UP MODEL 3 PIKES PEAK RACE CAR

[MXLRplus]

Glad Randy is OK. Cars are parts, and sometimes you break 'em and learn.
Looks like a solid effort by the team. Congrats to all.

 

[TwoK4drSi]

Looks like it’s not that bad of a hit. Battery looks ok in this video. I think with alot of money and overnight parts they have a chance to go at it again. I sure hope they fix it. So so close.
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[GreenMtnM3]

Wow, that is disappointing. But it was refreshing to hear Randy Pobst walk through it openly and take full responsibility for it. Even the most experienced of professionals can make mistakes, particularly when presented with a car as smooth and powerful as this one.

The real question for UP and Randy is how much suspension travel is optimal for this course. Clearly, for the line Randy steered, there wasn't nearly enough. So do they add height and travel, or do they take a slower but smoother line through that curve? I'm no racer, I'm sure that is the question that they are studying now.

Good luck to UP on trying to get the car back into driving form, it looks like a tall order to me.

 

[holmgang]

You need suspension travel for Pike's Peak. Lowering a car too much for conditions can have consequences like this. The real world has bumps.

imagine what it was like when before it was paved! i might still have photos from some events there in the past

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Wow, that is disappointing. But it was refreshing to hear Randy Pobst walk through it openly and take full responsibility for it. Even the most experienced of professionals can make mistakes, particularly when presented with a car as smooth and powerful as this one.

The real question for UP and Randy is how much suspension travel is optimal for this course. Clearly, for the line Randy steered, there wasn't nearly enough. So do they add height and travel, or do they take a slower but smoother line through that curve? I'm no racer, I'm sure that is the question that they are studying now.

Good luck to UP on trying to get the car back into driving form, it looks like a tall order to me.

It seems one issue is how these bumps change from one year to the next presumably due to subsidence. I also imagine when they recce the course before qualifying they can't do it anywhere near full speed, so what they may think is a minor bump then turns out to be a big one at race pace. The same sort of thing happens in rallying, but at least they have pace notes and a co driver to help!

It's a tough event, that's for sure.

 

[kbecks13]

Not from this year. That heave looks way less in this video.

That's from 2013 and the road was only paved in 2011, so it's gotten much worse since then. Seems like he was still braking when he hit the bump and the rear just didn't have the grip to live with it and broke loose?

 

[Dangerous Fish]

That's from 2013 and the road was only paved in 2011, so it's gotten much worse since then. Seems like he was still braking when he hit the bump and the rear just didn't have the grip to live with it and broke loose?

I've looked at the video a couple of times and it looks to me like he was coming off the brake and just using regen at the point he hit the bump. I've said it in another thread - my experience with regen set high in track mode is that it can unsettle the rear of the car when entering a corner and I do wonder if that could have been a factor here, although the bump was obviously the main reason for loss of grip.

 

[Mash]

Unfortunately it was a mistake to go that fast on a first try. Happens. Sad.

I don't think that travel was an issue. Combination of fast (soft) compression and slow (hard) rebound with hard springs, comparatively. Regenerative braking that works when you don't want it. But the main thing is driver error and Randy said it - no good excuses. It's great that didn't happen at cliff side turn, but once in a while everybody mistakes.

 

[TwoK4drSi]

Unfortunately it was a mistake to go that fast on a first try. Happens. Sad.

I don't think that travel was an issue. Combination of fast (soft) compression and slow (hard) rebound with hard springs, comparatively. Regenerative braking that works when you don't want it. But the main thing is driver error and Randy said it - no good excuses. It's great that didn't happen at cliff side turn, but once in a while everybody mistakes.

I’d disagree. Travel did play a part of crash. See the video below and skip to 1:04. This is from another model 3 front camera going slow on the same turn 2 years ago. Add about another 60mph Going into that turn and yeah...the car will catch air. Driver error / speed was a big factor but not all of it.

 

[brkaus]

No way I’d have the nerve for that race. Driver or spectator.

 

[Luudcrs]

Unfortunately it was a mistake to go that fast on a first try. Happens. Sad.

I'm pretty sure that was his 3rd run.

 

[kbecks13]

I’d disagree. Travel did play a part of crash. See the video below and skip to 1:04. This is from another model 3 front camera going slow on the same turn 2 years ago. Add about another 60mph Going into that turn and yeah...the car will catch air. Driver error / speed was a big factor but not all of it.

The bump has absolutely gotten worse since then, every winter it gets worse from the freeze/thaw cycles which cause the ground to heave. Also that guy is going pretty slow and isn't anywhere close to the limit of grip.

When you're using over 90% of the available grip (dictated by cornering speed and acceleration) and have a perturbation which suddenly reduces available grip, tires will break loose. They didn't stay loose for too long (you see them hook up pretty quick actually) but it was enough to be off-line and made a super tough recovery. That's why people typically back off from the limit of grip when you go over a bump like that and as others have said it looks like Randy just didn't realize it would be that significant.

I'm pretty sure that was his 3rd run.

Nope first run on the upper section of the course and also first thing in the morning when it's all cold (keep in mind altitude) from the night before.

 

[Luudcrs]

Nope first run on the upper section of the course and also first thing in the morning when it's all cold (keep in mind altitude) from the night before.

My bad, thanks for correcting. I'm not familiar with Pike's, but just read about the 2 runs he made day prior to crash.

 

[holmgang]

No way I’d have the nerve for that race. Driver or spectator.

i remember having watched all the WRC crash videos, that trees serve as extremely good crash barriers

on the lower parts of PP there are trees to shield behind (or maybe even on), but of course the view is not as iconic

 

[TwoK4drSi]

This isn’t over. Looks like UP is overnighting parts and dropping bags of money to make this happen for Sunday. Good luck....I think we all are hoping you can make this happen.

 

[MagnusMako]

My bad, thanks for correcting. I'm not familiar with Pike's, but just read about the 2 runs he made day prior to crash.

Randy mentions that it was his very first run on the notoriously bumpy top section aka the "summit route" at 1:37 in this vid he posted yesterday...

 

[Onshore]

imagine what it was like when before it was paved! i might still have photos from some events there in the past

Probably the best piece of motor racing footage ever:
Climb Dance - 1988 Pikes Peak Hill Climb, Ari Vatanen

 

[kbecks13]

Looks like Unplugged bought a new car from Tesla a few hours ago

They have a shop space to work in and already have the old unit out of the damaged car

 

[ElectricIAC]

Looks like it’s not that bad of a hit. Battery looks ok in this video. I think with alot of money and overnight parts they have a chance to go at it again. I sure hope they fix it. So so close.
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[Mach3]

Everything about this is awesome... including this epic picture!
Don't forget button B for spiked tires for super traction over all surfaces!