jeff oakley Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 On Saturday it was the Forge Action day at Castle Combe. Unfortunately there was a big accident where a BMW clipped the back of a Civic type R and rolled multiple times. These are days where you pay a few pounds for a session but too many think they are race days. Both occupants were badly injured and are in hospital at the moment. I used to do these days but the standard of driving is shocking and I had too many close calls to make them any fun so stopped. It just shows how quick things can go wrong and the energy a moving car has Hopefully they will make a full recovery. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dombanks Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 Is it a proper track day? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 Jeff said it was the Forge Open Day. Difficult to tell but maybe the Civic lifted at the critical moment, maybe saw the Beemer looming large and maybe was trying to get out of the way (no-one ever got out of the way by lifting/braking though...), or maybe the BMW "simply" misjudged it, or maybe a bit of both. The first crash was a whopper... the second was a standard "I can brake after the rise" on the approach to Quarry. That happens multiple times every race day so I'm not surprised that happened on an open day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephenh Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 If it was a trackday then what on earth were they doing following so close together, even going into a fast kink more or less side by side? Maybe the driver of the Honda did brake, or at least lift, but if it was an inexperienced driver they are entitled to do so. Entirely the fault of the BMW going far too close to the Honda. Probably thought he was Jason Plato in the BTCC!!😄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stanton Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 Can't believe so many cars and so close together, surely the organisers should send drivers out in appropriate groups based on drivers trackday experience - novice to experienced and also stream them out in single file with a suitable gap between each car ......... as we used to do on WSCC trackdays ....... it only takes a little common-sense 😯 that's one track day to avoid ...... imagine a ton of BMW ploughing into a Westfield ....... doesn't bear thinking about 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff oakley Posted September 5, 2022 Author Share Posted September 5, 2022 It is not a proper track day per se, they buy a session and go out supposedly for a non competitive run for no more than 15 mins. The track does proper briefings but as you can see their is a mix of skills and over confidence which means the faster drivers soon catch the slower ones and you get bunching. All overtaking is by permission, they are told but you can see that did not work here. As Blatman said they usually get a few "watch this" off's, especially at Avon Rise Quarry corner, but this was in a differrent league. I think the Civic was deciding if he had time to over take the Meghan before Avon rise and lifted slightly, the BMW was 10 10ths and going to the outside when he clipped the Civic throwing it into a huge series of rolls. Interestingly the police Road Traffic police attended and did an investigation at the scene. This follows them doing the same at a race meeting a couple of weeks ago at Combe when it looked like the meeting was going to be abandoned as a result. That is the second or third time I have heard police investigating race accidents, not sure why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff oakley Posted September 5, 2022 Author Share Posted September 5, 2022 5 minutes ago, Mark Stanton said: Can't believe so many cars and so close together, surely the organisers should send drivers out in appropriate groups based on drivers trackday experience - novice to experienced and also stream them out in single file with a suitable gap between each car ......... as we used to do on WSCC trackdays ....... it only takes a little common-sense 😯 that's one track day to avoid ...... imagine a ton of BMW ploughing into a Westfield ....... doesn't bear thinking about They usually have 20 to 25 cars and do ask experience, however everyone is an expert, the bunching is caused by the faster ones catching the slower ones. I did used to go on track at this event but the risk was not worth it as Combe is very fast, on a good run you are knocking 130-140 at Avon rise. The last organised track day I did there the speeds are huge, there was an Aston and an 800bhp Nissan who made most look like we were going backwards, but crucially well driven and rules observed. The latest report from the police is the driver got minor injuries but the female passenger is in a serious condition but not life threatening which is good to hear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 I wonder, in these days of litigation, if the police are looking for instances/evidence of criminal negligence on behalf of someone, or the organisers? I assume they were called to the scene rather than were there waiting or were passing by and heard it... 31 minutes ago, stephenh said: Maybe the driver of the Honda did brake, or at least lift, but if it was an inexperienced driver they are entitled to do so. I wasn't judging the actions or the outcome, merely pointing out that there are a number of factors to consider when armchair analysis is under way and the evidence is a grainy bit of Youtube footage... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 I saw a longer version of this video online yesterday that shows a few more seconds leading up to the accident during which the bmw in question was weaving dangerously (imo) through other slower moving traffic and passing on both sides. He seemed to have a total disrespect for others around him and track day etiquette. It’s his passenger I feel sorry for right now as I understand they may have suffered life changing injuries as a result of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rory's Dad Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 Too many cars, should not be overtaking on a corner = bad behaviour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 24 minutes ago, Mark (smokey mow) said: It’s his passenger I feel sorry for right now as I understand they may have suffered life changing injuries as a result of this. The WiltshireLive website, update a couple of hours ago says the injuries to the female passenger are serious but not life threatening. If that's correct then that's better news than what he had previously https://www.wiltshirelive.co.uk/news/wiltshire-news/woman-20s-suffers-serious-injuries-7547619 Footage on there shows the driver extricating himself from the incident. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dommo Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 The Civic slowed approaching the rise (pretty sure brake lights came on but wasn't braking hard, there's a video from a longer shot somewhere)... the BMW just didn't react. Action Days always feature terrible driving, I'm surprised there's not accidents this big every time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SXRORY Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 I used to do action days in my nissan days at CC but we had club sessions. I did a few open ones but then one year all of a sudden it felt like they put a crazy amount of cars out and too many 15 minute heros. People like flat out straight out the pits. Needless to say i stopped to doing them. i'm surprised something like this has not happened sooner. its way more than 25 cars they put out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 IIRC there was an event in which some form of liability was sought and it was feared that the old 'at your own risk' principle was threatened by a litigious atmosphere. Track days days seemed numbered. I cannot recall where this happened, but it was in UK and it was a track day about three or four years ago. I have always used Motorsport Events for track days and their discipline is very tight. This occurrence could never have happened at a MSE trackday in my experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff oakley Posted September 5, 2022 Author Share Posted September 5, 2022 MOTCO, it was at a Bedford Autodrome event IIRC. Ironically it was another BMW who hit another car which had track insurance. The insurers went after the driver of the BMW to cover their costs. Accidents can and do happen at track events but this at Combe was unlike any other in the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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