How not to drive the Audi R8

Freak Audi R8 accident at Virginia International Speedway










[Photo Credit :Audi]

Comments

[AMR]

Could be very wrong here, but...

Once he lost control there was not much he could have had done. And even the error, given the car's great handling, would have been hard to forseen without a huge amount of experience (which now he has to have, a bit, I presume).

The turn was a bit too harsh, but given the car's compliance in all of the earlier, it is not expected if you're not a professional, and even if you are...

It could be avoided? Perhaps in a light speed reflect, once the car threaten to drift, lifting the gas a bit would have had getting it back on track. A professional driver would have had probably predicted it, not because of the feedback alone, but of experience.

My thought is that the car understeared for a milisec (too fast into the curve for foreign reasons, the momentum, lift and lower air pressure due to front dude cone of air) and then, the over-compensation instant reaction, caused making it's (right) speed (in the wrong trajectory) becoming too fast, and as fast was the impetuous counter-breaking reaction (good instincts, but lack of o lot of previous oversteers), and so it oversteared, not out of control, but out of space to control it, throtling it in the grass would have had helped little, letting it go as it did, counterbreaking, and minding the surroundings was a good reaction... not the best, but a rookie could have had closed the eyes and rolled over...

My take... Anyone would have probably done that mistake if not experienced with an R8... and was that a Viper (or eveb a fort GT)ahead? With enough torque to reap out the asphalt? The Audi could have had too much horses on the road when it should have had more torque... that's another theory.

One should be happy the driver is all well. On the plus, so is the car... and at the end of the day, the R8 is but a car, aparently, relatively safe, which is good.

Altough the video makes it hard to see (speed, G-forces, inclination and momentum), I risked a theory, and I'm not sure I wouldn't fallen in the same error, for the circumstances are indeed... weird.

Kind Regards,
AMR
http://www.alvaromrocha.com