You never really know how how much race cars depend on their aerodynamics until they suddenly snap off at high speed.
Racer Will Hardeman’s No. 19 Moorespeed car got completely obliterated during Friday’s Porsche 911 GT3 Cup USA race at Circuit of The Americas when Phil Bloom’s No. 11 Wright Motorsports car suddenly lost its wing at speed and became totally uncontrollable heading into the COTA’s slow turn 12.
Commentators believe that prior contact likely knocked Bloom’s wing loose, and as airflow sped up through it on COTA’s longest, fastest straight that leads into turn 12, the load became too much and snapped the wing right off.
This especially sucks for Hardeman, who didn’t expect to have a car spinning out into his path as he turned in to make Turn 12.
This is Hardeman’s home race, and he’s one of the racers in this series with an interesting backstory. The Moorespeed team owner David Moore spotted Hardeman at a track day, saw he was talented and and encouraged him to go racing in GT3 Cup—lack of experience be damned. Hardeman’s only been racing a couple of years now, but really, truly came out of nowhere to start winning in a field known for attracting up-and-coming racers en route to going pro.
Thankfully, both drivers were OK but understandably sore after the hard hit, however, they both sat out of the second race of the weekend Saturday morning.