Adrian Newey unhurt after big crash at Le Mans Classic
Discussion
Not sure about the GT40 though.
Adrian Newey emerged unscathed from a sizeable crash at Le Mans over the weekend, while taking part in the Le Mans Classic event in a Ford GT40 which he owns. The Red Bull Racing chief technical officer reportedly went off at the second chicane but walked away unhurt from what was, by all accounts, a large accident.
GP.com said:
Adrian Newey emerged unscathed from a sizeable crash at Le Mans over the weekend, while taking part in the Le Mans Classic event in a Ford GT40 which he owns. The Red Bull Racing chief technical officer reportedly went off at the second chicane but walked away unhurt from what was, by all accounts, a large accident.
Glad to hear Adrian Newey is OK - we were at the end of the Mulsanne and saw the car exit the track on a low loader. Heavy front end damage, front clamshell missing, screen broken, door hanging off. The rear looked fine, so as long as the driver is ok, most other things can be repaired.
An excellent weekend, no crowds and fantastic racing.
Cheers,
Dave.
An excellent weekend, no crowds and fantastic racing.
Cheers,
Dave.
Bloody hell, I'm glad he's ok.
Must say though, we were looking forward to a good MGB v TVR v 911 v TR4 v Morgan v godknowswhatelse race, and it was spoiled by some rich herbert who still hasn't learnt that you can't win owt if you throw it at the scenery. Half the race had to be run under the safety car.
Great event though. A bi-annual must for us from now on.
Must say though, we were looking forward to a good MGB v TVR v 911 v TR4 v Morgan v godknowswhatelse race, and it was spoiled by some rich herbert who still hasn't learnt that you can't win owt if you throw it at the scenery. Half the race had to be run under the safety car.
Great event though. A bi-annual must for us from now on.
Why was it a great event? Le Mans (the Town) was total chaos due to the installation of tram system, access to the track was pathetic (follow the Rouge indicators which I did only to find there were two Rouge entrances about 3 kilometers apart, parking for my Jaguar E-Type which I had specially booked (& paid for) was unavailable, the car after two days was filthy due to the dust clouds flying around the track, 90% of announcements were in French despite approx 30% of spectators being English, the food on-site was typical Motorway fare (expensive & nasty), the racing was on nothing like a par with Goodwood & the stands pre-historic. The only good thing was that, if you paid, you could access the Paddocks. There was no flair, no imagination & no me next time around. I thought it stank!
heebeegeetee said:
... it was spoiled by some rich herbert who still hasn't learnt that you can't win owt if you throw it at the scenery. Half the race had to be run under the safety car.
Err, I think that's more than a little unreasonable since Mr. Newey has quite an extensive record of success with what was quite a nice example of a GT40.
Looks like an expensive experience though. But then you don't go racing in that sort of car without running the risk of trashing your investment and there seem to be plenty of people around who are willing to put the cars on the track - often with others driving for them.
I have to admire such commitment.
knightly said:
although it looks like a complete write off - I'm quite sure it will be back on the track within a year or so - they can restore anything nowdays.....its just too valuable to not restore......glad he got out OK
Yeah cars like that never get written off, they always get put back together eventually...
Classic plane restoration is a fine example of what can be done with an engine and a load of crumpled metal......they are now restoring WW2 fighter planes that have been crash landed in US lakes and the pacific sea, not to mention the one they pulled out of a glacier.....yup you guessed it, not much original tin-work remains......I have heard of a GT40 that got badly shunted in the states a few years back - its racing again - better than new........its just an ali monocoque surrounded by fibreglass at the end of the day, if it has historic race paperwork and a race history - which most have - its worth a fortune.
none of the restoration really matters given the FIA and the farcial new regulations regarding amongst others Appendix K cars.... just found a regular 1960s mini, bung some cooper bits on it, paint it the requisite red and white roof, get it registered with the FIA and you have your own "genuine" cooper...
Bloody hell! That's as bad as Barazzi's 250LM a few years back. This is the ex=Essex wire car isnt it? I hope its a been smashed several times before. I guess it will have been.
I remember him going off endlessly at Goodwood Revival in 2004 and a Donny this year.
He was supposed to be at Silverstone this weekend - Newey's been getting quite competitive in it.
With regards the FIA rules, surely those rules are intended to prevent stuff like this happening - racing and wrecking priceless orignials? Although from what I read, the standard FIA 'passport' for non-original copies won't get you into things like Classic LM, wheras a Heritage Certificate for 'real cars' will. Newey's car would have had a Heritage Cert, so I guess the new rules dont prevent this kind of thing happening!!?
I remember him going off endlessly at Goodwood Revival in 2004 and a Donny this year.
He was supposed to be at Silverstone this weekend - Newey's been getting quite competitive in it.
With regards the FIA rules, surely those rules are intended to prevent stuff like this happening - racing and wrecking priceless orignials? Although from what I read, the standard FIA 'passport' for non-original copies won't get you into things like Classic LM, wheras a Heritage Certificate for 'real cars' will. Newey's car would have had a Heritage Cert, so I guess the new rules dont prevent this kind of thing happening!!?
skentellytubby said:
Bloody hell! That's as bad as Barazzi's 250LM a few years back. This is the ex=Essex wire car isnt it? I hope its a been smashed several times before. I guess it will have been.
I remember him going off endlessly at Goodwood Revival in 2004 and a Donny this year.
He was supposed to be at Silverstone this weekend - Newey's been getting quite competitive in it.
With regards the FIA rules, surely those rules are intended to prevent stuff like this happening - racing and wrecking priceless orignials? Although from what I read, the standard FIA 'passport' for non-original copies won't get you into things like Classic LM, wheras a Heritage Certificate for 'real cars' will. Newey's car would have had a Heritage Cert, so I guess the new rules dont prevent this kind of thing happening!!?
I remember him going off endlessly at Goodwood Revival in 2004 and a Donny this year.
He was supposed to be at Silverstone this weekend - Newey's been getting quite competitive in it.
With regards the FIA rules, surely those rules are intended to prevent stuff like this happening - racing and wrecking priceless orignials? Although from what I read, the standard FIA 'passport' for non-original copies won't get you into things like Classic LM, wheras a Heritage Certificate for 'real cars' will. Newey's car would have had a Heritage Cert, so I guess the new rules dont prevent this kind of thing happening!!?
my argument is though, that if the owner wants to race it, why should he not be allowed. max mosely wants this sort of thing outlawed and historic cars to be kept in museums and not to be raced. it just annoys me because i dont really like car museums and believe that cars of this nature were built to race, if someone has the money and the inclination then so be it. if a few are crashed and damaged then i am sure there will be someone else willing to pay for the rebuild. i would hate to get to a stage where cars are traded around an d the only thing that is original is the chassis plate pretending that the car is something it is not.
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