I have no idea why this happened. Bad pace notes, a navigator who was distracted by a bit of tail-out recovery. But no matter what started this incident at a Finnish road rally, the end is truly spectacular, and frightening.
Best guess is this: Pace notes were wrong. The driver is accelerating hard towards a mis-noted corner. He realizes that the turn is way too fast for the car and does what, in road racing, is generally the smart thing — full threshold (or a little more, by the look of it) braking and a straight steering wheel. Unfortunately the momentum in the car tosses it up the Jersey barrier into the air, where it happens to land in a not-so-convenient stream.
All the information I can find indicates that there were no serious injuries as a result of the crash. Still, it’s worth noting that this is one less air-cooled 911 on the market. You can’t pay too much for them; you can only buy them too soon. A special mention goes to the guy who observes the accident then goes back to looking at his phone… I didn’t realize they let the corner workers at NJMP take European vacations!*
* Just kidding! Don’t fail to drag me out of a burning 911 because you’re angry I wrote this**
** or because you’re on your phone***
*** Just kidding again!
“a Finnish road rally”
Those pacenotes must have been really off, this was in The United Kingdom of The Netherlandsland.
Thanks for the correction… I misread a description.
I think this was the bi weekly Florida “7/11 Unintended Acceleration”rally.
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amazing video. I love the concert barrier being hit so hard that it actually flexes, and bends as if it was made from something more like wood.
Locking up the front brakes did not help.
Shouldn’t that be “buy them too late”? Or are you suggesting the inevitable result of buying one is wrecking it ass-first so best to buy it earlier?
What I mean is this:
If you paid $40,000 for a 993 C2 in 2005, you didn’t pay too much, you just bought it too soon, because they are worth more than that now. The idea being that you paid the current price in the past.
What can I say, I’ve heard it authoritatively said by authoritative-sounding people!
the car is being fixed
porsches in much worse condition have been fixed to race trim
Seriously? It’s hard to imagine after a crash like that the thing couild be fixed well enough to drive like a Porsche. How do they manage that–if they do–and how much does it cost?
Everything’s fixable that’s not totally FUBAR’d or charred. There’s alignment tables and jigs to get everything back to original.
But if you watch the slo-mo, it basically climbed the 1st barrier and rode it like it’s supposed to. Minimal damage at that point. Then the 2nd barriers snagged the front suspension, ripping the wheel off and the back wheel broke apart. It was mostly a fender-bender and the cab looked perfect before it hit the water. So then there’s water damage plus a pushed in roof.
And the cost of the custom roll cage and other mods would be lost.
Ah, that makes sense. They never lose value. I can believe that. I guess I assumed their price only goes up over time but given inflation, maybe that isn’t true.
Here’s the good news — the moment that C2 met it’s oversteering maker, every other air-cooled 911 rose in price 0.05%!
Don’t try this at home.
Take away:
Darwin still visits white people.
A little heavy, don’t you think?
Not cool… out of line and uncalled for…
I’m trying to imagine what it is you guys object to.
Has invoking Darwin gotten too cliched?
I laughed, therefore I am sure that I should be burned at the stake
Gave me a little teehee.
Let me help you understand. There is a racial implication in your comment. The implication is that there is no surprises when black people do Darwin award winning acts of life threatening stupidity. This is a textbook racist comment and therefore deeply offensive.
As I said, there was no call for it…
Hope that helps.
Are you sure the wheel was straight, Jack? If you look just before the barrier obstructs the view of the tires, it seems like the driver was trying to turn after it was already WAY too late and the fronts had locked.
The last time I continued accelerating toward a barrier, the exact same thing happened.
Golf isn’t the only sport with water hazards.
You forgot to answer the most important question, were the driver and the co-driver okay?
Jack states in the article that from all indications, there were no serious injuries.
Best Short Comedy of 2013
There’s slapstick in the Leatherlands.
Things happen fast when you are driving fast.
Don’t text and drive. No seriously though, how can you blame this on the navigator? The driver sets himself up for a right hand turn so he knows its coming and its not like he couldn’t see the barrier. The position of the barrier would tell you that it is a sharp turn.
My thoughts exactly. It’s not like he hasn’t driven the course before (to set up the pace notes in the first place), and the turn/hazard is completely visible.
Maybe they can blame it on unintended acceleration?
I thought that as well. Clearly you’re gonna need to slow WAAAAY down, assuming your eyes are open.
“Pace notes were wrong” Awww, c’mon Jack.
Many owners of these cars think they can buy into skill level, or good driving habits. Heck: He’s past the curb of the turn when he brakes!
I beat a similar doofus in a 911 turbo on an 80 second autocross course, in a 100HP GLI.
The curb he was past before braking is a driveway into the parking lot along the road he was supposed to turn on.
Obviously the guy has not practiced on his PS3 or he would have used his handbrake to make the corner. In games you can always make the corner if you pitch it sideways with the handbrake, especially in a rally.
I wonder if the color of the barrier(s) at that time of day blended in with the shade of the pavement, so it was an optical illusion where the driver simply thought he had a clear straightaway (despite what his navigator was, hopefully, telling him). He sure didn’t start braking until he was right on top of it.
I think this is probably what happened. The ‘look one corner ahead’ instinct should have been on coming out of the last corner, so I assumes that the barrier would have registered immediately under normal circumstances.
He thought he was looking at much faster turn, but any obstacle you hit, it’s better to hit head on. If you try to negotiate it, you may end up hitting something solid with your door or rolling it. I would’ve done the same at that point. I have done the same, actually. I thought it was a soft 60 MPH turn and was way off. I locked up all 4 and braced for the crash. I was luckier than this guy, and had it back on the road in the next few days.
I don’t know what those barriers are made of, but watching the slo-mo revealed that they were hollow as well as flexible. One wonders if the car would have become airborne, had they been solid.
I think anything more ‘solid’ than what was already there could have been fatal. As bad as it looks, the barrier absorbed the energy of the car, but had the car stopped right there I think the risk of head and neck injuries would have been greater.
Porsche is amazing, from air cooled to water cooled in an instant
I bow down to you, sir.
What was that ancient newspaper cartoon where the old fat guy in a turban would say “Fap!” whenever he was bested?
Fap!
Whoever thought it was a good idea to NOT secure those Jersey barriers to the ground should have the word “former” added to whatever self-important title they carried prior to this event.
Might have saved their lives.
I agree.
What? The barriers falling over and allowing the car to end up in a canal? No, luck played a much bigger role in their survival than it should have.
“Who’s the U-boat commander?”
— Risky Business
Now, let’s not jump in at the same time to save a man or men from a car submerged in water.
Awaiting more funny/snarky comments….
Carry on Gentlemen .
-Nate
Perhaps the driver was an old motocrosser and was simply planning to use the concrete area as a berm? When he noticed the transition was a little sharp he locked the brakes.
The answer to why no one jumped in to save the driver/navigator? Everyone knows these little VW’s are watertight and will float.
Do not try this in a Corvette.
“I don’t know how the judges will score that one, Greg. I think he was just a little past vertical when he hit the water but, you’re the expert, how would you score it?”
X-Gaming skateboarder behind the wheel. “Yo, check this noseslide into a kickflip, dude!”
Crowd goes nuts!