Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron61
Don,
Did you happen to see the 24 hour LeMans race years ago before they put that kink in the long straight away? One of the prototype cars doing well over 200 MPH just slowly took off like an airplane and went up above the trees which it then came down through leaving a trail of broken branches and pieces of cars. They found the driver unhurt except for scrapes and scratches he got from the breaking tree limbs and such and he was just sitting in the roll cage looking kind of stunned. That was why they put that kink in the middle of the straight away to make them slow down a little. They later decided that somehow a small puff of wind got under the car, and at that speed it was like an airplane. I believe that might be the incident that you are referring to. I just happened to be watching the race when it happened and I thought there was no way the driver was going to get out of that without serious injury. And I agree that under car air is a problem, that is why they have the front facia so low that at times it drags, which then also upsets the car. Maybe they should add something like that to the back.
Ron
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Those were the Mercedes cars. They had an issue that if any air got under the front of the car they took off. They could come of a slight rise, or come out from behind another car and it would happen. They pulled all the cars that year, and if I remember correctly, they did not race again.