SAFER and Mario

[rabbit]

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]

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]

Originally posted by Wheel-Nut
I wonder if IMS will come out with the source of the debris?

No.:thumdown:

[JoeBob]

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]

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]

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]

Damn, Ziggy!:)

[Hot Rod Otis]

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[Railbird]

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]

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]

If A.J. (fat A.J. kinda of like fat Elvis :-) ) had been in the car it would have never left the ground.

[Spicoli]

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]

AR1!!!! I feel so dirty..... Where is my shower?:shakehead

[pchall]

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]

A special hello for Turn13 as he stops by for a little slumming fun at OffCamber.

:p

[RacinM3]

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]

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]

That is one ugly car. http://www.gamers-forums.com/smilies/otn/puke/barf.gif

[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:

[JSR]

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]

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]

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]

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]

http://www.theinformationminister.com/press.php?ID=612128567

[RichK]

Originally posted by RacinM3
http://www.theinformationminister.com/press.php?ID=612128567

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: