What a bad way to start a year of motorsport, guys! After a Nissan GT-R race car went airborne and crashed over the Nurburgring Nordschleife protective barriers, killing one spectator, the German motorsports federation has decided to temporarily ban a number of classes from racing on the track, including the popular GT3.
During the opening round of VLN racing, a Nissan GT-R Nismo race car driven by Jann Mardenborough got airborne at the Flugplatz corner. Besides killing a man, the car seriously injured two others.
It seems the decision to ban GT3 race cars from the Ring is justified, as not only does this track have some of the smallest runoff areas of the motorsport world, it also has huge changes in elevation. The name "Flugplatz" roughly translates into english as "flight place" and the lift created by the track was made worse by the design of the Nissan race car.
You see, the underbelly of all GT3 race cars is completely flat, as you can see in the video below. Normally, this sucks the car to the road and makes it faster around a track, but if air gets under there, it turns into a huge wing traveling at high speed.
The German motorsports federation DMSB has temporarily suspended the use of GT3 and GT4 machines on the Nordschleife. Also banned were the SP7, SP8, SP9, SP10 and SP-X classes, which puts the upcoming 24-Hour race in serious doubt at the moment.
"We are all still deeply shocked and our thoughts are with the family of the victim. The security of the participants and especially the spectators must be a top priority. Therefore, we need to analyze the details of what happened, discuss and then implement the necessary measures. Only after that vehicles with similar specs as the one in the accident can get back on the Nordschleife," said DMSB chief Christian Schacht.
The ban is temporary, but with less than two months before the biggest endurance race of 2015, new regulations have to be drafted and implemented quickly. Let's hope the flying race cars can be fixed quickly!
It seems the decision to ban GT3 race cars from the Ring is justified, as not only does this track have some of the smallest runoff areas of the motorsport world, it also has huge changes in elevation. The name "Flugplatz" roughly translates into english as "flight place" and the lift created by the track was made worse by the design of the Nissan race car.
You see, the underbelly of all GT3 race cars is completely flat, as you can see in the video below. Normally, this sucks the car to the road and makes it faster around a track, but if air gets under there, it turns into a huge wing traveling at high speed.
The German motorsports federation DMSB has temporarily suspended the use of GT3 and GT4 machines on the Nordschleife. Also banned were the SP7, SP8, SP9, SP10 and SP-X classes, which puts the upcoming 24-Hour race in serious doubt at the moment.
"We are all still deeply shocked and our thoughts are with the family of the victim. The security of the participants and especially the spectators must be a top priority. Therefore, we need to analyze the details of what happened, discuss and then implement the necessary measures. Only after that vehicles with similar specs as the one in the accident can get back on the Nordschleife," said DMSB chief Christian Schacht.
The ban is temporary, but with less than two months before the biggest endurance race of 2015, new regulations have to be drafted and implemented quickly. Let's hope the flying race cars can be fixed quickly!