The Circuit of the Americas (COTA) has only been hosting races for two years now, but the road course may have suffered its scariest crash today during the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge. On the first lap of the race, Tim Bell’s Nissan 370Z suffered a major brake failure coming off the high-speed back straight, and the ensuing (and horrifying) crash was caught on camera from multiple angles.
On his Facebook page, Bell said: “Well that didn't go as planned.... [Had] a complete brake failure at the end of the back straight entering at a 154mph.... Hit the wall at 136, according to the data... Thank you for everyone's support and for the quick response of the medical crew.... Sucks that it happened but I'm blessed to walk away!”
Bell had qualified his car in the 10th position to start the race, but the car barely made it halfway around the first lap. COTA’s back straight is the longest portion of the track, and it ends at turn 12 – a sharp left hander. The video shows Bell swerving to barely miss running into a Camaro before speeding into the asphalt runoff and sand trap. The car ended up hitting the barrier in the middle of a sideways slide, but while it was indeed a scary crash, we’re glad the car, the track and the safety crew all worked flawlessly as designed to keep Bell safe.
With as much speed as Bell’s 370Z carried into the wall, it will be interesting to see if any changes to the track are made in the future. In addition to the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, which is running at COTA this weekend, the track also hosts or has hosted MotoGP, Formula 1 and Australian V8 Supercars.
Check out the video below where the crash comes in at about the 25 second mark.
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