Once a race car has gained sufficient altitude to make it to the catch fence, nothing good will come out of what happens next. Literally, the best-case scenario in these kinds of situations starts at “the driver is alive”. Names like Russel Phillips and Dan Wheldon come to mind when you think of a car airborne in the fence. And that’s just the driver…the other hope is that the fence holds, keeping thousands of pounds of race car on the track-side of the fence instead of coming over where there are crowds or people observing the action. When Kyle Larson went into the fence during the 2013 Drive4COPD 300 at Daytona, the fence kept his car on the trackside, while collecting up the engine and most of the front suspension, minimizing injuries.
In this video clip we have Round 4 of the Forza Challenge Club Racing series at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. That red thing that is quickly being turned to dust is a Ferrari 458 Italia, which reportedly made contact with another car a little bit earlier up the track. Watch the fence and how it breaks down as the Ferrari mows through it. You couldn’t pay me enough to stand there and film when bits of chain-link fence are flying at me like that.
I was at Road America when this happened. Fortunately or unfortunately I was in Corner 1 not 5 where this occurred.
Interestingly where this accident occurred is one of the more popular corners to watch from, so thank god the fence held! It is impressive.
Also interestingly, the race was delayed for about an hour while the safety crews fixed the fence, and Racing resumed with no cancelations.
What this is showing is that the cars are getting quicker and faster and the tracks safety equipment isn’t keeping up with this. Yes, it contained the car and kept it on track, but that flying debris could have been lethal.
that flying debris could have been lethal.
But it wasn’t, racetrack safety is awesome!
That Ferrari should buff out.