Bad Wreck At 24 Hour Of Daytona

[WSSix]

Ouch! Glad both are ok.

[novahollic]

I've met Memo before, what a great guy. Praying the best for him. (and Malucelli for that matter)

I was discussing this at work today, and we were trying to determine who was at "fault". It seems like a lot of people think that Malucelli (the Ferrari) had no reason to still be on tarmac.

Something that was brought up, was weather the spotter should have/could have seen this and alerted Memo to the situation. I'm curious what the chatter was like over the radio.

I understand that sometimes there is just nothing to be done as far as avoiding a wreck. What do you guys think?

[Sieg]

Malucelli "probably" should have been off track........but? At this point you can bet he wished he was.

Looked like Memo was pretty much screened by the Ferrari he was putting the move on. He cut left to get the inside line and Oh S***! In the fraction of a second before impact there was right steering input and then brake lights.

http://www.motorsport.com/tusc/news/...ng-road-ahead/

[Solid LT1]

Memo is a great guy, his Karting books are some of the best around. My thoughts and prayers go his way for a full/speedy recovery!

[Ron Sutton]

From my point of view there were three errors.

#1 For safety, Malucelli should have pulled his non-running race car off the ashphalt. But there are reasons why a driver wouldn't. One is he thinks he can get it going again and doesn't want to get crap on the tires pulling it off track. The other is to force a caution flag. But I don't think they would have thrown a full course caution. Both are risky.

#2 The officials should have thrown a local caution flag when the car slowed to almost zero & radioed to the rest of the officiating staff the situation. Flagmen & corner workers tend to assess situations, and if there is no immediate danger, give the driver time to get the car off track, so as not to interfere with the racing. That was not the case here, as cars were passing the slowed car. So the corner worker didn't act appropriately.

#3 Memo's spotter ... if he could see the slowing car ... should have said, "Stay right. Slow car on left" as they approached. But spotting is way harder than it looks or sounds. His view may have been blocked or he could have been distracted by looking at another concerning situation. The challenge is there can be more than one at a time.

IMHO, the complex realities of racing and human error plays a role much of the time, as it did here. In the end, they're both going to be ok, so it's best to learn from it & move on. I suspect the corner worker, main officials, other corner workers, Malucelli, other drivers and all spotters took something from it.

.

[GregWeld]

I note in the photos of the accident how many tubes appear to be sheared. Whether that was the result of extricating the driver --- or the crash itself is unclear... but if it was the result of the crash -- it appears the welds held and the tube fractured. But it looks so clean that it have been sawed off.

[novahollic]

Originally Posted by Ron Sutton

From my point of view there were three errors.

#1 For safety, Malucelli should have pulled his non-running race car off the ashphalt. But there are reasons why a driver wouldn't. One is he thinks he can get it going again and doesn't want to get crap on the tires pulling it off track. The other is to force a caution flag. But I don't think they would have thrown a full course caution. Both are risky.

#2 The officials should have thrown a local caution flag when the car slowed to almost zero & radioed to the rest of the officiating staff the situation. Flagmen & corner workers tend to assess situations, and if there is no immediate danger, give the driver time to get the car off track, so as not to interfere with the racing. That was not the case here, as cars were passing the slowed car. So the corner worker didn't act appropriately.

#3 Memo's spotter ... if he could see the slowing car ... should have said, "Stay right. Slow car on left" as they approached. But spotting is way harder than it looks or sounds. His view may have been blocked or he could have been distracted by looking at another concerning situation. The challenge is there can be more than one at a time.

IMHO, the complex realities of racing and human error plays a role much of the time, as it did here. In the end, they're both going to be ok, so it's best to learn from it & move on. I suspect the corner worker, main officials, other corner workers, Malucelli, other drivers and all spotters took something from it.

.

Thanks for the reply Ron. I've been out to the track several times as a crew member, but never driving. I totally understand all three points you make.

How close was Malucelli to getting to pit lane? My first thought was that maybe he was trying to get into the pits and avoid a tow.

[BMR Sales]

Originally Posted by novahollic

Thanks for the reply Ron. I've been out to the track several times as a crew member, but never driving. I totally understand all three points you make.

How close was Malucelli to getting to pit lane? My first thought was that maybe he was trying to get into the pits and avoid a tow.

Malucelli was a long way from Pit Lane, but was probably trying to get to the access road at the beginning of the 2nd Horseshoe. His motor was running, but the tranny was stuck in Neutral, which is not unusual for that Gearbox in Ferrari's.

Memo's outlook is good. The 1st Operations were for his leg and elbow. The last was for his Compression Fracture in his back. He will be at Halifax Hospital for awhile before he is able to fly back to California. No doubt his Physical Condition helped him, he is very concious about staying fit.

Memo's a great guy and it is a shame that he never got a good Indy Car ride. He got pushed out of the way bu well-funded drivers more times than anyone I can think of. I remember when he started racing, he would sleep in his VW and just about beg to get into someone racecar.

[BMR Sales]

Originally Posted by Ron Sutton

From my point of view there were three errors.

#1 For safety, Malucelli should have pulled his non-running race car off the ashphalt. But there are reasons why a driver wouldn't. One is he thinks he can get it going again and doesn't want to get crap on the tires pulling it off track. The other is to force a caution flag. But I don't think they would have thrown a full course caution. Both are risky.

#2 The officials should have thrown a local caution flag when the car slowed to almost zero & radioed to the rest of the officiating staff the situation. Flagmen & corner workers tend to assess situations, and if there is no immediate danger, give the driver time to get the car off track, so as not to interfere with the racing. That was not the case here, as cars were passing the slowed car. So the corner worker didn't act appropriately.

#3 Memo's spotter ... if he could see the slowing car ... should have said, "Stay right. Slow car on left" as they approached. But spotting is way harder than it looks or sounds. His view may have been blocked or he could have been distracted by looking at another concerning situation. The challenge is there can be more than one at a time.

IMHO, the complex realities of racing and human error plays a role much of the time, as it did here. In the end, they're both going to be ok, so it's best to learn from it & move on. I suspect the corner worker, main officials, other corner workers, Malucelli, other drivers and all spotters took something from it.

.

Ron, the other factor that was involved was the Sun! At that point in the Race, the Sun was going down and was directly in the Driver's Eyes. The Weather was crystal clear with no clouds to block the Bright Sunlight