broke his collar bone when they retraced so fast!

joking apart, I bet he is seriously sore this morning, look at how much is head is bouncing around on his neck as it cartwheels

a very lucky guy

[Pete]

I bet the MSA will be looking at that, one of his wheels also landed in a speccy area. The guy was totally not at fault and is lucky to be alive really, could have been a total disaster if it had been busy but I hope they don't have fences forced on them as a result! There was another big one in the Bruce McLaren Trophy for Can-Am Gp7 cars which lead to a red flag with little explanation and some very subdued commentary, always a bad sign! Anyone know what happened there?

[rich@minispares.com]

one of his wheels also landed in a speccy area.

ironically, the wheel landed in the disabled viewing area, so it could have been pretty serious had there been any wheelchairs and what not there.

the lola in the other crash was smashed to bits - looked pretty serious

this is the trouble with goodwood, the tracklayout and whatnot is what makes it exciting to watch (and race in I bet), but it just isn't really up to scratch for what is expected of modern safety, plus a lot of these period cars have terrible cages

[Pete]

Another lucky escapee..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYKyY_SRt6c

[rich@minispares.com]

Another lucky escapee..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYKyY_SRt6c

that looked well avoidable, if, if, if the guy hadn't stamped his brakes on..........

once he was on the grass though........

[YMJ]

Another lucky escapee..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYKyY_SRt6c

that looked well avoidable, if, if, if the guy hadn't stamped his brakes on..........

once he was on the grass though........

The most dangerous circuit in the UK.
There was a near-fatality there a few years back on a private manufacturer's saloon car (no names, no packdrill) track day when my mate (a racing notoriety hauled in to do promotional driving instruction) came onto the long Levant straight, saw that someone had crashed and the first piece of debris he noticed was a steering wheel in the middle of the track! This surely has to be the ultimate pessimistic sign of a bad saloon car crash.
The driver (potential customer) survived (just) and the media were all given the modern day equivalent of a D notice, hence why we never heard about it. God knows who was driving but "they" bolted it down as tight as....

[rich@minispares.com]

...'im so dizzy........'

must have had the 'barrier avoidance' magnets turned on.........


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm1vBwq24fY

[rich@minispares.com]

noticed was a steering wheel in the middle of the track! ...

many years ago my uncle crashed a mk2 ford Cortina into the local golf course (not into a bunker, which was a shame, he got it right into all the practice nets )

it all went wrong when he was throwing it into a corner and the steering wheel came off in his hands

he had just bought the car and as it was the days when the new driver had to send the log book off, he simply legged it and left the trail of carnage and the crumpled remains behind

[mk1coopers]

The accident in the Bruce McLaren race was also a big one, he ended up on the wall / bank just before the Super Shell building, the car was half the length it should have been on one side apparently once they got him out he collapsed then was air lifted. I've not seen anymore info on this one yet.

As that car disappeared down the tunnel I thought there were going to be multiple casualties, I was amazed that no one got killed

[Pete]

The accident in the Bruce McLaren race was also a big one, he ended up on the wall / bank just before the Super Shell building, the car was half the length it should have been on one side apparently once they got him out he collapsed then was air lifted. I've not seen anymore info on this one yet.

From GRRC :

"Official statement: Following yesterday’s incident during the Bruce McLaren Trophy race at 15:45hrs, driver Michiel Smits was taken by air ambulance to the nearest trauma centre, where his condition was stabilised.

He spent the night in hospital with family members. We wish him a good and swift recovery.

Goodwood will continue to provide updates as soon as further information is available."

[mk1coopers]

That's good to hear

[Pete]

This was his car..

[Pete]

On a positive note, Shifty had a great battle with the Rover SD1 in the first Gerry Marshall race and then again with an Alfa in the Whitmore Cup. Has to be said that half the Minis were way off the pace? The live feed on Youtube is still working if anyone missed it.

[dhenry]

There will be repercussions from these accidents. At the very least they will add fencing. A car in the tunnel can never happen again. Being a preparer I will support any safety measures even if that means a second chicane. The real tragedy would be if Goodwood was forced to become nothing but a high speed demonstration because of spectator deaths. If the Lotus crash happened at midday at Revival there would have been fatalities and Goodwood would loose its license. We are lucky to be allowed to race there at all and should not take that for granted.

[mk1coopers]

This was his car..

That was the good side

[billycooper]

On a positive note, Shifty had a great battle with the Rover SD1 in the first Gerry Marshall race and then again with an Alfa in the Whitmore Cup. Has to be said that half the Minis were way off the pace? The live feed on Youtube is still working if anyone missed it.

Managed to watch it all now, this year the cars seem to have come on in leaps and bounds since the first Members Meeting and the competition has got a lot more intence, which is fabulous for us as spectators but you do worry about the safety element.

Swifty was on fire again in the pre 66 race, Huffy tried an awesome overtaking move round the outside on cold tyres and Nick was having none of it, still establishing himself as the best mini historic racer out there, and the event wouldn't be the same without him, in my view, ok he probably has the best engine, but let's be honest Huffy is an ex WTC champion !, Nick Padmore went very well, but again he has held the Goodwood lap record in a Lola !, as Pete said the rest of the Mini contingent was way off pace other than a good showing by Jason Stanley

It would have been nice to see Jordan get a run in the Mowatt Mini in the Gerry Marshall race as I think they would have improved a lot on the grid position, maybe even top 6.

[surfblue63]

Shades of Le Mans 1955 in that first race crash.

I do hope that fencing is not the answer, that is the beauty of Goodwood. As for the tunnel, they could extend it, as the entrance is very close to the track, or close it during the races.

[Pete]

There will be repercussions from these accidents. At the very least they will add fencing. A car in the tunnel can never happen again. Being a preparer I will support any safety measures even if that means a second chicane. The real tragedy would be if Goodwood was forced to become nothing but a high speed demonstration because of spectator deaths. If the Lotus crash happened at midday at Revival there would have been fatalities and Goodwood would loose its license. We are lucky to be allowed to race there at all and should not take that for granted.

I think GRRC have already announced fencing but simply moving specators back from that area and extending the tunnel would be the answer. Generally there haven't been any incidents before that have exposed any spectator safety issues as far as I know, but for drivers...that's another conversation entirely. There have been some monumental shunts at Goodwood over the years, some making the headlines (Willie Green and Nigel Corner spring to mind) and the banks behind those tyre walls don't give, I know, I rammed one myself! I think you're right though, despite drivers happily accepting the risk the tunnel incident alone will attract alot of attention for all the wrong reasons.

[Pete]

Also agree with Billycooper, speeds are on the up and lap times going down, but when pro drivers are in quite alot of cars and budgets to provide them with cars get bigger then I'm afraid it spells trouble. The only way to kerb the development would be to have some proper scrutineering and maybe that'd temper the upward spiral and provide a more level playing field. The alternative could well be the sight of more armco, gravel and catch fencing some day soon.

It'd also be nice to see some more of the club stalwarts racing there, not just the 'elite'..but maybe that's the flavour of the event and maybe we like it that way?