According to Radio Le Mans, the driver of the Safety Car was Pau's chief of police (who insisted it was him who drove the safety car), then either mis-heard the instructions via radio, or thought he knew better than the race director, and decided to go onto the track without any authorisation (which is why there are no safety car or yellow flag graphics on the timing info on screen).
+John Bergqvist From the German articles, the safety car drivers were indeed locals. The yellow flag was up (you can see it being waved as everybody passed the first lap), but no authorisation was given by the race director for the safety car to come out. The local yokels probably just assumed yellow flag means it's time for them to come out and slow the race down.
"The investigation ascertained that, although the FIA Race Director had started the safety car procedure alerting the marshals for waving the yellow flags and showing the SC boards, the safety car driver had not been given the go. He left the pit lane on his own, steering in the middle of the track instead of using the acceleration lane."
Better than the infamous "they're all in the fence" moment V8 Supercars had in Sydney? Edit. Oh you said *first* lap. My bad. Pulling all nighters to reset my sleep schedule suck.
@Konfuci A safety car is deployed to slow down the race, to insure safety for drivers and marshals. It neutralizes the situation called "race". This safety car however crashed into the leading car ... Now it's up to you ;)
Unforgettable moment. An unlikely leader crashed into the safety car and it was the safety car driver's fault. Interesting to learn that Eduardo Freitas was the race director, who now serves in the same role for Le Mans 24h and did the same work for a few races in F1.
It's interesting to note how many of these drivers have BTCC experience..... Alain Menu, Rob Huff, Andy Priaulx, Gabrielle Tarquini and Rickard Rydell, and that's just out of the top ten......... nice to see the experience paying off lol :D As for the safety car driver............... EPIC FAIL
Just a guess, but isn't the Safety Car supposed to enter the track and accelerate up to speed to the right of the blend line? Pulling directly out and blocking the track doing 40 doesn't seem very Hoyle to me.
Two things, it's the race director who deploys the SC not the marshals, and the cars are not allowed to race to the line when the SC comes out in WTCC. That rule changed a long time ago. As soon as SC boards and flags are deployed overtaking is banned and drivers are expected to slow down. The race leader saw the boards and flags but didn't slow down at all, thereby causing the accident.
Accidents often happen on the first lap. On the first lap cars don't have a lot of space between them yet, which means a lot of opportunities for overtakes. Many overtakes, no space... hope you get the picture now.
It's a blind corner, can't blame both of them. The safety car thought there wasn't any approaching car but who knew that the race car would appear all of a sudden? The race car driver too could not see what was coming up.
@OriginalSHare Actually the yellow flags were on so the safety car was the proper one, the racers did not lowered the speed, thing you have to do every time the flag goes out. It was a terrible place to go outside though.
in this case the safty car was just coming out of the pit lane, and crossed the white line too early. Thats was a mistake But Race control gave the safty car permission to leave the pit and the SC didnt have enough distance between it and the pack of cars so im my book this accident ultimately was caused by a bad race controller.
Wait ! Look at 2:11 ,was that woman the safety car driver ? One thing i don't understand is ,why did she jump that fast in the middle of the track right after this corner?Could she just had speed up on the right side then go gently in the middle ?: )
You might find me crazy for saying this, but I don't think it's just the Safety Car Drivers fault, when he was told he need to go out, cause of accidents, those Racers were already approching that corner, and the Teams didn't have enough time enough time to tell their drivers the Safety Car is coming out,
I don't think the safety car driver was told to go out, it was said that he didn't have the race director's approval to go out and he was supposed to be on standby.
The "safety" car driver was boneheaded, but worse were the race marshals. Anyone can see how close the start/finish line is to turn one. The drivers are still racing full speed until they cross the line. The safety car should have been sent out ten seconds earlier or let them drive under full course yellows until the next lap.
your probably right, I don't know anything regarding the story behind this accident. I just saying, they usualy pushing pretty hard even under caution, you don't allways see it watching TV. but live your'e sometimes amazed about the speed the safety car is running.
2 - full course yellow should have been called immediately, 3 - SC should not continue to pull out like that on to the track, 4 - possibly not racing at that venue unless safety standards are addressed
From what i could see from this footage, there was nothing telling the drivers that the safety car had been deployed, there was only yellows. So poor communication by race control
@xxDannyboy1978 is a yellow flag over there for caution as in slow down for track hazard. im in australia where its a slow down caution so not sure over there.
Not really, if they slow down to much the tires and brakes cools of and the restart getting really dangerous for everyone. Thats why the safety car usualy is pushing as hard as he can, but still staying in the safe zone
That safety car is just like, wake up from bed in the bedroom, slow motion, relax and wait all the race car queue up at my ass then Boom, I'm in the dining room already...
@homoKaliptus Racing cars in general, with the exception of rally cars, are very fragile as they're being engineered to handle just the forces on the car during fast cornering, acceleration, braking, etc. and no more.
Not good by the safety car but all the WTCC guys totally ignored the yellow flags and at least one SC board. Modern race drivers don't have enough respect for the yellows.
Why does the safety car think they can cross the blend line exiting pits? Thats why its there, 100% safety car fault, if I was the driver of the BMW I would protest the entire race over that...
@OriginalSHare how is that? when the black car crashes you can see the symbol for the red flag! The race organizer makes the call to send out the safety car. and he is clearly pissed at the BMW team. It takes a few seconds to get the flag men to put out the SC boards! even in F1 When you are leading the race and go through a small section of green flags then run into 3 yellow flags, any good driver would slow down.
According to Radio Le Mans, the driver of the Safety Car was Pau's chief of police (who insisted it was him who drove the safety car), then either mis-heard the instructions via radio, or thought he knew better than the race director, and decided to go onto the track without any authorisation (which is why there are no safety car or yellow flag graphics on the timing info on screen).
+John Bergqvist
From the German articles, the safety car drivers were indeed locals. The yellow flag was up (you can see it being waved as everybody passed the first lap), but no authorisation was given by the race director for the safety car to come out. The local yokels probably just assumed yellow flag means it's time for them to come out and slow the race down.
2:10 I thought it was that granny who drove the safety car ;)
Officer Gibert wanted to drive the SC
"The investigation ascertained that, although the FIA Race Director had started the safety car procedure alerting the marshals for waving the yellow flags and showing the SC boards, the safety car driver had not been given the go. He left the pit lane on his own, steering in the middle of the track instead of using the acceleration lane."
What a moron... He should've waited for the go!
Guessing the driver got fired
Massive IQ points
The Chevy safety car was just secretly taking out the competition.
"Unsafety" car...
And here we see a "danger-car" :D
the greatest first lap ever in motorsport history
Better than the infamous "they're all in the fence" moment V8 Supercars had in Sydney?
Edit. Oh you said *first* lap. My bad. Pulling all nighters to reset my sleep schedule suck.
This is an example though of a total and utter breakdown in communication.
1:11 - “Third is porte-OHH! AND THE SAFETY CAR!!”
This was my first wtcc race I watched live
1:54
Team manager to race director: d'fuk was that, mate? Your safety car is shite and the driver is a moron. You owe me a car!
I love how the commentator says "dragging the arse-end of the car" just before Boardman crashes... :P
@Konfuci A safety car is deployed to slow down the race, to insure safety for drivers and marshals. It neutralizes the situation called "race". This safety car however crashed into the leading car ... Now it's up to you ;)
crash after crash after crash, that was insane!
Unforgettable moment. An unlikely leader crashed into the safety car and it was the safety car driver's fault. Interesting to learn that Eduardo Freitas was the race director, who now serves in the same role for Le Mans 24h and did the same work for a few races in F1.
That’s a nasty accident to hit the safety car
It's interesting to note how many of these drivers have BTCC experience..... Alain Menu, Rob Huff, Andy Priaulx, Gabrielle Tarquini and Rickard Rydell, and that's just out of the top ten......... nice to see the experience paying off lol :D
As for the safety car driver............... EPIC FAIL
@Dimitris RS the BMW is a 3 series. Not an m3 or m5 just a regular 325i.
Just a guess, but isn't the Safety Car supposed to enter the track and accelerate up to speed to the right of the blend line? Pulling directly out and blocking the track doing 40 doesn't seem very Hoyle to me.
0:30 Did he say "dragging the arse end of the car"? If he did, LEGEND!!!
And to think that it was just the beginning of this race :O
the only other motorsport ive seen that is this exciting is the WRC and demolition derbies!
@Carmaddude
I think that guy meant safety car driver not race car driver. Confused me at first as well.
The video description cant describe it more precisely...
Two things, it's the race director who deploys the SC not the marshals, and the cars are not allowed to race to the line when the SC comes out in WTCC. That rule changed a long time ago. As soon as SC boards and flags are deployed overtaking is banned and drivers are expected to slow down. The race leader saw the boards and flags but didn't slow down at all, thereby causing the accident.
What boards?
Tell me more about how you're a world class WTCC driver...
@UsonianAC Yes he did...my favourite quote of this whole clip
Accidents often happen on the first lap. On the first lap cars don't have a lot of space between them yet, which means a lot of opportunities for overtakes.
Many overtakes, no space... hope you get the picture now.
2nd place is chevy
Safety car is chevy
Teamwork
@@mattsuper1366 friendly fire teamwork.
I guess you can just rip those rear view mirrors off since youre not going too use them, totally screwed up the race.
@narutosupernova the British Touring Car Championship is equally chaotic, although I've never seen a safety car take out the race leader.
Nice to see the "Safety" car door open at 1:12 when it gets hit!
best race in wtcc history
Unsafety Car
It's a blind corner, can't blame both of them. The safety car thought there wasn't any approaching car but who knew that the race car would appear all of a sudden? The race car driver too could not see what was coming up.
I didn't know that Grosjean drove safety cars too!
wow so many crashes in such short time
Now we need a spare safety car lol
whos mistake is that when something like this happend ???
@transaktion08 the blend line does NOT pertain to the safety car!!!
@OriginalSHare Actually the yellow flags were on so the safety car was the proper one, the racers did not lowered the speed, thing you have to do every time the flag goes out. It was a terrible place to go outside though.
......and this is why we love WTCC lol
What went tits up in this race? did the lead car not know the safety car was coming?
that was crazy, even before he hit the safety car.
in this case the safty car was just coming out of the pit lane, and crossed the white line too early. Thats was a mistake
But Race control gave the safty car permission to leave the pit and the SC didnt have enough distance between it and the pack of cars so im my book this accident ultimately was caused by a bad race controller.
Wait ! Look at 2:11 ,was that woman the safety car driver ? One thing i don't understand is ,why did she jump that fast in the middle of the track right after this corner?Could she just had speed up on the right side then go gently in the middle ?: )
You might find me crazy for saying this, but I don't think it's just the Safety Car Drivers fault, when he was told he need to go out, cause of accidents, those Racers were already approching that corner, and the Teams didn't have enough time enough time to tell their drivers the Safety Car is coming out,
I don't think the safety car driver was told to go out, it was said that he didn't have the race director's approval to go out and he was supposed to be on standby.
The "safety" car driver was boneheaded, but worse were the race marshals. Anyone can see how close the start/finish line is to turn one. The drivers are still racing full speed until they cross the line. The safety car should have been sent out ten seconds earlier or let them drive under full course yellows until the next lap.
@Micha300583 i don't agree :) if you look closely he just took a step back. Maybe he was afraid of getting hit by a tire or stuff like that
your probably right, I don't know anything regarding the story behind this accident.
I just saying, they usualy pushing pretty hard even under caution, you don't allways see it watching TV. but live your'e sometimes amazed about the speed the safety car is running.
2 - full course yellow should have been called immediately, 3 - SC should not continue to pull out like that on to the track, 4 - possibly not racing at that venue unless safety standards are addressed
They are probably the last good looking BMWs we will see.
@2Hosts so it would have been better to let the driver run into a car on fire in the racing line under yellow flag conditions?
I'm sure that Romain Grosjean was driving the safety car :D
There's a white line for a reason when exiting the pits. Does the SC driver even have a driving licence?
From what i could see from this footage, there was nothing telling the drivers that the safety car had been deployed, there was only yellows. So poor communication by race control
I can't help wondering if that was Jason Plato in the Chevy safety car because he seems to have problems with BMWs :D
Funny: the safety car is also a Chevrolet Cruze, then Menu's car....
@xxDannyboy1978 is a yellow flag over there for caution as in slow down for track hazard. im in australia where its a slow down caution so not sure over there.
Nevermind me! I just saw, it came from nowhere really :O I thought it was there in front of them already
race or demolition derby?
Has the FIA ever paid the compensation to Engstler?
@Micha300583 They was sc signs already out around the rest of the circuit.
hi all can tell me what model is BMW race car and year????
That's what the safety car is there for, right? :O
So which car isn't damaged ?
The first laps of all motorsports typically contain a lot of crashes due to the high number of cars trying to get through the same sectors.
@aogfx13 In F1 they basically do, but what would be the point here? No way touring cars could keep up...
why is the safty car is in the track..??
0:34 Did he say 'Dragging the arse end of the car'?
Did Ben Edwards say "dragging the ass end of the car" at 0:34?
the track is lovely but looks to be too narrow to me. I mean Monaco is narrow but is this something else.
This is more exciting than F1 sadly...
wtf did the sefety car do there?
Why is it called safety car?
Not really, if they slow down to much the tires and brakes cools of and the restart getting really dangerous for everyone.
Thats why the safety car usualy is pushing as hard as he can, but still staying in the safe zone
Well there were yellow flags but still an odd place to pick up the drivers for safety lap
That safety car is just like, wake up from bed in the bedroom, slow motion, relax and wait all the race car queue up at my ass then Boom, I'm in the dining room already...
These roads are way too thin, they can hardly fit two cars side by side.
@Fincut81 Die Beifahrertür vom BMW geht auch auf...
Next to the SAFETY CAR sticker they should also add KAMIKAZE DRIVER !!!!
What punishment did the safety car driver get? Lifetime ban hopefully, whatever happened to Morris, signal, manouvour?
1:11 - 1:12 Hits the Safety Car.
wow, safety car is friggin tough! bmw loses a wheel and the safety car gets a dent, and it only looks like an ordinary sedan by chevy!
It was the safest car Euroncap ever tested, well for the side and front impacts...
@homoKaliptus
Racing cars in general, with the exception of rally cars, are very fragile as they're being engineered to handle just the forces on the car during fast cornering, acceleration, braking, etc. and no more.
ok come on now the diver knew there was a crash the Safety car was coming at some point
you don't understand that the cars are all the same, thus they are very close at all times [it's all about driving skills]
no man, its just touring car racing
But that's the whole challenge of driving on a street circuit. The PC incident was dumb though
It's a terrible place to get in. Too close to the corner.
@OriginalSHare share the link!
SC driver's fault as he turned left, crossing the white line instead of staying left.
Yes FIA states that a car leaving the puts needs to stay until the end of the white line, safety car's fault.
@narutosupernova Huh??? Before I vote up your comment I don't get your joke...
Not good by the safety car but all the WTCC guys totally ignored the yellow flags and at least one SC board. Modern race drivers don't have enough respect for the yellows.
Not good by the safety car but all the WTCC guys totally ignored the yellow flags
at 0:34 did he say 'Dragging the arse end of the car'? :S
Why does the safety car think they can cross the blend line exiting pits? Thats why its there, 100% safety car fault, if I was the driver of the BMW I would protest the entire race over that...
saida do box é totalmente sem visão a pista é muito estreita.Porisso a batida do safety car.
@OriginalSHare how is that? when the black car crashes you can see the symbol for the red flag! The race organizer makes the call to send out the safety car. and he is clearly pissed at the BMW team. It takes a few seconds to get the flag men to put out the SC boards! even in F1 When you are leading the race and go through a small section of green flags then run into 3 yellow flags, any good driver would slow down.
they should have used a supercar as a safety car and drive it at 10/10th. it would be entertaining for spectators and safer.