At Bandimere today, I'm in the staging lanes for the first time trial. The Pro Bike class runs before us. About half-way through that class, they stop the action and the ambulance takes off down the track. They announce that a bike just ran off the end of the track, through the gravel (it's deep, like a runaway truck lane), and into the net at the end (like a carrier catch-net). After a while, they announce he's being transported to the hospital, is having difficulty breathing, and is in critical condition.

We run our time trials, the bikes run their first round of eliminations, and before my class runs, they announce he didn't make it.

I didn't see what happened from back in the staging lanes, and I never heard if his brakes failed, or the throttle stuck, or what exactly. But, they did say he trapped 175 MPH on that run.

Zero fatalities in 44 years at Bandimere, then two in two years. Both in the net. And I was at the track both times.

I'm not running anywhere near that fast (the car that went into the net last year was going about 250 across the line, then his chute streamed and the brakes couldn't stop him), and I'm not particularly worried about something like that happening to me, but I'm liking that net less and less.

 

yea, that can be a horrible thing to hear/witness ONE time, let alone twice...thank Heavens you aren't running anywhere NEAR those two...

Josh

 

Sorry to hear about this (again). I already previously knew about the other gruesome mishap with the Pro-Mod car that went into the net there last year. It's very important that track operators keep the catch trap groomed constantly, so vehicles don't just skip across the top of it. Given Bandemere, I'm sure that this wasn't the case though.

We have a very short shut-down area at the track that I frequent most, and I'm constantly making sure that my brakes are in top working order, especially since I'm getting close to mandatory parachute speed. You can never be too safe.

 

Yikes When I was at the Autolite Nationals this year, one of the cars went through both nets at the end. The car was messed up bad but the driver was ok. It was a top alcohol dragster running 255 mph and everything shut down for an hour and a half while they made repairs.

 

There have been several cars in the gravel that I've seen. These are the only two I know that have actually gone all the way to the net.

It would be possible, in my estimation, to eliminate the net if they gave up a seldom-used road crossing the track beyond the net. There's a big berm built up between the net & the road that would have to be taken out.

Last year it was a nitro coupe that went into the net. He was still moving so fast after the gravel that the nose of the car went though a square in the net, the net grabbed the supercharger and slammed it into the driver. Not a pretty picture.