Weird lost 1 minute 10 seconds and now is running OK again?
Electrical problem?
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Weird lost 1 minute 10 seconds and now is running OK again?
Electrical problem?
Mike Rockenfeller, that was a huge crash.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
And a 3:42 for his first flying lap after getting going again, hardly flat out pace.Quote:
Originally Posted by steveaki13
I dont know, 3:42 in these damp conditions. Is not too far off the pace is it.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
Lets see his best lap 3:28.9 and now a 3:42.0 follwed by a 3:43. in damp conditions, he is now faster than Davidson his team mate, so I think his pace is OK.
The amount of ads on Eurosport is annoying.
At least they dont last 3 or 4 minutes I suppose
You'd think as a motorsport forum we would see a few more people posting here. ???? disappointing.
It's never overly busy for Le Mans, few people seem to actually sit down and watch it. I really enjoy it though, I missed a lot of last year's race because I was actually competing but I think that the year before I managed 18 hours of it. Doubt I'll watch that much this year though, I'll dip out to watch the hockey and get some sleep (partly because I'm soft and partly because I'm going to Glastonbury later in the week and don't want to be tired before I get there!)Quote:
Originally Posted by steveaki13
News is that it appears Allan Simonsen has died following the crash earlier.
Now confirmed on Eurosport. Terrible, truly terrible.
No way.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfa Fan
EDIT: Confirmed on Autosport as well.
Devastating news, the thought never crossed my mind that he was even badly injured.
RIP Allan Simonsen, condolences to his family and friends. :(
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfa Fan
Such sad and unbelievable news.
It didnt seem that bigger hit, but I guess in motorsport you never quite know what you hit at what point.
Made even worse as the early news was seemly positive.
Cant My first live motorsport death for a long time that I have had the misfortune to see. A trully terrible incident.
One driver interviewed on Eurosport seemed to suggest the car went through the barrier and bounced off a tree behind it. (That is only what I thought I heard him saying - not official). If so that is a bizzare freak of an accident, afterall these barriers are usually so strong.
Lets wait for official word though.
Sad, sad news. I did fear the worst as we hadn't heard anything and it was obviously a huge impact. As my old man said, it's really taken the edge off the race as it's hard to get excited about the motorsport when something so terrible has happened.
I've been hearing that involved an impact with a tree as well, and also speculation (I stress speculation) that there was an equipment failure in the car, possibly related to the seat. We've seen seemingly worse impacts at Le Mans in recent years, like the #1 Audi in 2011 where the driver suffered far lesser injuries.
Im sure all us on here and everyone in motorsport echo's your sentiment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ranger
RIP Allan
This is right. It looked like the kind of impact you would be dazed by, but not seriously injured these days.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfa Fan
If this speculation is found to be true, then investigatin needs to be launched on how a barrier allowed a car to puncture a hole through it.
I feel quite bad for saying this now, given the events that transpired. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Ranger
Nobody could have known at that point. It looked like a routine accident until it took so long to clear.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ranger
You weren't to have known and the statement itself is perfectly true, don't beat yourself up over it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ranger
So sad that this will probably mean that Le Mans will be in the news but for all the wrong reasons. It's regrettable that on the few times that motorsport makes it to mainstream media usually involves a fatality or serious injury.
I have posted a thread : RIP Allan Simonsen in the main Chit Chat thread so others who may not be following the race or not viewing this thread can pay respect to him.
Dont feel bad Ranger, I too thought it was crazy to make a mistake that early and made a flipent remark.
Its one of those things that no one can know at the time.
It is a nasty reminder though that motorsport is still very dangerous. Something we all forget at times with modern safety standards.
Well, quite. And you can bet that in no way will the reporting concentrate on how remarkable it is, given the severity of certain accidents, that this is the first fatality during the race itself since Jo Gartner in 1986.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
As the commentators said, the team will carry on racing hard for the win in his memory.
In a similar way, we should continue to watch the race and appreciate the risks the guys take for the sport and our entertainment. They are brave men and women.
Exactly that in itself speaks volumes for the work and progress motorsport is making.Quote:
Originally Posted by BDunnell
Back into the Race.
These conditions are making this a very tricky first 4 hours. It has drizzled and dried out about 4 times now.
The Anthony Davidson rant about being on slicks was quite good. He must have been hammering down Mulsanne and even paused, presumably to go through one of the chicanes, before carrying on complaining :D :up:Quote:
Originally Posted by steveaki13
I know it was classic.
It does. However, the initial unconfirmed (can't stress that word enough) reports of what happened would, if borne out by the facts, suggest that progress we thought had been made in other areas might not necessarily have gone far enough. Time will tell.Quote:
Originally Posted by steveaki13
RIP Allan Simonsen :(
Hopefully Aston Martin can get the win as a tribute to him.
Thats true, we discussed that above. If as you say its true a tree was involved, that is a big question mark over the barriers and safety.Quote:
Originally Posted by BDunnell
Although as I said progress has been made in leaps and bounds, there is still areas that are an issue and its always sad it takes this sort of incident for people to realise there is always more that can be done.
Well the Aston team were running 1 and 2 earlier, but a Porsche has split them now, but a long way to go. It would be a emotional and wonderful tribute to Allan Simonsen
3 cars appear out at the moment.
The Aston though Simonsens sad accident
Also No. 31 Lotus and No. 28 Lola.
I don't think that you can ever eliminate all risk from motorsport, and if you did then it would lose a lot of what makes it exciting.
You also have to consider the location of the accident. There aren't many accidents at Tetre Rouge that would result in a car going head first into the barrier at that spot, far more likely to end up in the gravel, in the armco on the inside or spinning off down Mulsanne.
Thats true and I agree to a point, but when a car pierces a hole and hits a tree (potentially if that did occur) that is a risk that needs to be eliminated. At least in circuit racing. If you are Rallying then its part of the job I suppose, but for this event I think that needs looking at.
Everybody's over at the Ten-Tenths board or on the chat....Quote:
Originally Posted by steveaki13
I have a great deal of sympathy for this view. However, if (again stressing that word) the car did somehow hit a tree on the other side of the barrier, I thought that such accidents were well and truly a thing of the past. That's not the sort of risk I consider acceptable.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
It makes you appreciate just how lucky Mike Rockenfeller was in 2011.
There should be lots of discussion about the armco barrier quality in the days to come.
I would generally agree that it's unacceptable for a barrier to be that weak. The one caveat I would place is that it's not the kind of place that you would predict a car would be heading, and certainly not at the kind of speed that Simonsen would have hit it.Quote:
Originally Posted by BDunnell
I quite agree that there needs to be discussion on this matter and questions need to be asked as to whether the barrier in that area was as strong as it is around the rest of the track. If it is then we know that it's up to fairly heavy impacts (as with Mike Rockenfeller and others). If it's not then you really have to wonder why an even that surely must raise a good revenue is skimping on safety. It's still all conjecture at the minute though, this is largely based on rumour and hearsay,
Question I was just asked. Which I wasnt sure about. Do the teams tell the drivers during the race?
I suppose with twitter and the internet drivers find out easy enough
I'd have thought so, however Ant Davidson tweeted something about having had a difficult stint and didn't mention anything else, so I presume that at the time he was unaware.Quote:
Originally Posted by steveaki13
I think the problem is that if the barrier is too strong, then the barrier itself would be too dangerous as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by BDunnell
Perhaps they could have some sort of flexing barrier that will absorb the impact energy in a much better way then current barriers/fences.
In speedway they used to have semi-fixed fences that was quite dangerous but nowadays
most tracks uses air fenceswhich have been a major safety improvement.
Obviously the exact same solution would not bee possible but something with the same principle of function.
#1 In the garage not long after a stop and #3 on the way back from Dunlop chicane on 3 wheels. Everything seemed to be going so well for Audi and then 2 problems in quick succession. I suspect that #3 won't be much of an issue, but it's still let Toyota get their foot back in the door.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
Shows how amazing the 24 hours can be.
Toyota 2-3 and way ahead of #1 who must have lost a lap at least by now, #3 will have lost minutes. Have Toyota got the pace to hold off their recoveries?
Also now suddenly just 1 car ahead of them. Their is a sniff off a win.
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