Sports Rubbish » Auto Racing

Motorcycles crash, do a sexy circle dance (video)

Jonathan Sacks — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 04:03:41 +0000

Put the kids to bed because you’re about to see the rare mating ritual of the motorcycle.

Not many people are privy to such an erotic display, but after two riders crashed during the Promosport Championship at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in France, viewers were lucky enough to catch this glimpse of hot bike-on-bike action.

The riders were not so lucky, especially the guy who had zero ability to anticipate where his motorcycle was going to go next, despite it drifting in a consistent circle.

This Has To Be Among The Funniest Things That Could Happen After Two Motorcycle Racers Crash [Deadspin]

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Mike Rockenfeller crashes at 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours (Video)

Jonathan Sacks — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 21:25:20 +0000

What a day for Audi. Two of their cars have been involved in horrific crashes at the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Earlier today, Allan McNish & several spectators escaped injury after his car launched through a gravel pit into a fence.

Then, as darkness fell around the track, driver Mike Rockenfeller was bumped by a slower Ferrari and turned nose-first into a fence. After a tense few minutes, it was revealed that Rockenfeller left the car on his own, and appears to have escaped serious injury. He has been taken to a local hospital for further evaluation, but reports have been very optimistic thus far.

In both accidents, the cars broke apart to disperse the energy, just like they are supposed to. It makes for shocking video, but it’s a testament to Audi engineering that they were able to keep both drivers safe despite some sketchy-looking barriers at Le Mans.

Time to go run out and buy an Audi. Or more accurately, have someone buy me an Audi. Anyone feeling generous today?

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Allan McNish’s amazing crash at the 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours (Video)

Jonathan Sacks — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 17:09:06 +0000

Allan McNish’s 2011 Le Mans 24 Hour effort ended up turning into a Le Mans 1 Hour effort, after he clipped another car during an aggressive overtaking attempt.

The Audi then skidded through the gravel pit into a barrier, disintegrating upon impact. McNish walked away from the wreck unharmed, as did one guy who had a tire chasing him. Somehow, none of the photographers or officials standing at the barrier were injured, though if they didn’t crap their pants, they are stronger men than I would have been.

First amazing Audi R18 Le Mans post-crash photos [Jalopnik]

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Travis Pastrana backflips over a helicopter in Sydney: Video

Jonathan Sacks — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:44:21 +0000

Travis Pastrana has done a lot of cool motorcycle jumps in his day, but until now, he hadn’t jumped over a helicopter. The jump was a promotion for Nitro Circus, which will take place all over Australia in the coming weeks.

Sure, that’s not the biggest jump in the world to make, but it’s still pretty dangerous. If there had been a bit of unanticipated turbulence, we’re watching Travis Pastrami.

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Jesse McCartney Forgets The Words To The National Anthem At NASCAR Race: Video

Jonathan Sacks — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:51:47 +0000

Does Jesse McCartney hate America? Why else would he leave out part of the National Anthem (and at a NASCAR race no less, America’s greatest bastion of fervored patriotism)?

The singer performed the Star Spangled Banner prior to yesterday’s Pepsi 500 NASCAR race in California, but gave the fans an edited version of the anthem.

The line, “What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?” was dropped by McCartney, who then continued without any other mistakes as confused drivers and fans looked on.

McCartney took to Twitter after screwing up the Anthem, but did not apologize, saying, “Here At the Nascar race !So much fun! Can’t believe I forgot the words to the Anthem! I’ve performed it 100 times. Bad Nerves today I guess.”

Perhaps he should try some nerve tonic before his next performance.

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Australian Race Fans Limited To Just One Case Of Beer Per Person Per Day

Jonathan Sacks — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:03:04 +0000

Fans heading to Australia’s Bathurst 1000 motor-racing festival are facing a strict regulation this year. They are being limited to just 24 cans of beer per person per day or 4 liters of wine.

Wait… 24 cans? Per day? Per person?

I know they drink a lot in Australia, but somehow it doesn’t seem like limiting people to a case of beer per day is going to put much of a damper on anyone’s drunkenness, aside from Miguel Cabrera.

Known in recent years as a major party, the 1000-km race draws fans from all over the country and is held as part of a 3 day event. It is the Australian equivalent of the Indianapolis 500 or Daytona 500, except apparently with even more drinking.

Alan Clarke, the assistant police commissioner said: “Police respect people’s rights to enjoy the race weekend, but will promptly act when the law is broken.

“Every year thousands of race fans attend and enjoy the event and police will not allow their safety to be compromised by a drunken few.

“As such we will once again be focusing on alcohol-related behaviour.”

Good luck with that, buddy.

Australian race fans limited to ‘only’ 24 cans of lager [Telegraph]

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Rally Car Hits Horses: Video

Jonathan Sacks — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:14:11 +0000

Here’s why horse racing and auto racing events are not held at the same time.

A rally event in Argentina saw driver Federico Villagra plow right into a few horses that picked a terrible time to run across the track. One horse was flung into the air and had to be put down, though the car and gravity had already done a pretty good job of that.

I thought the guy in the passenger seat was supposed to warn the driver about these things? I mean, “horses running around on the track” was clearly marked on the map.

Man Asserts Dominion Over Nature, Hits Horse With Rally Car [Deadspin]

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Formula 2 Driver Henry Surtees Killed In Freak Crash At Brands Hatch: Video

Jonathan Sacks — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 07:23:20 +0000

Formula 2 driver Henry Surtees was killed on Sunday in a crash at Brands Hatch in England. While there have been many incidents where drivers have been killed during a race, this one is particularly shocking.

The car driven by Jack Clarke lost control in a turn and hit a wall. A tire came loose from his car and bounced across the track. In a freak bit of horrific timing, the tire hit Henry Surtees in the head. He was immediately knocked unconscious and drove straight through the next turn with his foot still on the accelerator. He was taken to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

Henry Surtees was the son of 1964 Formula One World Champion John Surtees. Just 18 years old, he was just beginning his move up through the racing ranks, reaching the podium for the first time in Formula 2 on Saturday. Perhaps F1 could have been in his future. Sadly, we will never know.

The video below shows the broadcast footage of the crash. Obviously, since we are dealing with a deadly accident, viewer discretion is advised.

Although some might argue that the wheel tethers were insufficient in this crash (the video shows tires coming off of each car when they hit the fence – so either the tethers on both cars failed or they were not being used on these cars, this is still being debated), the reality is that no car will ever be perfectly safe, no matter what safety measures are implemented. This was just a freak accident that is part of the danger of open-wheel, open-cockpit racing. A split-second difference either way and that tire misses Surtees completely. It is a sobering to all of us that a life can be taken so quickly with no warning.

RIP, Henry Surtees.

Tragedy for ex-Formula One champion Surtees as son, 18, killed at Brands Hatch [Daily Mail]

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Bernie Ecclestone Really Needs To Stop Talking

Jonathan Sacks — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:16:00 +0000

Bernie Ecclestone started a controversy over the weekend by making some ill-advised comments about Adolf Hitler and his ability to “get things done.”

Ecclestone apologized for his statements, but that hasn’t stopped him from opening his mouth again and inserting his foot even deeper.

After being told that the World Jewish Congress had called for his resignation, Ecclestone responded by blaming the financial crisis on Jews.

“It’s a pity they didn’t sort the banks out,” he said. ‘ He was then asked to elaborate and added, “They have a lot of influence everywhere.”

More and more voices are expressing their outrage and are calling for a boycott of Formula One. “No team should work with him any more – a boycott would be more than appropriate,” said a spokesman for Germany’s Central Council of Jews.

Between the remarks about Hitler and the implication that Jews run the banks, it’s hard to not see a pattern here. Throw in Max Mosley and F1 really needs to take a hard look at the people who are in charge and the image they are portraying.

A boycott might get Bernie Ecclestone & Co. to realize they need to stop making such insensitive anti-Semitic statements, but will it ever change their views? Quite likely it won’t, and that’s just sad.

Just days after praising Hitler, now Bernie Ecclestone ‘blames Jews for banking crisis’ [Daily Mail]

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Kyle Busch Crashes As Tony Stewart Wins The Coke Zero 400: Video

Jonathan Sacks — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:06:46 +0000

The finish of tonight’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona was filled with fireworks.

Kyle Busch passed Tony Stewart with one lap to go. Stewart then made a move to the inside on the final turns, which Busch was able to block. Tony then moved to the outside and looked to be making the pass, but Kyle Busch then tried to cut up the track to make another block.

As you can see in the video, this didn’t work, as Busch flew into the wall, went airborne momentarily, got rear-ended by Kasey Kahne, then nailed again in the door by Joey Logano. Several other drivers were also involved in the crash at the finish line.

You can chalk this up as a just a racing accident, or you can blame Busch for attempting a 2nd block and turning himself into the wall. As the announcers predicted, he got turned for mirror driving.

Kyle Busch refused to comment after the race, while Stewart found it difficult to celebrate his win.

“It’s just a bad situation,” Stewart said. “It’s not bad because we’re put in a bad position. It just is what it is. I don’t feel as much gratification from winning this race as I probably should, I guess, because I don’t like the way the outcome happened.”

This will certainly spark further debate about restrictor plate racing, which gives fans entertaining but dangerous finishes. If every race at Daytona or Talladega ends like this, sooner or later a driver or fan will get seriously injured or killed.

When winner is bothered, something clearly wrong [NASCAR]

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