Kubica's Recovery

[Jac_ek]

and look this - he was very, very lucky
http://www.tvn24.pl/-1,1692023,0,1,zoba ... omosc.html

[Richard]

Back to techie stuff about barriers ...

Robert Kubica's co-driver, Jakub Gerb has said:

We knew the surface was slippery because of the humidity and we were ready. After skidding, the car leaned against the guard rail and pushed it outwards. Then it crashed against the following guard rail.

That's the scenario I described earlier, the barrier directs the car into another obstacle. The severity of the accident is due to the gaps in the barrier. That probably wouldn't have been a problem for a conventional road car traveling at lower speed.

The irony is that it would have been safer for him if the barrier had been completely missing, the roll structure is designed for the sort of drop we can see in the pictures.

If you look at the in-car video there are a lot of hazards along that route. Sections without any barrier, and barriers that stop and start too soon.

You can see the car behind Kubica parked next to a lamp post. I'm sure a the roll cage would do nothing to protect a rally car if it hit that sideways on.

There are probably some measures that could be taken to improve safety such as closing gaps in barriers, and adding protection to posts, but they would be disproportionately expensive. I'm not sure how one could strengthen the car against a point load either, unless you turn it into a tank.

Then you think of the rescue equipment. I suppose they could have had more cutting equipment available to reduce delays. However, access will always be difficult, most rallies aren't held in the sort of terrain suitable for helicopter landings.

Do we really want to impose safety restrictions that put rallying out of reach of the enthusiast driver, and only allowed on expensively prepared routes?

[myurr]

and look this - he was very, very lucky
http://www.tvn24.pl/-1,1692023,0,1,zoba ... omosc.html

Jesus, didn't realise the barrier went through the entire car. Interesting to see their assessment of how it happened was similar to mine a couple of pages back.

He's very lucky to be alive!

[Pandamasque]

Exactly opposite

The reason why he participated in that rally was the very same reason why he's a Formula 1 driver. Instinct to race.

Mclaren's Policy : Keep your ass quiet and drive the F1 car like your supposed to you hear me boy!!
*walks out and slams office door*

That's how it should be. Too much money on the table for a busy body driver to be going around risking the season.

That could be the reason Kubichek chose to race for Renault. Maybe they allow him to live his life of a racer the way he wants. Not to mention that McLaren drivers tend to injure themselves playing the highly dangerous game of tennis.

[WhiteBlue]

If you look at the in-car video there are a lot of hazards along that route. Sections without any barrier, and barriers that stop and start too soon.

You can see the car behind Kubica parked next to a lamp post. I'm sure a the roll cage would do nothing to protect a rally car if it hit that sideways on.

There are probably some measures that could be taken to improve safety such as closing gaps in barriers, and adding protection to posts, but they would be disproportionately expensive. I'm not sure how one could strengthen the car against a point load either, unless you turn it into a tank.

Do we really want to impose safety restrictions that put rallying out of reach of the enthusiast driver, and only allowed on expensively prepared routes?

I agree that the particular course had an appalling safety risk and it would have cost tremendous money to rectify that. I think that rally courses may be subject to safety grading and that much higher exploration requirements can be imposed on inexperienced drivers taking courses with very high risk. The point that I see critically for the accident is the lack of experience and local knowledge Kubica had about this course. In the video of the next driver passing the accident scene you can hear him saying in Italian something like: "I thought he would go flat out (over speeding) here". So it wasn't unexpected that Kubica made that mistake. More mandatory exploration for drivers with low experience of the typical conditions could have helped the issue.

[ringo]

Bob almost got Sish Ka bobbed. Oh man 1 foot to the left and...

It's a bitter sweet accident. He escaped death, they need to start putting 1/2" steel plate in the floor, foot wells and behind the seat and counting it towards the minimum weight of the car.
Or simply ensuring the course is safe enough. This little rally probably wont have the capability to make proper saftety checks on the course anyway.

[raymondu999]

How in hell did the armco bend over back like that? Are there any actual onboard shots, or overhead ones?

[gridwalker]

Raymondu : check the video in the link posted by Jac_ek ...

[Just_a_fan]

Maybe they allow him to live his life of a racer the way he wants.

I'm reminded of the following:

"We take risks not to avoid life but rather to ensure life doesn't avoid us".

It's part of why so many young men in cars are "boy racers". It's thrilling and it's fun to drive quickly in less than ideal surroundings. Sure, it goes wrong now and then but it's great while it lasts...

[raymondu999]

Raymondu : check the video in the link posted by Jac_ek ...

Sorry, I meant an actual video of the scene unfolding, rather than a slideshow.

It's not quite a video, but here's an animation of what (they think?) happened.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhRDKrNiWP0[/youtube]

[raymondu999]

Yes, but even if he could come back, he'll maybe look only at what? 5-6 races?

[godlameroso]

I'm incredibly happy that Kubica is recovering, it would be a shame to lose one of the best drivers this formula has ever seen. I hope all the support in addition to his mental toughness contributes to his recovery, and that he comes back with renewed determination to show the world he is one of the greats. Also a deserving nod to the doctors that saved this man's life.

[Tim.Wright]

I hope something good comes of this in terms of the penetration safety of these cars.

While Im generally opposed to knee jerk reactions on the grounds of safety, I have wondered for years how noone (or very few) have been seriously injured by objects piercing through the spaceframe. And something going THROUGH the front crash structure, engine bay, firewall and THEN into the cockpit is not really acceptable.

This is not such an issue on tarmac vehicles but on a rally track just about every obstacle is long slim and pointed (trees, poles, fences, sticks) some thought need to be put into making the cars a bit more resistent to them.

I'm thinking something of a kevlar panel across the firewall or even kevlar cloth like in a bullet proof vest could contain this type of impact, or at least reduce it greatly. It would be called the Kubica wall.

Tim

[The FOZ]

I think that "reconstruction" video is garbage. A few sources said there was a gap between two armco barriers. Nearly impossible to break a barrier at those speeds and that angle IMO.

[nipo]

Garbage or not, it seems, from the photographs, that the fence did go straight through the car. That sends chills down my spine... You know he could have been split in two or sth...