Brands Hatch BMW trackday 26th Nov

[Theo]

That could have been very nasty, especially with a harness installed and no rollcage - I certainly wouldn't have sat in his passenger seat!

[SHAKEELE30]

Woooo what happened there, well obviously it looks like it ended up on its roof,but how the hell he manage that, was the driver ok....looks very messy....

[Fushion_Julz]

What happened was he stuck it in the gravel trap on the exit of Paddock Hill Bend...I didn't actually see it happen, but I'd assume it dug in and flipped...

Driver and passenger were OK...

[Ant]

Dug in and flipped @ paddock indeed !

the pic shows the good side BTW

with regard to Theos comment, they would certainly have had some major injuries WITHOUT the harness and seat setup, as was 2 headaches, 2 ruined skid lids( and underwear ) one minor cut to Chet's hand and some bruises to both.

I'm sure the result would have been the same cage or otherwise, major thing I feel the need to mention is that the car was absolutely rot free and solid as the day it left the factory, a testament to the solidity of the basic design of the shell, I'd certainly never use a rotten old T bag shell on the track !.

pix to follow........

[Theo]

with regard to Theos comment, they would certainly have had some major injuries WITHOUT the harness and seat setup, as was 2 headaches, 2 ruined skid lids( and underwear ) one minor cut to Chet's hand and some bruises to both.

I'm sure the result would have been the same cage or otherwise, major thing I feel the need to mention is that the car was absolutely rot free and solid as the day it left the factory, a testament to the solidity of the basic design of the shell, I'd certainly never use a rotten old T bag shell on the track !.

I don't understand how having your head held in position so it is effectively a roll hoop would reduce the injuries you would recieve in such an incident. I've rolled an E30 without a cage and I'm bloody greatful I had a standard seat belt on as it allowed me to duck down a fair bit and get my knopper out of harms way.

I'm also fairly confident that a rollcage WOULD make a difference in the event of rolling a car!

[mad4amanda]

This car was an extemely solid shell not a piece of rot was visible even after the incident . If it had been rotten it would not have kept the integrity it did. Trust me a rotten shell would have disintergrated in such an incident.
The driver should be thanking his car builder for this or else it could have been much worse for him.

[StevePH]

I don't understand how having your head held in position so it is effectively a roll hoop would reduce the injuries you would recieve in such an incident. I've rolled an E30 without a cage and I'm bloody greatful I had a standard seat belt on as it allowed me to duck down a fair bit and get my knopper out of harms way.

I'm also fairly confident that a rollcage WOULD make a difference in the event of rolling a car!

Totally agree with all that.

Steve H

[TRACKM3]

This car was an extemely solid shell not a piece of rot was visible even after the incident . If it had been rotten it would not have kept the integrity it did. Trust me a rotten shell would have disintergrated in such an incident.
The driver should be thanking his car builder for this or else it could have been much worse for him.

What has been built about this car then ??? sorry to sound harsh but this is a std car with a set of harness's and basic suspension nothing built about it bolted together maybe, cars driven the way this was on the day need a cage, at least the roof height would have stayed inplace.

[ShakeyC]

This was a road car foremost lets not forget that; same as many other cars out that day and at most trackdays all over the place.

Was taking the apex at paddock min 85mph and his laptimes were in 61secs in the morning with little bit of advice I got it down to banging out comfortably consistant 54sec lap times in the afternoon. Remember its a normal e30 325 with all the trim inside and 2 up. Ok having the sun roof open to get my head in was maybe an aero aid

Ant my underwear was fine mate

[UweM3]

This was a road car foremost lets not forget that; same as many other cars out that day and at most trackdays all over the place.

Was taking the apex at paddock min 85mph and his laptimes were in 61secs in the morning with little bit of advice I got it down to banging out comfortably consistant 54sec lap times in the afternoon. Remember its a normal e30 325 with all the trim inside and 2 up. Ok having the sun roof open to get my head in was maybe an aero aid

Ant my underwear was fine mate

consistant 54's in a 325 road car........

[ShakeyC]

Thats what both people in race control and witnesses had timed and said thats what we were doing, even got black flagged just for being too quick out there (nothing dangerous, stupid, dropping oil or anything) so came in for a ciggy break

[billgatese30]

Thats what both people in race control and witnesses had timed and said thats what we were doing, even got black flagged just for being too quick out there (nothing dangerous, stupid, dropping oil or anything) so came in for a ciggy break

Who was organising the day? I have never heard of a trackday where race control have allowed lap timing, let alone actively taken part in it. Also I have never heard of anyone being black flagged for being "too fast" either so long as it was well driven.

[Fushion_Julz]

The day was BMW Car magazine, I believe...

There was normal trackday rules...ie no timing allowed (specified in the drivers' briefing)...

I doubt he was doing 54sec laps...That sort of pace is Class B Kumho race car speed...There was a *significant* amount of traffic out on the circuit all day...
He was driving like a bit of a tool, though...at least every time I saw him!

Found a little video
from inside the Schnitzer E30 DTM car that Jody Halse was driving...

[Theo]

54s are what race prepped E36 and E46 M3s do in the Kumho Championship...

[Jon_Bmw]

I was smirking when reading the post.

, even got black flagged just for being too quick out there

I 'ed at this point. The above is what you might have 'heard,' but I doubt it was actually what was being said!! Some peoples mind set is worrying.

Who was driving, as you mention 'him' and 'I' in the same phrase?

[Brian28]

This was a road car foremost lets not forget that; same as many other cars out that day and at most trackdays all over the place.

Was taking the apex at paddock min 85mph and his laptimes were in 61secs in the morning with little bit of advice I got it down to banging out comfortably consistant 54sec lap times in the afternoon. Remember its a normal e30 325 with all the trim inside and 2 up. Ok having the sun roof open to get my head in was maybe an aero aid

I'm sure there will be a seat going in BTCC if you pass on the details to some of the teams. Knocking off 7s laptime (from a reasonable starting point at 61s) in an hour or two track time is good, imagine what he could get down to on a full test day . Race winning E30 M3 at our meeting there this season (well set up with experienced driver) best lap was 56s, best lap 58.8 in a different race). Perhaps you could give the M3 driver a few hints to knock a couple of seconds off? He'd be pleased if you could get his times down quick enough to keep up with a 325 in road trim and carrying a passenger .

[Fushion_Julz]

ROFLMAO....

Was that in the Kumhos?

[Jon_Bmw]

Brian, you idiot. It was the slicks slowing the Kumho car down!

[Fushion_Julz]

Link to qualy times for Kumhos @ BH this year:

http://www.tsl-timing.com/barc/2009/93421.pdf

[Brian28]

http://www.tsl-timing.com/msvr/2009/91151.pdf

Toyo saloons

[Ant]

Woaa guys ! no-one is claiming anything here, only conjecture !

re my comment about the cage, yes of course with the cage the car would have been stronger, however the pint I was trying to make was that should the car have landed on the front corner of the cage, the impact would have to have been absorbed more by the occupants, ie as the roof deflected it absorbed the energy of the incident, meaning less was transferred to the peeps inside doing raggy doll impressions lol !

@ Theo, not baiting you dude, how did you have time to duck ??

[TRACKM3]

This was a road car foremost lets not forget that; same as many other cars out that day and at most trackdays all over the place.

Was taking the apex at paddock min 85mph and his laptimes were in 61secs in the morning with little bit of advice I got it down to banging out comfortably consistant 54sec lap times in the afternoon. Remember its a normal e30 325 with all the trim inside and 2 up. Ok having the sun roof open to get my head in was maybe an aero aid

Ant my underwear was fine mate

consistant 54's in a 325 road car........

54'S LOL

[Theo]

@ Theo, not baiting you dude, how did you have time to duck ??

Ant, it was a low speed roll so as it was obvious what was happening and I reacted accordingly. I'm not being confrontational here, or in my previous posts - just voicing my opinion (as ever)

[Ant]

Some pix of the white 325i here...

before and after brands.

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... 21#1694821

[Ant]

look top left of frame about 38 seconds ..

[d6dph]

Jesus wept, glad to hear all involved are ok.

(Ant did you sabotage it to get more work? )

[89pgy]

spent all that money getting my m3 to run a high 55 second lap when all i had to do was get a std 325, how do i feel.

[fowler]

spent all that money getting my m3 to run a high 55 second lap when all i had to do was get a std 325, how do i feel.