This year marks my fourth anniversary of surviving a nasty crash while riding a 300 cc race bike on track. Using a slightly larger helmet could have cost me my life, but I was lucky enough to live and tell the story.
If this wasn't obvious to you, motorsports can be quite dangerous. Some are more so than others, and racing motorcycles is where people put their lives at risk. That doesn't mean it's all fine and dandy on four wheels; just think of Jules Bianchi. He lost his life racing in F1 in Japan, and there are many more examples to think of.
That's why safety regulations are so strict: you need an FIA-grade roll cage, seats, racing suit, helmet, gloves, boots, a fire suppression system, and so on. When racing at the limit, you must always be ready for the worst-case scenario. F1 drivers do a lot of reaction-time training because it only takes a fraction of a second for things to go wrong.
The young lad I've been coaching had a serious back injury racing motorcycles, and he's moving into drifting. As far as I can remember, it's one of the few motorsports that hasn't registered any fatalities in its relatively short history. Daigo Saito's crash with Masato Kawabata at Fuji Speedway in 2007 is still one of the scariest ones I've ever seen, and they only need minor medical attention.
Pro cars are pretty safe in the event of a crash, but there's one element that everyone fears: fire. Drivers have a fireproof suit, but it's only good for a few seconds. The fire suppression system will give you a few more seconds to spare. And if you don't want to count on the fire marshalls getting over to rescue you in time, you're on your own.
That's why safety harnesses feature a quick-release system: it takes a lot more time to strap in than to take them off. With that knowledge in mind, Formula Drift kicks off this weekend in Long Beach, California. James Deane is back in the Ford Mustang RTR drift car. During media day, he was out running with various people.
James competed in drift events across the Middle East over the past few months. On one of his runs, the opponent he was chasing caught on fire, but didn't stop pushing the car to the limit. Everyone came out unscathed, fortunately. While driving the RTR drift car with fellow drifter Kevin Darwish in the passenger seat, it all went wrong.
Right after turn one, you can see flames coming out of the hood, and it quickly becomes obvious that the situation is aggravating. Luckily, both are experienced enough to know when to get out of the car as fast as possible. The whole thing is terrifying to watch. And I imagine how bad it must have felt for the two in that situation.
By the looks of it, Deane's team is rebuilding the car in time for the main event as he starts the charge for his fourth Formula Drift Pro Series title; with Chelsea Denofa out of the way, that makes for one less driver who can prevent him from reaching that historic series performance. Watching how this season unfolds now that the usual qualifying format makes way for a tandem-only experience will certainly be interesting.
The things Dragos enjoys the most in life are, in no particular order: cars, motorcycles, diecast cars, and drifting. He's seen (and driven) many vehicles since he started his writing career back in 2009, but his garage currently houses a 1991 Mazda RX-7 FC3S Turbo II and a 1999 Suzuki SV650-S. Full profile
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