(Scott Parker) – We all lament the fact that racers are all “specialized” now and that there is little of the cross over that was a hallmark of motor racing for many years. Because of that, the yearly Race of Champions that gathers the best drivers from all over the world and puts them in different (but equal) cars and trucks is an amazingly fun event to watch. This year the race was held in Barbados and it attracted the most talented wheelmen from around the globe but even the bet get flummoxed every now and again as it proven by this video. What you are going to see here is the end result of what happens when sports car racers get behind the wheel of stadium super trucks and then try to drive said trucks like sports cars. One driver ends up going turtle while the other pulls off a stunt driving routine to save his bacon but still lose the lap. This is flipping awesome.
The driver who eats dirt (literally) is Jose Lopez, the 2013 World Touring Car champion and a factory works driver for Citroen. The guy has been racing in international series forever and has run open wheel cars, karts, and of course touring cars. The good news is that he had never driven a stadium truck. Why is that good news? Because we get to see what happens when you drive one of these trucks like a sports car. His critical mistake was wailing the curbing on the way into a corner. The suspension and weight were already unloading that side of the truck and it looks to us that the curbing contact finished heaving the truck right over. The in-car slow motion is great because as soon as it happens it seems like Lopez knows that he is in for it.
The second driver shown in the bright yello/green truck is Formula One pilot Romain Grosjean. He also gets his truck into a position where it looks like it is about to roll over (it is as far up on two wheels as any state fair Hell Driver has ever gotten anything) but he uses some very subtle steering adjustments to get the truck back down on all four. Watching in slow motion, you can see him working the wheel to put the truck down. Yes, these guys are fish out of water and we’re not mocking them. They’d be faster than us in everything. We just think it is cool that they were driving the trucks hard enough to get into these situations at all!
