Pikes Peak 2012

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Wed Aug 15, 2012 10:47 am

Paul Dallenbach was driving an unlimited class car with a twin turbo small block and 1400 HP and 1301 ftlb. Unfortunately on raceday he went off shortly after the start due to a stuck throttle. He went of at about 125 MP into the woods taking out about five trees in the process. Lots of spectators should also consider themselves lucky! On his website he reports he is OK other than lots of bruises and some stitches...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnolSTQgy9Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2T0c-xDdwc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpQtPhRDDs4

A heavily modified Mitsubishi Evo went off in the Devil's Playground area (there was a similar accident in same corner last year). Driver and navigator are OK other than cuts and bruises. I think the navigator had a dislocated shoulder (or arm) as they didin't have window net in place...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEUrEPPABbY

Richard

MarcusMcRae · **Posted:** Wed Aug 15, 2012 10:59 am

I always wonder what people are thinking when they decide to spectate on outside of a corner.

JamesMilko · **Posted:** Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:02 am

Here is the remains of that Evo. Looks like the cage barely held together. Lots of intrusion on the passenger. Actually am I looking at this wrong or is the main hoop ~4 feet or so behind the seats

JohnByers · **Posted:** Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:02 am

Its amazing that the two in the EVO lived. Absolutely amazing.

JamesMilko · **Posted:** Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:07 am

It's even more amazing that Pikes Peak doesn't require rally style cages vs road racing style and where are the window nets?

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:23 am

JamesMilko wrote:

It's even more amazing that Pikes Peak doesn't require rally style cages vs road racing style and where are the window nets?

I think I had read somewhere about that issue. That the Evo didn't have a rally style cage. I am not that up on cage design, so I don't know what all makes a "rally" cage different. I assume more bracing and intrusion prevention.

I agree everyone involved is lucky to be alive. I was only OK posting the videos knowing that everyone involved was OK. If you look online there are some videos shot by spectators of the Dallenbach car in which he is still in the car. I don't know how long it took to get him out of the wreckage. That car looked much worse than the Evo. He apparently was airlifted out, but walked out of the hospital on his own later after getting patched up.

The spectating on the outside of the curve is crazy as well, but frankly I doubt anyone is safe (inside/outside) when they are that close to custom 1400 HP monsters like that.

Sadly, I think the days are numbered for events like this. It just takes one 1955 Le Mans style crash to kill it off.

Richard

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:30 am

Slightly different angle to show how high up there were when they left the road. Totally insane!

JamesMilko · **Posted:** Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:33 am

The biggest differences between rally and road is that rally cages are designed to hit trees sideways (no NASCAR bars) and provide equal protection for driver and co-driver. In general they have a lot more bracing.

jeremy gast · **Posted:** Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:36 am

That evo took some very very hard hits rolling down the hill.

JohnByers · **Posted:** Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:46 am

The passenger is by far nowhere near equally protected in that cage design. Even the seat being bolted to the floor and not the cage is a big no no imho with this design. I am glad they were able to walk away, I would look at this as more of an example of how to reevaluate cage design requirements for Pikes Peak as well as other various safety bits.

The Dallenbach incident truley left me speechless. :shock:

MarcusMcRae · **Posted:** Wed Aug 15, 2012 12:24 pm

Richard Casto wrote:

Slightly different angle to show how high up there were when they left the road. Totally insane!

Can you say pucker.

Donnie Barnes · **Posted:** Wed Aug 15, 2012 9:26 pm

Driver is Jeremy Foley, a recent national autocrosser (and probably someone who shouldn't have been on that hill, by all accounts). He'll be on The Today Show and various other media outlets tomorrow, likely with in-car video. Oh, and with his codriver.

--Donnie

Matt McGrain · **Posted:** Wed Aug 15, 2012 9:44 pm

I've got to say I wasn't prepared to see that much free fall time from the snapshot photos. The hangtime after going off was so far I thought footage was in slow-mo for a second or two. Unbelievable.

Whether or not the cage was up to standards for rally or not, it worked with quite a bit of luck.

I wonder what made them go so hot into the turn? Miscommunication w/ co-driver?? Car failure?

JohnByers · **Posted:** Thu Aug 16, 2012 7:27 am

Interview on a Today show coming up following this commercial break

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