During my teenage years, like most of you out there, I dreamt of walking in Senna’s shoes or being at least as good behind the wheel as Mäkinen. Years passed and I got my driver’s license but the harsh reality told me that some dreams might never come true. That doesn’t mean I didn’t try.
9 accidents in my first year behind the wheel tell the story of a dreamer that simply wanted too much out of his poor car. As the years passed, I realized (mostly thanks to my father that was simply exasperated by the damage I inflicted on his cars) that I might actually never become a racer.
Some people follow their dreams though and even buy themselves a beater and sign it up for a variety of races. Around the US you can pretty much race in any event if you’re willing to put some elbow grease and money into your passion. However, you should know that sometimes it’s more dangerous than it may seem at first.
Take the accident at hand here, for example. It’s a simple case of an unbelievable coincidence that led to a serious crash.
As you can notice, the driver of the orange Miata starts to lose control of his rear end somewhere near the apex as he tries to keep his rival in the blue Miata at bay. As he loses grip, the car’s nose starts to go right. In a normal situation, he would’ve just gone off track, crashing into a side wall, without too many complications. By the looks of things, if it wasn’t for the car behind him, he might’ve even managed to recover and continue the race.
However, this is not a normal situation, as the guy behind, tries to take the inner line and get past him, only to find himself somehow pushed into the vibrator and then thrown the other way around, violently.
The result is a terrible crash that involves no less than 7 rolls and left the driver with multiple fractures in his arm, whiplash, a bruised lung, and a week in the hospital's worth of other injuries, according to the original poster on Youtube.
As they point out, this is a perfect example as to why roll cages are mandatory and how dangerous it could be to enter such races, especially if you’re not prepared properly for them. Thankfully, Mark Leach, the driver of the number 16 Miata, lived to see another day but imagine what would’ve happened if this wasn’t organized professionally and he didn’t have a roll cage installed. Remember that when you’re racing down the street!
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