Worst nightmare

[Werewolf]

Whats the worst/most embarrassing disaster in your motor racing career-bar physical injury?

[woodyracing]

first time I went karting, I came in for someone elses black flag - DOH!!

that was at the busy NEC too

[Warwick]

Being left in pit lane as the guy I passenger a sidecar for rode off without me to do the warm up lap,he did a 1/3 of a lap before he noticed.

[Peter Mallett]

Heading into Park at cadwell with no brakes and ending up upside down in the spectator area.

[Morris 1100]

Pole position at Bathurst and stalling on the start because I was in the wrong gear (lucky it wasn't reverse)

[Lola]

Sat on the grid at Snett waiting for the lights...... Thought i'd better check im in the right gear and creep a little .... Going backwards .....dohhhh!!!!!

[Chartman]

It was my first ever race, and it was Snetterton during a downpour. I was just thinking to myself "Right just 3 steady laps to make sure that I qualify" and then I span off the circuit in the Bomb Hole on my first timed lap. I thought I was going to have the shortest motor racing career in history.

[johneturbo]

my nightmare was my first ever race...was at donny in the stockhatch 30th march.. after getting my car scrutinised i forgot to fasten the bonnet pins so this happened in my qualifying sessionworst nightmare
still had a good race thou

[ss_collins]

thats a good one john! More bonnet maladies from my Ford Saloon days

My first race at Lydden I was shall we say a tad nervous, I took the brand new fiesta down to scrutineering, the car was immaculate having been painstakingly prepared over the past 6 months. I took the bonnet off and pu it in front of the car so the scrute could do his bit, he did all the stuff and Ok'd me and said - "off you go" so i did - right over the brand new bonnet! flattening it. The whole grid had been watching from the back of the scrute bay. How many racers have run over thier own bonnet???

[DavidStHubbins]

Originally posted by Lola
Sat on the grid at Snett waiting for the lights...... Thought i'd better check im in the right gear and creep a little .... Going backwards .....dohhhh!!!!!

Always my fear...

Among my many cock-ups was taking the lead of a very wet formula ford race at silverstone and then spinning at EVERY corner thereafter including Copse in front of about 20 cars and having to come into the pits because my foot had completely cramped up... I pulled into the pits, jumped out in agony and started hopping up and down on my foot trying to stop the cramps in front of many, many people...

[johneturbo]

ss_collins i thought mine was bad... least i waited till i got on the track b4 i crushed my bonnet funny thing was last w-end at brands for my 2nd race, i had a spare bonnet but the hinges on the car were ruined so had to put 4 bonnet pins on, so when i had it scrutinised the second time round had to take the bonnet completly off..and rested it against the front of the car, but had to have it in gear as the hand brake is naff and scrutineering at brands is down hill, so when i took it out of gear i nearly knocked the bonnet over DOH nearly 2 bonnets in 2 races!!

[Irv the Swerve]

Mine was classic. I was in my first kart race, took the lead on the first lap and continued. Rounding the final corner, i was bumped and headed down the pit lane at full whack while everyone else jumped for their lives.

I rejoined in 3rd. Now i want to see if i can do the same in cars.

[rodrigomarban]

The first time I went indoor karting I was lapped 7 times in 30 minutes. I thought my racing career was not going to last a lot. Actually I got my first podium finish three weeks later.

Another one is when I was doing some karting testing and I realized too late that I had forgotten to brake. I finished under the tyre barrier, with the marshals having to remove all the tyres to let me get out.

The last one; I qualified last due to mechanical failures. I changed my kart, I didn't lose anything because anyway I was going to have to start at the very back. I overtook everyone and I was in the lead with two laps remaining, when I had to retire because of a problem with the accelerator.


It's a pity that here in Mexico we don't have any good chances to race without leaving school. I will be very old when I can get my first real racecar drive. Does anyone by chance knows any good way to start racing cars without having to leave to England or the United States?

[Crash Test]

SS- a similar type story happened in a Sports Car race locally last year. After a wet qualifying session, a little Mazda MX5 was on the front row, with a big bad Datsun 240Z directly behind him on the grid. Prior to the race, the Mazda driver made a deal that he would stick to the side of the track off the start so the Zed could go through. When the red lights went out, with the boot lid popping off in all of the excitment, blocking the path of the Zed....

[Bob Pearson]

My son and I both race in the same formula, we crashed into each other on the first flying lap of qualifying at Oulton.

[avsfan733]

Bob thats wonderful!
Mine comes from my last kart race of my first season.
I had been improving all season and was to the point I could regularly hound the leaders in the group. We start our races in the pitlane with a standing start. I got so excited, that I completely jumped the start and then slammed on the brakes to try and stop from getting noticed, then I proceeded to stall the kart. At first the enigne wouldn't restart, after finally managing to get it restarted, I was so ****ed at myself the I took with the starter hanging off the side. I managed to get waved down while still in the pitlane. Got the starter off and took off down the track only to spin off into the gravel at turn one

[Bob Pearson]

That's some exit you did there avsfan.
But what about this?
In my motorcycle racing days I was competing at an airfield circuit called Staverton in Gloucestershire in the 70's. I am pretty sure it was the 250cc class in the assembly area for practice. Staverton was an anti-clockwise circuit, when the bikes were released the rider at the front bumped his into life and set off with an enormous wheely in the wrong direction. The remainder of the riders saw this and either stopped pushing or killed their engines and just sat resting on their tanks waiting for the outcome.
Eventually he appeared in site still travelling quickly but seemed at that point to about have got the message from the marshals and was slowing
There was much slow hand clapping as he was pulled off the track, but the question arises about, if that was his first time there, why did he position himself to go out first, and why did he not have a look at the track before practice?

[C R Box]

In offering an ex. workmate a lift back to the office, in my newly aquired 6.3 litre Plymouth Barracuda, eveyone came out to see the lairy engined mopar.I slowly exited the pub carpark and then floored it, playing to the crowd.Unfortunately I failed to spot, that one rear wheel was on gravel and the other on tarmac. The car did an immediate 3601/2 degree spin, crossing the central reservation and hard broad side into the front of a routmaster bus coming the other way. As we examined the carnage he simply said
"If you'll now excuse me I really must be getting back to work"

[Vandas]

Well I have 2 stories:

Firstly, It was at a National Motor Sport carnival at the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit.

During Friday practice we were having a terrible time with the rear end of the car. I was *****ing and moaning about how slow I had to take corners, because every time I tried to carry some load through the corner I would fall off, or start drifitng.

Anyway before one session on the Friday I made a statement "I'm either going to do a faster lap time, or put it in a wall"

Stupid me didn't realise that the videographer who is currently creating a DVD and Video for the team was filming every word of it.

2 days later, I am going into the main race. Starting from the 4th row, with a special match box sized lens for a video sitting on my dash looking out the through the windscreen.

Anyway, Get myself up to 5th by turn 2, as I turn the steering wheel, the rear end of the car was turning the same direction. (We hadn't solved the rear end problem by the way and the main race was extremely wet and slippery after a month of sunshine).

I looked through my passenger side window to look at the 45 cars that were behind me coming through. The cars momentum then went from being a slow spin to a very fast flick. I grabbed second and kept driving, only dropping back to 11th.

I caught a few cars, and was back into 8th when I saw an RX7 up ahead. I was caning as fast as I could in the wet, with no rear end grip and crappy tyres that wouldn't let me get power down in the wet.

I climbed over Lukey absolutely screaming in 4th gear. But stupid me was in Red Mist mode and forgot that in the wet you need to break early going down the very steep hill into MG. Needless to say I accelerated to well over the crest of the hill, and then the car would not stop.

Straight down the run-off area and head first into a wall. Apparently the commentators tell me that the rear tyres came off the ground to about waist height.

After a trip to the medical centre, and receiving a drip (I hate needles, and never wanted to have a drip in my life) they transported me by ambulance to the local hospital. Upon arrival they could not find the radiologist, who was supposed to be on call but had turned his phone off. Then I needed to go to the toilet. I had needed to go before the race, but decided against it because it was only an 11-lap race.

So here I am, strapped to a board, with a neck brace on, lying on a bed in a hospital, after crashing a race car that my father owns, waiting for a radiologist that was not answering his phone, and desperately needing to go to the toilet.

Have you ever tried to go to the toilet whilst lying on your back?

Remember I had everything strapped to this board, head, chest, legs.

Anyway the nurse offered to help, but she wasn't good looking enough. My dad offered to help, but there was no way I was going to let that happen. Then I finally convinced the nurse to unstrap my legs so that I could have a crack myself.

What a sight, still wearing my racing suit, lying on my back trying to pee into a bottle!!!

Needless to say I did the business with no assistance, and no spillage (Thank God!).

The radiologist was found 3 HOURS LATER!!!!!!

I thought this was the worst thing that could happen to anyone on a race weekend.

However I was wrong.

During the week after the race meeting, I went to the Procar.com.au website and found that someone had posted a video file and stated that it was an interesting piece on me.

I open it and what is it?

The videographer had edited a bit of the footage from the weekend and this is how it goes:

Scene Opens with me standing next to the car still putting racing suit on, stating "I'm either going to do a faster lap time, or put it in the wall"

Then it cuts to the in car footage at the base of Lukey Heights.

The car is screaming, then all of a sudden you realise my mistake and the car rumbles and grumbles as I try everything in my power to pull it up, or spin it out.

Then the wall approaches, at a decent rate of knots.

The video stops just before the impact.
______________________________

Weeks later people are requesting the footage on websites everywhere.

It is sent to journalists all over the wall, and guess who is the major GOOSE!!!!!!!!!!

What a race meeting!!!!!!

[Vandas]

Now for the second:

This is from my last round at the Sandown International Raceway.

The videographer was back and had strapped two cameras to my car now.

One looking out the front window from the dash again, and the other looking from just on top of the glovebox back at the driver.

The pretty standard television Touring Car shot.

We had a faulty battery in and it was giving us grief with starting.

Long story I won;t bore you with.

Anyway, the in-car footage has again been edited.

It starts by showing me sitting in the drivers seat waiting to race.

All the cars around me start up, and then I go to start mine, but it won't start.

This is a similar drama to what happened at a previous race meeting where I missed the start of the race and had to start from the rear of grid at a very narrow circuit.

I try several times and the car won't fire up. So all of a sudden I yell out, comeon guys give me a hand.

You can't see what they are doing, but one of them chucks a jumper battery on the car.

This does nothing.

So I start getting aggitated.

Several more attempts and I can feel the pressure. So I yell out a "F--king Piece of S--t"

Nothing is happening.

The steering wheel cops a punch, the door cops a punch, and the other guys not working on the car clear out.

The gloves are thrown in anger, the hands go up in frustration, the eyes are piercing anyone that is nearby!

All of a sudden they say we are going to have to push start it.

Now last time we tried this it didn't work. Don't ask me why.

So the gloves are quickly found and put back on.

The push start actually worked and then on the last lap of the race I split 2 synchro rings into a total of 6 pieces

________________________

Now at the workshop everytime the boys want a chuckle they put back on the footage of me cutting sick.

They think it is hilarious.

But a funny thing is that every other driver I speak to has thrown at least one almighty tantrum as a result of their car.

Could be a good new topic?

Who has thrown the biggest tantrum?

Thanks

Cam

[Tony Harman]

Simple - Brands Hatch - Rallycross Mini - Front row of grid for final - bring the revs up, hold it... hold it.... lights change - .... first > second > FIRST ! yeeooowwww !!!!!

[zefarelly]

DOH . . .thats gotta hurt

I was driving my other halves midget and did a similar thing . . . . .then when she came to me and said it wont go into 2nd, I jumped in . . CCCCCCRRRUUNCH . . .'yes it will'
trashed the whole box bar 4th gear I think

[EvilPumpkin]

Originally posted by Vandas
Who has thrown the biggest tantrum?

To spare the driver's blushes, I won't name the formula or the race meeting, but when attending a single seater incident - we were trying to get his car out of the gravel trap when the driver ran to the side of the circuit as the safety car came round and methodically gave the Safety Car and every single car in the train an "unsportsmanlike gesture" as they came past.....

[marklanyon]

Oulton Park - Formula Ford Race

Pole man, on pole for the first time. leads the field on the green flag lap, approaches lodge and bunches the field up nicely so he isnt sitting still too long.

Pulls up inch perfect in pole position. 5 second board goes up, engine note rises in anticipation.

Red lights come on.....Wooosh!! off like a rocket,storming start. hadn't even noticed the lights were supposed to change to green.

Race Starter and other officials on pitwall laughing so hard that the pole man is already down the avenue before the starter even remembers to turn the lights to green for the rest of the field.

Probably the most easily spotted jump start in history.

[Lee Janotta]

Cameron, there's one thing much worse than wrecking a car your dad owns... Wrecking a car _you_ own! Especially if it's the only one you've got!

Erg... C.R. Box, that just ripped my heart out.