Another 'one-off' experience that caused a serious track incident:
QUOTE:
This accident would have been really bad in term of injuries for myself if the barrier AND the tires protection wasn’t strong enough, so thanks so much NURBURGRING GMBH for make this track as safe as possible My car, a 55000kms 718 gts weared that day michelin ps4 s tires because mixed condition and high amount of participants, so i did not drove so fast on that track day, even no camera were inside the car, no lap timing etc…
The car was just released by porsche center Meuspath after a complete revision and « track check » so in perfect security condition, the car was always stock in term of engine, exhaust, etc, just the suspension and brakes pads + high temp liquid from MANTHEY tequipment On the kesslechen kink section so around 1.5kms before the crash, i had a yellow light who appeared on the dashboard who says (abs problem, go to the dealer, you can drive) at this moment i started to reduce my speed (hopefully) but not too much as the light wasn’t red and car feels ok at that moment. Then after the fast right next to mutkurve, which is normally a hard braking point, i braked around 50m earlier than what i do usually and my speed was also 30/40km/h slower than i usually be here (around 150 instead 190km/h) just to be safe…. Then this happens….. the car just literally locked the 4 wheels and gone straight away into the barrier, because it is not possible to turn when wheels are locked, i even had the time to release my foot from the brake pedal, but no answer from here and i just had the time to prepare myself to the impact who was quiet strong even if the tires and barrier absorbed the impact, that because it was a direct shock, airbag get out etc…
i had no injuries except neck pain for few days, hopefully because i touched the barrier at 60km/h instead of maybe 80/90km/h if my speed was same as i usually be and for sure the result would have been more serious injuries… after inspection of the car by my insurance, few technical experts + manthey racing technicians, it was concluded that the car was crashed because of a technical defect due to that the (stock) exhaust just had a little crack and the hot air who escaped from there, just completely burned the abs sensor and made the car became crazy right on the first braking point As the front chassis of the car was damaged and total repair cost more than 90keuros, my insurance just paied me the car then with no penalty for me, i precise that my car was fully insured for track day use Thanks for that ALLIANZ.
END QUOTE
It might be worth having exhausts checked when cars are taken in for servicing and maybe having some shielding between the exhaust and ABS sensor. I am not sure whether the risk is limited to 718 4 cylinder cars but I'll have a look under the GT4 when next on a ramp on its 2 year service in February.
QUOTE:
This accident would have been really bad in term of injuries for myself if the barrier AND the tires protection wasn’t strong enough, so thanks so much NURBURGRING GMBH for make this track as safe as possible My car, a 55000kms 718 gts weared that day michelin ps4 s tires because mixed condition and high amount of participants, so i did not drove so fast on that track day, even no camera were inside the car, no lap timing etc…
The car was just released by porsche center Meuspath after a complete revision and « track check » so in perfect security condition, the car was always stock in term of engine, exhaust, etc, just the suspension and brakes pads + high temp liquid from MANTHEY tequipment On the kesslechen kink section so around 1.5kms before the crash, i had a yellow light who appeared on the dashboard who says (abs problem, go to the dealer, you can drive) at this moment i started to reduce my speed (hopefully) but not too much as the light wasn’t red and car feels ok at that moment. Then after the fast right next to mutkurve, which is normally a hard braking point, i braked around 50m earlier than what i do usually and my speed was also 30/40km/h slower than i usually be here (around 150 instead 190km/h) just to be safe…. Then this happens….. the car just literally locked the 4 wheels and gone straight away into the barrier, because it is not possible to turn when wheels are locked, i even had the time to release my foot from the brake pedal, but no answer from here and i just had the time to prepare myself to the impact who was quiet strong even if the tires and barrier absorbed the impact, that because it was a direct shock, airbag get out etc…
i had no injuries except neck pain for few days, hopefully because i touched the barrier at 60km/h instead of maybe 80/90km/h if my speed was same as i usually be and for sure the result would have been more serious injuries… after inspection of the car by my insurance, few technical experts + manthey racing technicians, it was concluded that the car was crashed because of a technical defect due to that the (stock) exhaust just had a little crack and the hot air who escaped from there, just completely burned the abs sensor and made the car became crazy right on the first braking point As the front chassis of the car was damaged and total repair cost more than 90keuros, my insurance just paied me the car then with no penalty for me, i precise that my car was fully insured for track day use Thanks for that ALLIANZ.
END QUOTE
It might be worth having exhausts checked when cars are taken in for servicing and maybe having some shielding between the exhaust and ABS sensor. I am not sure whether the risk is limited to 718 4 cylinder cars but I'll have a look under the GT4 when next on a ramp on its 2 year service in February.
