Anthony Davidson - Dick or not?
Discussion
Have to say I agree with John Hindhaugh's assessment. Waiting for a couple of corners to overtake the Corvette would have made no tangible impact on his charge & a guy who's raced GT cars, must know they can't change line at that speed once fully committed.
Contact or not, he should have given the Corvette some room.
Any contrary views?
Contact or not, he should have given the Corvette some room.
Any contrary views?
Didn't look that bad from the footage I saw. Remember the huge difference in closing speed in those high speed/high downforce corners and the corvette left a massive gap. They didn't even touch.
I'm not sure exactly why the corvette binned it, did he get surprised and make a brash input to unbalance the car or did he move out further and get on the marbles?
I'm not sure exactly why the corvette binned it, did he get surprised and make a brash input to unbalance the car or did he move out further and get on the marbles?
That wasn't the only incident. Earlier he had forced the Audi off line and then there was the contact/gravel incident for both cars involved at around 2 am. Then if you still have any doubt, you need to hear his radio Le Mans interview. To sum it up 'i'm here to win not to get third if anyone gets in my way, tuff'
obviously has no respect for any of the other drivers/teams out there, a complete cock in my mind. Taking into account all his mishaps, he may well have been red flagged if he was in a different car.
Interesting after the Corvette incident how the pace car was delayed until after the pug left the pits don't you think
obviously has no respect for any of the other drivers/teams out there, a complete cock in my mind. Taking into account all his mishaps, he may well have been red flagged if he was in a different car.
Interesting after the Corvette incident how the pace car was delayed until after the pug left the pits don't you think
andy tims said:
Any contrary views?
Not from me.There needs to be a high degree of respect among drivers in a field as large and varied (in terms of driver experience and car classes) so while *your* race might be very important to *you*, the same is true for absolutely every other driver out there on the circuit at the same time.
If you know that a GT2 car is less able to be flexible in terms of the lines they can take through corners then you respect that and the faster car should be the one to take the 'compromised' line. It's not like he suddenly came up to the Corvette from nowhere - he would have seen it well before the corner where he went down the inside and could have taken a conscious decision to back off until there was a safer place to pass.
I'm less concerned by the comments - they can be said in the heat of the moment and, while they may reflect his true feelings, they don't actually harm anyone (apart from AD...) - than by the actions, which could have had more serious consequences. A true case of 'actions speak louder than words' perhaps ?
Nick M said:
andycskis said:
From what I heard he felt like a dick and was very sorry, he went and said sorry to tom k and ulrich and seemed truely sorry.
Wasn't that Andy Priaux who went to see TK after their incident which potentially cost the No.7 Audi the win ?
AP was apparently gutted, as TK is a mate.. They interviewed TK on rlm and he said he accepted the apology and still has a lot of respect for AP, and that he should have a good lm career.Very unlike AD!!
He went up in my estimation with that spirited drive. I had got the impression that he had grown accustomed to being just a radio commentator.
If the moves had been done on some gentleman drivers, then I could understand your criticisms, but they were all pros - racing for the driver should be all about wanting to win. It is up to the team to define their parameters. In this instance Peugeot had told them to go for it.
The stints where they were fastest while doing 13 laps per tank, sort of summed up their superiority at that stage in the race. Alex Wurtz also had a sterling drive – a great pity the Peugeot cars let them and the company down so badly.
The most entertaining race, at the front, for years.
If the moves had been done on some gentleman drivers, then I could understand your criticisms, but they were all pros - racing for the driver should be all about wanting to win. It is up to the team to define their parameters. In this instance Peugeot had told them to go for it.
The stints where they were fastest while doing 13 laps per tank, sort of summed up their superiority at that stage in the race. Alex Wurtz also had a sterling drive – a great pity the Peugeot cars let them and the company down so badly.
The most entertaining race, at the front, for years.
The word from the ACO is that he was quite brusque and rude about it saying that "he should have seen me coming and got out of the way". Now the Porsche Curves are not a place for overtaking and contact or not anywhere offline=marbles=disaster. A second or so wouldn't have mattered at that stage of the race and it was downright dangerous driving in my opinion. Sports car racing is not like F1, and he should understand more of the ethos and culture of sports cars.
Nick M said:
andycskis said:
From what I heard he felt like a dick and was very sorry, he went and said sorry to tom k and ulrich and seemed truely sorry.
Wasn't that Andy Priaux who went to see TK after their incident which potentially cost the No.7 Audi the win ?Anthony D is a dick in my opinion, he should have waited 10 seconds and then could have been past
In answer to those asking how/ why the Vette crashed if there wasn't contact -
Through the Porsche Curves GT cars have to choose and stick to one line - The prototypes have more options (particulalrly the Peugeots) and Davidson took that space when Collard was fully committed - He had a straight choice - Crash into the Peugeot of try to survive a move the other way.
This is NOT like driving a road car fast - it's a whole different world - absolutely on the ragged edge for lap after lap - and the Vette was leading its class which made it WAY worse
Through the Porsche Curves GT cars have to choose and stick to one line - The prototypes have more options (particulalrly the Peugeots) and Davidson took that space when Collard was fully committed - He had a straight choice - Crash into the Peugeot of try to survive a move the other way.
This is NOT like driving a road car fast - it's a whole different world - absolutely on the ragged edge for lap after lap - and the Vette was leading its class which made it WAY worse
lowdrag said:
Now the Porsche Curves are not a place for overtaking and contact or not anywhere offline=marbles=disaster. A second or so wouldn't have mattered at that stage of the race and it was downright dangerous driving in my opinion.
We are not talking about 12 year old Karters here. Collard has driven many miles in LMP1 for Pescarolo Sport. He is old enough to know that you stay on the racing line and the car behind waits - move off it and you open the door, so he drives through.
I have not heard Collard complain, I think he knows who made the error of judgement.
head - he could have owned up to it at least it was quite clear on the TVGassing Station | Le Mans | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff