crash

Crazy Leo returns to competition at Rallye Perce Neige this weekend

February 2, 2017 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

After a couple of years away from competing, Canadian rally star Leo “Crazy Leo” Urlichich is making a return to the action, beginning this weekend at the season opening Rallye Perce Neige in Maniwaki, Quebec.

Best known for his exciting driving style and off stage antics here in Canada, Urlichich underwent a maturing of sorts when he spent the 2014 season competing in the D-Mack Fiesta Trophy series, which is part of the WRC.

Following the season in Europe, the driver returned to Canada, where he invested his time in teaching others to drive. Urlichich’s Race Lab school focuses primarily on teaching the techniques needed to safely drive on mixed surfaces, such as we often find on Canadian roads in the Winter months. Of course Urlichich also offers driver coaching for rally competitors as an extension of the school.

Crazy Leo’s previous rally efforts in this country have been at the wheel of a fluorescent orange, open class Subaru, affectionately known as “The Beast”. For his 2017 entry into the Canadian Rally Championship will instead be a production class Subaru which has been dubbed “Disaster”.

Disaster, before the addition of a wrap.

Leo has already been out doing a bit of testing to ensure that Disaster is ready for the challenges of rural Quebec.

Perce Neige has a reputation for being tough on teams, and Crazy Leo has a bit of a history at the event, with his high speed crash during the 2012 event garnering massive attention across the web.

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Monte Carlo: First stage cancelled due to crash involving spectator

January 19, 2017 by Gary Grant 2 Comments

“First stage scrubbed… Must have been a big accident”

This observation from Canadian WRC competitor Ian Crerar shows just how little information filters back to the entrants during an event.

The accident in itself wasn’t too bad. On a tight mountain pass, Hayden Padden lost the back end of the Hyundai entry at the exit of a sharp left turn and smacked the rock face. The impact threw the car into the air and onto its side. When the car comes to a rest, a spectator can be seen pinned underneath the car.

Hyundai verified that it was indeed their man and that a spectator was involved, on Twitter:

SS1 UPDATE: it’s reported that a person was involved in Paddon’s accident. We are liaising with the organisers to have more news.

— Hyundai Motorsport (@HMSGOfficial) January 19, 2017

Update: The spectator has died.

As a motorsport photographer, this kind of stupidity drives me absolutely insane. Why on earth is there a human standing at the exit of a turn, with no protection and no place to escape. Every single time something like this happens, it makes my job as a shooter more difficult.

Sweet Mother of Jeebus – watch this Honda Insight crash at close to 200 MPH!

May 29, 2014 by Gary Grant 1 Comment

I don’t know how I missed this one when it was posted back in November, but this is one of the craziest motorsport crashes I have ever seen, and it involves a rather unlikely subject.

Around my area, the only people who drive Honda‘s Insight hybrid are nuclear plant employees who are still hanging on to their super high mileage, first generation hybrids. The machine you are about to see is not like those cars. The HASport Hondata Insight is a full on land speed record car, capable of speeds in the range of 200 miles per hour!
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It wouldn’t be NASCAR without a bit of carnage

May 22, 2014 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Earlier this week, I told you about our man Russ Bond’s adventure in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. While Russ made it out more or less unscathed, others were not so lucky.

In the first third of the race, the track went full course yellow when the #22 of Scott Steckly got into the tires, ending his race. I was shooting from the top of turn 4 and could see the clean up efforts taking place in 3, when suddenly the #59 of Ryan Klutt appeared with its back end caved in. When Steckly’s car came by on a flatbed, the front end was all messed up. Coincidence? I haven’t spoken to either driver, so I’m not sure.

Not long after the race went to green flag again, Ryan’s Dad Peter’s #42 lost its hood somewhere. This is not the first time I have shot photos of Peter without his hood.
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Crazy on-board footage from Renault Clio rally crash

May 8, 2014 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

I have never heard a co-driver scream during a crash like Nicolas Pire does in this one. Of course I am not being critical in any way, but I have watched a lot of rally crashes over the years and I have never heard something like this.

Fortunately, I have also never been upside down in a rally car myself, in either seat.

Pire was co-driving for Steve Poot in a Renault Clio R3 at the Rallye de Wallonie in Belgium when the back wheels were kicked up on a jump, which sent the little car flying into a series of rolls. I was involved in a conversation on Facebook recently where a road racer was complaining that the roll cage in his race car was not acceptable for a rally he was hoping to enter. Perhaps this was because a road racing cage is designed for one or maybe two impacts of a linear type, where rally cages are designed for the incredible violence that comes from a crash like this. Pire and Poot walked away from this.

If you think that little cars like a Clio aren’t really all that fast, check out this video compilation of action from the same rally. The mix of tarmac and gravel must make tire choice a nightmare.

Lucky Fiesta ST driver at The Ring somehow avoids massive crash

May 7, 2014 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Yesterday we saw a perfect example of what happens when the driver of a front wheel drive machine lifts off the throttle mid corner, panics and drills the brakes. Today, we have another public lapping participant at the Nurburgring who with a bit of patience and a lot of luck, manages not to hit anything with his precious Ford Fiesta ST after running a bit wide at the exit of a previous turn.
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Lucky GTI driver uninjured after massive crash at Nurburgring

May 6, 2014 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Unlike the Toronto area kid who chose to explore his GT-R’s upper limits on a public road yesterday, the guy you are about to see was doing it right. He took his Mk5 VW GTI to the track. That track however is the famously unforgiving Nurburgring and when he needed to be forgiven, the Green Hell was not in the mood to help out.

The YouTube poster reports that the driver was unhurt, but was taken to hospital to get checked out anyway. His Golf is pretty much finished.

Monaco valet crashes Lamborghini

May 6, 2014 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Another week, another supercar smoked by a car jockey. This time, the scene is a hotel in Monaco and the victimized machine is a Lamborghini Aventador. It would appear that after successfully backing the bull into a parking spot, the valet gave the throttle a blip, presumably to hear it snort. The only problem was that the semi-automatic seven speed was in gear. The car leaped ahead, right into a Toyota Rav4.
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Rare Ferrari F40 destroyed on Toronto test drive

April 28, 2014 by Gary Grant 19 Comments

Updated: An industry insider who wishes to remain nameless informs us that the F40 was owned by the dealer and had been sold to a customer. Incredibly, the Dart was a new car that was owned by the same dealer and was being driven by a lot attendant!

Over the years, the lads at Jalopnik have supported a campaign called Save the Enzos, which comes to life every time some hapless rich guy wads up his Million dollar supercar. Today, perhaps we can switch that up a bit to include the iconic Ferrari F40.

Earlier today, a mechanic at Ferrari of Ontario was returning from a road test in an F40. As the mechanic made a left turn, the driver of a late model Dodge Dart ran the red light, clobbering the scarlet machine. The drivers of both vehicles were unhurt, but as you can see from the images, both vehicles sustained significant damage. The difference is that the damage to the Ferrari is likely worth more than the Dart owner earns in a couple of years.
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Green flag mayhem during ADAC GT Masters at Oschersleben

April 28, 2014 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

If ever there is an opportunity for all hell to break loose during a car race, it is at the start. The limits of physics are being tested as clutches are popped and tires scrabble for traction as drivers do their best to launch harder than the next guy. Then of course there is the jockeying for position as drivers aim for holes or try to block that guy who got the jump from the row behind.

At the start of the ADAC GT Masters race at Oschersleben over the weekend, things went all sorts of crazy. The worst part of the incident was when the #11 Audi R8 of Nick Thiim hit the wall on driver’s right. The car then dug in and began a series of barrel rolls. Fortunately all of the drivers involved were ok. The same can’t be said about team’s bank accounts.

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