@MOPAR-MAN: Looks like a regular afterburner there. I particularly appreciate how some of his air sensors have been bypassed. And I'm sure that's fireproof masking tape.
I had a good look at this MGB post crash. The failed welds and torn body sheet metal where this bolt-in roll cage was installed got me very, very concerned. This driver was very lucky to have come out of this roll end-over crash without serious injury..
While LeMons cars might be "cheap race heaps" there is no excuse to be "cheap" on safety. Every bit of safety equipment on all LeMons race cars must be held to the highest possible standard of safety..
Every LeMons race team and driver must ask what are their drivers life worth... Was it worth saving those few bucks to install anything less than the best in safety for your LeMons racer if an airborne moment similar to what happened to this MGB killed the driver and cause injury to your fellow LeMons racers worth pinching pennies?
LeMons racing is serious business, take every aspect of safety very, very seriously...
@Rupunzell: It's important to remember that, even if one of the welds did break and the mounting plate tried to go through the floor, the cage did its job. It wasn't pretty, and perhaps a welded-in (rather than bolted-in) cage would have fared a little better, but the cage protected the driver. This car took more punishment than any $500 piece of British tin should ever have to, and the driver walked away.
With a few notable (and annoying) exceptions, people at LeMons DO take safety seriously. That's why safety items aren't included in the $500 limit.
@KillerBRacer: Looks like the mounting plate on the wheel arch was undersized and couldn't spread the load out far enough. It wasn't a failure of the cage, but of the underlying sheet metal.
Everything can always be stronger, but there are practical limits. I'd say the cage performed very well.
But it points up an issue for folks using clapped out econocars - the underlying structure, and all it's finite element pieces, only have so much gumption, before they get stressed from twenty years of hard use and have largely rusted away.
$$$$$ spent or "experienced cage welder" does not mean a safe cage. IMO, any bolt in cage is questionable.
Bolt in means loading what is basically 0.035" thick sheet metal with several thousands pound of force in a small area. It will fail... the real questions is how bad will the failure be.
You may resent what I say about the roll cage in that MGB, my point is do what ever it takes to make DAM SURE that roll cage is will not fail. You're lucky to have survived that triple flip without serious unjury, but what if the MGB flipped over more than that and the car ended up on track upside down and nailed by more than one other LeMons race car directly on the cage with torn sheet metal anchor plates and broken welds?
Possible yes, and the results could have been less pretty.
Good thing they give prizes for the best pirouette. That was impressive. As was the survivability of the cage, the car and the driver. I'm glad everything worked like it should.
Next time you might want to tune your aero package a little more.
@Armand: Oops. [www.flickr.com]
and [www.flickr.com]
I have a feeling last weekend's rollovers will quiet down the people who have been whining about the roll cage regulations on the LeMons forum.
@Armand: I was patiently waiting for someone to make a Flight of the Bumblebee joke, but I see that you've got it covered with your picture captions. Well played.
As for the pictures themselves: Yikes. Damned lucky that the car didn't take just one more tumble after the cage was compromised. I don't reckon that landing on the roof with an already cracked roll cage would have ended as well.
I had a front-row seat to the rollover. I was passing the Corvair with our Peugeot coming out of 6 when the BMW blasted by on the inside and hooked it, either because of some dirt on the inside of the corner or because he got caught by the 3-series jacking problem and put his CG over his center of roll. It was a beautiful roll-over, the car did at least a one-and-a-half twist on the passenger side headlight before falling on the roof. I was worried about the driver because he stayed in the car until it was righted but he was fine and decided that he didn't want to undo the belts while upside-down. We caught some of it on video hopefully but the file with that part has a problem and we've yet to recover it. If we do I'll post it here right away.
Wait, that engine didn't get any penalties?! Pro-tip, all E30s had a metal intake manifold. The big plastic manifold should have been a clue that something was not kosher.
@LTDScott: The team had completely obsessive documentation for that engine, which they bought from some dude on Craigslist for a ridiculously cheap price. Plus they got Judge Ed, one of the original LeMons judges, and he's a little nicer than me and Judge Jonny.
The traveling cracks look cool, but I thought they banned demolition derbies at these races. Looks like a self preformed pi manuver similar to Killer Bee's. I thought the engine was going to get damaged from that. Nice that everything turned out ok and those Volvos sure are tough.
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BaconSandwich and the generic grey civic of doom was starred
BaconSandwich and the generic grey civic of doom was unstarred
@87CapriceEstate: LeMons races have very little contact these days, especially compared to the old Altamont era. I'm not going to speculate on who might have been at fault in this particular wreck, since I know both teams well and they're all excellent drivers.
@bacon117: Judging from the tower off to the left, the MG got it a bit earlier, but yeah it appears to be right in the same general vicinity. Same general area that the Triumph spun out in & got a subsequent love-tap from this same V8olvo, too.
11/29/09
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11/29/09
While LeMons cars might be "cheap race heaps" there is no excuse to be "cheap" on safety. Every bit of safety equipment on all LeMons race cars must be held to the highest possible standard of safety..
Every LeMons race team and driver must ask what are their drivers life worth... Was it worth saving those few bucks to install anything less than the best in safety for your LeMons racer if an airborne moment similar to what happened to this MGB killed the driver and cause injury to your fellow LeMons racers worth pinching pennies?
LeMons racing is serious business, take every aspect of safety very, very seriously...
11/29/09
A) Autopower roll cage. B) Experienced cage welder. C) Nothing cheap about it.
I was cheap on the car, but spent a boatload on the best safety gear and resent your assumptions.
The failures concern me too. It DID however survive THREE flips. I will take what was learned and improve the next cage.
11/29/09
With a few notable (and annoying) exceptions, people at LeMons DO take safety seriously. That's why safety items aren't included in the $500 limit.
11/29/09
Everything can always be stronger, but there are practical limits. I'd say the cage performed very well.
But it points up an issue for folks using clapped out econocars - the underlying structure, and all it's finite element pieces, only have so much gumption, before they get stressed from twenty years of hard use and have largely rusted away.
11/30/09
$$$$$ spent or "experienced cage welder" does not mean a safe cage. IMO, any bolt in cage is questionable.
Bolt in means loading what is basically 0.035" thick sheet metal with several thousands pound of force in a small area. It will fail... the real questions is how bad will the failure be.
You may resent what I say about the roll cage in that MGB, my point is do what ever it takes to make DAM SURE that roll cage is will not fail. You're lucky to have survived that triple flip without serious unjury, but what if the MGB flipped over more than that and the car ended up on track upside down and nailed by more than one other LeMons race car directly on the cage with torn sheet metal anchor plates and broken welds?
Possible yes, and the results could have been less pretty.
Again, what is your life worth?
11/28/09
Next time you might want to tune your aero package a little more.
11/28/09
11/28/09
[www.flickr.com]
and
[www.flickr.com]
I have a feeling last weekend's rollovers will quiet down the people who have been whining about the roll cage regulations on the LeMons forum.
11/28/09
11/28/09
As for the pictures themselves: Yikes. Damned lucky that the car didn't take just one more tumble after the cage was compromised. I don't reckon that landing on the roof with an already cracked roll cage would have ended as well.
Glad everyone is alright.
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That threw me so far off track, the rest didn't really make sense...
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