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Login to post Forums » Grassroots Motorsports » Apparently Hondas *Can* Fly...

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Nov. 10, 2008 11:12 a.m. Salanis SuperDork

I drove Infineon for the first time on Saturday. I really wish there was an article on this, but y'all might enjoy hearing the news early. I heard about this from a coworker who, she and her husband do emergency services for NASA.

Towards the end of Sunday, some Honda (I don't know what model) managed to completely overcook the front strait at Infineon. Apparently it hit the dirt berm around turn 2, and literally flew into the grandstands in the middle of the track. There were people there who had to jump and run for their lives. Jaws of life to pull the driver out, but he's alive and should recover. The emergency crew was then faced with the problem of trying to figure out how to tow a car out of the stands.

I'm still trying to figure out how he managed it. I don't know what angle you'd have to hit to get into the grandstands.
Nov. 10, 2008 11:28 a.m. JmfnB UltimaDork

That was the VTAKKK kicking in, yo!
Nov. 10, 2008 12:11 p.m. Hasbro HalfDork

http://forums.clubrsx.com/showthread.php?t=609096

"I just got off the phone with Edmun, This is what happend. A instructor was driving the car from Russels Racing school, which is the racing school at Infineon. He had been race driving for 10 years. He entered Turn 1 which is a uphill turn, so the car gets light and loose, the car over steered and he over corrected and looped it, sending the car strait into the grand stands. Most importantly the drive was OK."
Nov. 10, 2008 12:15 p.m. neon4891 Dork

holy E36 M3berkeley
Nov. 10, 2008 12:21 p.m. Salanis SuperDork
Nov. 10, 2008 12:59 p.m. Feedyurhed Reader

Wow, that could have been really bad!!
Nov. 10, 2008 1:01 p.m. belteshazzar Dork

fortunately it's just hilarious.
Nov. 10, 2008 2:01 p.m. DirtyBird222 HalfDork

awesome he is ok. funny what happened. "OH NOES VTEKKKKK POPPED WAY TO HARD....MONICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa"
Nov. 10, 2008 2:08 p.m. walterj HalfDork

Lucky there are only about two fans of road racing in North America hard core enough to watch a club race in the rain and NASA lets them both into the paddock or that could have reduced the audience to zero.
Nov. 10, 2008 2:23 p.m. m4ff3w Dork
Nov. 10, 2008 3:26 p.m. nocones New Reader

Hasbro wrote:

http://forums.clubrsx.com/showthread.php?t=609096

"I just got off the phone with Edmun, This is what happend. A instructor was driving the car from Russels Racing school, which is the racing school at Infineon. He had been race driving for 10 years. He entered Turn 1 which is a uphill turn, so the car gets light and loose, the car over steered and he over corrected and looped it, sending the car strait into the grand stands. Most importantly the drive was OK."

I'm glad GRM & the locost forum don't allow the half neeked girl avatars and sig. images that other sites (like that one) does.
Nov. 10, 2008 5:28 p.m. maroon92 SuperDork

seriously...and they have no filter.

how else would we get great sentences without E36 M3, berkeley and Bob Costas
Nov. 10, 2008 5:49 p.m. JohnGalt New Reader

maroon92 wrote:

seriously...and they have no filter.

how else would we get great sentences without E36 M3, berkeley and Bob Costas

Oh the joys of Club RSX. More E36 M3 that you can shake a truck load of sticks at.
Nov. 10, 2008 6:18 p.m. Stuc HalfDork

Wait... what's Bob Costas the filter for? I'd just try a slew of words but I assume many of them might get by the filter...
Nov. 10, 2008 6:20 p.m. Stuc HalfDork

ah-hah. Context clues! This is one time I feel the 'post search' instead of 'thread search' came in handy ;] CATS!
Nov. 10, 2008 9:31 p.m. Hasbro HalfDork

JohnGalt wrote:

maroon92 wrote:

seriously...and they have no filter.

how else would we get great sentences without E36 M3, berkeley and Bob Costas

Oh the joys of Club RSX. More E36 M3 that you can shake a truck load of sticks at.

The price of owning a Honda. I used to complain to the moderators but now just select my topics carefully. The ATV forums are even worse.There are a couple of Honda forums that are pretty decent, though.
Nov. 10, 2008 11:36 p.m. DirtyBird222 HalfDork

I think by reading any of the post on forums like that instantly drops your IQ. I just found a decent forum for Fit (fitfreak.net) owners and it seems legit. I can actually read a post and not have to try and interpret what the person was actually trying to say.
Nov. 11, 2008 6:06 a.m. nickel_dime HalfDork

m4ff3w wrote:

We tested a wind tunnel model of that plane. It's really sweet but not exactly grassroots. The big name manufactures are calling it the Honda Civic of aviation.
Nov. 11, 2008 8:04 a.m. JmfnB UltimaDork

DirtyBird222 wrote:

I think by reading any of the post on forums like that instantly drops your IQ. I just found a decent forum for Fit (fitfreak.net) owners and it seems legit. I can actually read a post and not have to try and interpret what the person was actually trying to say.

LOLZ UR QR KUZ u GOZE 2 fit4UMS! mY veeTAK jettA2 kan SHEDDZORS u's fit.

I know what you mean.
Nov. 11, 2008 8:34 a.m. sachilles Reader

Given that he is an instructor at that school....I bet his coworkers will never let him live this down. That is nothing short of amazing. I've seen tires jump into the stands, but never a full car.

Reminds me of when the town drunk managed to save two girls from certain injury at a local track. He was drunk as a skunk, but he jumped through the air with grace that would make an nfl receiver proud, making contact enough with the tire that it missed two little girls.
Nov. 11, 2008 10:30 a.m. rickweldon None
I need to set the record straight on this thread. I apologize in advance if I offend someone, but for obvious reasons I have some emotion on this topic.

I have known Angelo for over 20 years, and have raced with him and his family for most of that time, including several times on the same endurance team.

This accident was NOT funny, and he is NOT OK. At the time of this writing, he is still in intensive care. They're also unsure whether they will have to do surgery for some crushed vertebrae. He missed severing his spinal cord by 3mm.

As so often happens, people who don't know sheite from shinola put their two cents in on threads -- with absolutely no clue as to what really happened. For example the comment that the car "gets light" at turn one shows that someone has never driven this track. Turn one is one of the most high suspension loading points on this track, not a place where the car "gets light".

Angelo did not "overcook" the turn. He is known for his smoothness, consistency and for keeping his head about him. In my 20 years of racing around and with him he has NEVER broken a car due to overdriving. What apparently happened was that something snapped in the steering, resultiing in his becoming a mere passenger at one of the higher speed sections of the track.

Two lessons to be learned here:
- don't talk sheite about someone until you know the whole story
- wear a Hans device when you race. It will most likely be what the difference for Angelo being able to walk again.
Nov. 11, 2008 11:10 a.m. Salanis SuperDork
rickweldon wrote:

What apparently happened was that something snapped in the steering, resultiing in his becoming a mere passenger at one of the higher speed sections of the track.

Two lessons to be learned here:
- don't talk sheite about someone until you know the whole story
- wear a Hans device when you race. It will most likely be what the difference for Angelo being able to walk again.
Aha. Thanks for setting the record strait.

That makes a lot more sense on how he could have flown off at turn one. I was wondering that, because it would have seemed to me like you'd need to be turning right at a left-hand turn.

Really hope he makes a full recovery.
Nov. 11, 2008 11:21 a.m. gamby UberDork

a) Unless you're talking about the Straits of Hormuz, if you are not turning, you're going "straight".

b) Yeah, I just don't find something like that funny. Even if it were just a lapse in skill/ability, it bums me out when someone totals a car on a track. When injuries are involved, it's just horrible.

Does the RSX have steer-by-wire??? ...or was it indeed a broken steering component. Either way, nothing that I'd want to happen on a track (or the street for that matter).
Nov. 11, 2008 1:14 p.m. poopshovel Dork

rickweldon: Hope your buddy pulls through. That's some really scary stuff.
Nov. 11, 2008 1:19 p.m. sachilles Reader

Certainly hope a speedy recovery occurs.

Cage builder deserves some credit there as well judging by the photo. I would think it must have been a combination of factors to make such and unusual crash. Given the experience of the driver, I'd have to guess steering and braking systems must have had some failures.

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