BMW E30 and Audi TT Get Way Too Intimate on Nurburgring, But Who's at fault?

On an open track day, the colorful Nurburgring circuit can become more crowded than the business center of a big city during rush-hour. And the cars you see on both occasion can be very similar as well, since people have no problem bringing their B-segment hatches onto the track. And why should they?

While it's definitely old, a BMW E30 isn't exactly what you would call a B-segment hatch, having the reputation of a very maneuverable machine. A sporty Audi TT, at the same time, should feel equally at home on a circuit under these conditions.

However, the Nurburgring track appears to have been too small for the two on this occasion, resulting in a non-eventful minor crash between them.

The BMW driver is in front and going about it extremely slowly, maybe due to some technical problems or maybe because he's on a cool-down lap. The Audi TT driver, on the other hand, appears to have a clear view of what's in front of him and decides to charge the bend at full speed, as if the BMW wasn't even there.

In normal driving conditions, there would be absolutely no argument: it's the Audi driver's fault and that's that, pass the insurance papers and better luck next time. Here, though, it might be a little more complicated than that.

My guess is the Audi TT saw the slow BMW E30 in front and thought it wasn't going to keep the racing line, sticking to the exterior of the track. He then calculated the speed and trajectory according to that assumption, and when the BMW started to veer towards the inside, it was all too late. Does that relieve the Audi driver of his guilt? Not really, but it does make him look less of a tool.

On the other hand, it might just be that he spotted the BMW too late, panicked, braked hard and grabbed the inside too early, jumped on the vibrator and lost control.

Either way, since he was the one coming from behind and the E30 didn't pull any wild maneuver, it was clearly the TT's fault. What do you think?