If you haven’t seen/don’t watch Top Gear, you wouldn’t know that Bugatti just released a super sport model of their already stupid fast Veyron. They were upset about losing the title of world’s fastest car to the SSC Ultimate Aero, an American car that took the title from Bugatti back in 2007.
Not to be beaten, Bugatti created this modern marvel and it goes without saying that the Top Gear boys needed to put it in the hands of their tame racing driver to see how fast it really is.
If you’ve ever found yourself as a spectator at a race track, it’s easy to lull yourself into believing that you’ll be as safe as can be just so long as you keep a crash barrier between your brittle bones and the lightspeed chunks of metal blasting by. Thing is, that’s not always the case. The interwebs are full of videos of cars gone airborne, leaping guard rails and tire walls by leaps and bounds to come crashing down in the middle of a passel of spectators. We can officially add the video after the jump to that list of horrors.
According to our English cousins, Portugese driver Francisco Carvalho had a bit of a mishap at this weekend’s World Touring Car Championship event at Brands Hatch. Carvalho was competing in the Seat Leon Euro Cup Race when he received a nudge from a fellow racer. Instead of losing a position, Carvalho’s car was sent veering off of the course and into a crash barrier before bouncing end-over-end and vaulting back over the wall. The crash sent a crowd of race marshals fleeing before the car came to a stop, but amazingly enough, no one was injured. Not even Carvalho. Hit the jump to see the devastation for yourself.
This is a Fiat Abarth Trofeo racing on two wheels. Did you catch that? We can’t really be any clearer. Steely-eyed Cinquecento stuff, this. The best part? He saves it! Courtesy of Jalopnik.
One of the common, angry refrains that veteran 24 Hours of LeMons teams voice is the fact that the $500 junker series keeps increasing the safety requirements, especially when it comes to roll cages. After all, their cage passed the tech inspection last time, no problem. Why the hassle, man?
It can be safely assumed however, that the driver of the Ford Escort ZX2 sees no problem with tighter, tougher (and yes, safer) LeMons roll cage requirements. First and foremost, the driver walked away from the wreck (it took place at last weekend’s Gator-O-Rama 2010 race near Houston, TX) with zero injuries. Second of all, the following video is a very good lesson in why your wheels shouldn’t stick out past your car’s fenders. Sadly, the AMC Gremlin that the Escort climbed up isn’t visible. However, you can see a little piece of its side wing airborne in the image above. Watch the video, after the jump.
There were two Lexus LF-As entered into last week’s Nurburgring 24 Hour race prepared by the Gazoo Racing Team. This is what happened to one of them, car #15, about two hours from the end of the enduro.
Here’s a Lamborghini Diablo crash caught on video.
The damage done to the truck looks to be light, but the damage to the front of the Diablo and more importantly, to the driver’s ego, is gonna be a whole lot more expensive and time consuming to fix. Is it any surprise this overly confident tool leaves the scene so quick?
Those of you familiar with Fifth Gear have undoubtedly enjoyed Tiff Needell and Jason Plato’s powersliding shootouts, and at this weekend’s British Touring Car Championship, Plato had the opportunity to show off his sideways skills at Brands Hatch.
At the beginning of the second lap, Plato was leading in his Lacetti as Jonathan Adams in the #12 BMW came up strong behind him. The two drivers entered the Paddock Hill Bend and Adams, who apparently misjudged the braking pointing, slammed into the left side of Plato’s bumper, causing the Lacetti to rotate nearly 90-degrees. Plato kept the throttle planted, had the steering at full lock and was able to recover from the slide with the kind of minimalist drama only a seasoned veteran (in a front-driver) can deliver.
The BTCC organizers eventually penalized Adams four seconds, delivering the win to Plato. Check the video of Jason’s epic save after the jump…
The setting here is an M3 gone off track and miraculously no worse for the wear… until the driver hits the gas and drags the undercarriage across the asphalt.
Those of you familiar with Fifth Gear have undoubtedly enjoyed Tiff Needell and Jason Plato’s powersliding shootouts, and at this weekend’s British Touring Car Championship, Plato had the opportunity to show off his sideways skills at Brands Hatch.