Horrific JGTC crash
the link worked for me.... but the crash was in 1998 and the driver of the red car (Ota) finished his court battles a year ago. basically the courts found the organizers negligent in not providing immediate response and for having the pace car going too fast. Ota didn't get his full monetary award because the court found that he was driving too fast for the conditions (yellow flags, pace car on the track). many many changes have been made to JGTC since then to help prevent a driver from being stuck in a burning car for more than 50 seconds (Ota asserted up to 90) and to help prevent such spectacular crashes.
What's to discuss?
What's to discuss?
The link worked for me too..... Very bad accident. I wonder why the car exploded in flames. I thought that fuel cells and other measures prevent that sort of thing..... Anyway, very scary. Just the kind of scenario that gives nightmares.
Evolved Member
Joined: Feb 2004
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From: New Bedford, MA
Well, a Porsche cell would never be rear-mounted since it's ***-engined. Probably is mounted behind the driver, or in the front.
Also, some teams have a bad habit of trying to squeeze in that much more fuel, so it ends up overflowing into the filler neck, and isn't confined to the cell. So in a crash, the filler neck gets severed (part to help seal the cell), and the splashed fuel could easily be ignited by exhaust pipes.
Also, some teams have a bad habit of trying to squeeze in that much more fuel, so it ends up overflowing into the filler neck, and isn't confined to the cell. So in a crash, the filler neck gets severed (part to help seal the cell), and the splashed fuel could easily be ignited by exhaust pipes.
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Joined: Oct 2004
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From: NA
Would someone explain to me how this was the JGTC's fault (really the FIA, as JGTC is governed by JAF which is governed by the FIA)? I mean look at it, Ota was trying to warm his tires while in the rain, it was his fault for losing grip and hitting the Porsche. It might have been bad that they didn't get to the car in time, but it was his fault for hitting the Porsche, even if the safety car was going too fast. The crash was quite horrific, really bad stuff, reminds me of Villeneuve's last race.
The courts didn't rule that it was entirely JGTCs fault. The courts ruled that Ota was going too fast, hence the reduction in his monetary award (900,000 instaed of nearly 3,000,000) The courts main objection was to the lack of emergency preparedness of the JGTC and the sponsors/promoters of the race.... 90 seconds in an inferno was more than the court was willing to accept. In fact, one article said that Ota was pulled from his wreckage by other drivers who were fighting the car fire... at least that's what I gathered from the 4 news articles I was able to google.
