Hillclimb Gone Wrong!

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Looking again at the footage of the first run, it seems to me that the safety of that course is on a par with GP circuits of the 1950s. Call me chicken if you wish, but I don't think I'd be going Hell-for-leather up there with all the trackside obstacles largely unguarded. It's reminiscent of some of the tracks in the 'Nine Days in Summer' footage of the 1967 F1 year viewed from Lotus's viewpoint.

[stephenh]

It is a good illustration of why a lot of (probably most of) the quicker Speed Series competitors won't do hill climbs and just stick to the sprints, which tend to be on tracks which are more forgiving and have greater margin for error. One exception being Harewood, up to a point.

[Howard]

Wow that's sobering.  I remember chatting to you at Wiscombe, Mitch, at the beginning of the year and admiring your car.  I heard recently of your accident but had no idea of the extent of your injuries. Truly horrific.  Glad you're on the mend.  And as you and others have said, what a testament to the calm professionalism of the marshals, medics and fire crew.  Having watched the video I've just sat staring out the window in thoughtful silence for 15 minutes.

[Kit Car Electronics]

Wow, that's shocking and hard to watch  So glad you survived, sobering indeed.

I noticed that you were able to shift into 3rd over the crest and on the slow-mo you can even see the tacho rev away as the wheelspin starts, I think

[DonPeffers]

Very glad you're on the mend.

[Terry Everall]

One reason that we removed Olivers Mount, Scarborough, from the speed series calendar was that in one weekend we had 2 very serious crashes. One involved the fencing spearing a Westfield and just missing the driver and the other was a car going backwards off track and bursting into flames as a fence rail punctured the fuel tank. Quick drivers are not afraid of hills but the collateral damage to car and driver seems to be disproportionate to the risk taken. ( and just for the record I did hold the hill record for 3 years so I know what its like to drive it and blank out the dangers.)

I still do Harewood which is probably as safe as it can be with gravel traps and armco barriers etc

Pleased to see you are recovering from the crash 

[Thrustyjust]

I didnt think that the event was well thought out , to be honest from looking at the video. MSA must investigate and reason why it happened and how to prevent injury again. You missed a steel farmers gate just before the impact and the wall and tree should have been protected with bails etc to allow them to absorb some of the impact. Seemed a bit poor with the knowledge of a car going light on the crest and potential injuries that could occur from this and not protecting the drivers. I know motorsport is dangerous, but I think this is beyond dangerous how it was potentially assessed before the event. 

[Mitchfc]

Thanks for all of the comments guys. 

 As mentioned a HANS device would of been a wise investment prior to the accident and one thing I would advise anyone who competes to have whether it be mandatory or not is a full cage and a HANS device. The cage probably saved my life and a HANS device may of prevented some of the neck pain that I am still suffering from.

 The only bits that were really salvaged from the car were the engine and gearbox which will go on to race another day but unfortunately not by me. 

 Castle is a dangerous hill and an equally dangerous local hill is Werrington if anyone wanted to look it up there are some really nasty granite wall and posts. I had a spin there in the wet and by a complete miracle didn't hit anything. At the time of competing I was so fixated on winning nothing else really mattered but since the accident it seems silly to risk your life and a very expensive car with out insurance to win a £10 trophy. I'm not trying to discourage any fellow competitors and I had a great time prior to the accident but a friend of mine who would only do sprints said to me, "You should give up hill climbing and just do sprints with me" to which I replied "No I like the added danger and adrenaline of hillclimbing' which in hindsight seemed like a wise statement from my friend and one I wished I followed.

 Obviously all forms of motorsport are dangerous and that is part of the attraction. I could of taken up chess or golf but always loved the adrenaline rush.

  At Castle and most hillclimb events you often come off a wet or damp muddy grass field then blast it up the hill with cold tyres. Even if tyre warming doesn't get a huge amount of heat into your tyres it cleans off all of the mud and grass. I personally feel tyre warming should not only be allowed but encouraged for safely. 

 The Westy I crashed had a 305bhp motor and was on road tyres (road going class) and since tyre warming has been banned I think it was to much power for cold road tyres especially when the car got light at brows of hills. Really slicks should be a minimum on a vehicle like that and that is what I was planning to do next season but obviously I didn't make it that far. Coming from a Megabusa the extra torque of a high powered durance was something I was still getting used to but I think I must of had some lead in my right race boot. 

 I'm still planning to watch events and marshall next year but won't be doing any competitive driving for quite sometime. Mainly due to the money I have lost but also to be competitive you need to be to brave and I think I will of lost that now. Not only that but my body really couldn't handle another impact, I think a 5mph knock would finish me off at the mo  Did I mention my wife would have a melt down if I put her through that again. 

 Since the accident the MSA have done an investigation (so I was told by the clark of the corse) and they have made the organisers put bails in front of that wall. It is a shame there weren't any there before but what is done is done and if it helps someone else in the future it won't be a bad thing. Someone asked how long I was trapped in the car for and on the full length video it was 42 minutes. 

 I remember talking got you at Wiscombe Howard I believe you had an accident of your own that day. Is that correct? 

 Thanks again for all of the messages. If this video helps anyone in the future or just show cases the amazing job the mainly unpaid medics, marshalls etc do for us every weekend through the summer months I'll be glad and don't be annoyed at fastidious scrutineers they are only there for your safety. 

 

 

[Arm]

Wow. Really pleased you are ok. As it went in I didnt think it was going to be so bad but how wrong I was. Cage certainly helped alas I fear this is the worst case impact for a seven style kit car with very little distance to absorb and deform.

Certainly hats off to the marshalls, medics and rescue team

Hope you continue to improve.

Ash

[Rusty Nuts]

That's very scary, but glad your Ok, phew.

[Scottish Bloke]

I watched this earlier today on another forum, it made me think!

Glad you will be ok, as others have said this could have been a lot worse.

Hats off to all concerned in extraction, marshals and hospital staff. 

Rich

[Howard]

4 hours ago, Mitchfc said:

I believe you had an accident of your own that day.

I did, and although it made a bit of a mess of the front end and the chassis, it was nothing compared to yours. It did make me review my enthusiasm for hills though.  Like you, I've always preferred the  unique challenge, the character and ambience of hills but I might be shifting towards sprints from now on and being more selective about the hills.

[CosKev]

Wow 

So glad to see you are well enough to be on here sharing the video and experience.

Very scary seeing how far out of the car your head/shoulders went 

 

[Simon Waterfall Syman84]

Glad you are Ok definitely opened my eyes to the consequences of this sport we call fun.

Now i know we don't like the MSA changing the regulations but watching this would it be sensible to adopt the hand restraints the the 7 esque type cars have to use in circuit racing. just to try and save flailing limbs in the event of a big hit.

[John Loudon - Sponsorship Liaison]

Wow - that's utterly horrendous! Glad you are on the mend but genuine shivers down my spine watching this. Good luck with the recovery