VIR Cobra Flip

A Cobra replica flips at VIR.
The driver was not seriously injured; just shaken.

[@CorvetteC5Aloha]

The driver was a 'she' not a 'he'. She was tall too. She had some scratches on her helmet too - very lucky driver. They actually got it cleaned and fired up later that day, but did not go back on the track. I was in the dark gray Corvette C5 you see in the video after she flipped her Cobra.

[@TheNoisyOyster]

It's true, my dad and his friend own a club that rents VIR out all the time. If you get out of your car on the track, no matter what happened to someone else, everyone gets a stern talking to. It's safer just to let the corner workers handle it.

[@SeaMonkey137]

Absolutely. Let the track workers do their thing. Plus the last thing you want to see when you're trying to weave around an accident is a bunch of brake lights on the other side.

[@GTRaycer]

It's amazing that the Cobra driver wasn't seriously injured or killed! Those little roll hoops don't offer much protection.

[@ahuggy911]

my dad flags at VIR. They are super strict and very safe. There are flag stations everywhere for any situation. For races, all stations have at least 2 flaggers. At the ALMS race last week there was anywhere from 3-5 flaggers at every station. One had the yellow, one had the pass, and the other had the radio.

[@pwhite8302]

I hope he was OK! That's a tough turn, I have spun out at that same spot before primarily due to downshifting too hard and my rear wheels locked up but the off camber slope doesn't help things too much either.

[@xDivinitysCreaturex]

I'm watching this so I can make my Cobra safer. At 0.25x speed, it looks like approaching the turn, the rear left wheel locks as the brakes go on, causing the slide. The driver tried to stay in the race instead of steering into the slide. That is driving at 10 or 11 tenths, which I don't recommend. The slide turns into a spin, but because only one wheel is locked, it catches and causes the flip. Imho people are wayyyy to hard on Cobra owners to be original and its all on driver skill. These cars have mechanical limits. You put that much power in such a small package, it's tough on the best drivers out there to never flinch. I'm putting ABS in mine to set a trend to keep other Cobra drivers safe too. You can see the lock from the single tyre track.

[@111teamomori]

adjustable brake bias on the cobra? bit far to the rear, even allowing for the crest it looks so violent

[@ranhat2]

Darn! Great footage until then! Clear, no wiggles, enough accel. and speed and engine noise for a change. Few videos get actually up to any speed and are clear. How much to repair that flipped car? Glad no injuries. Do Cobras flip too easily? Drift under control? Rear-end fish much?

[@linutux]

VIR's corner workers are excellent. VIR is a great track, but definitely demands respect. T10 specifically is very deceptive; easy to keep taking it faster, right up till it's impossible.

[@Suspectcobra]

"damn you short wheel base! DAMN YOU!

[@ChromeJob]

@jimmylayers Not the way tracks work buddy. The Cobra flipped right after the turn 14 corner station, which no doubt started waving yellow, or double-yellow, to warn approaching drivers. The camera car could've gone, but clearly pulled off anticipating red (in which everyone has to slowly get off track to let emergency vehicles through), and positioned so he had clear sight of corner station 15 for instructions. That's procedure. Rules prohibit getting out of your car under those circumstances.

[@lagundafire]

that cobra has.. sorry, had... the fucking legs on the straight!

[@420Vali]

Wow bad luck. I'm not even sure how that happened. Did a wheel catch in a rut?

[@mrTimmah1991]

@jimmylayers Don't talk about what you should do at the track unless you've actually been to one. On the street, yes, but the track is lined with cornerworkers to help with this type of situation, and drivers stopping to help just create even more of an obstacle for other drivers who may not necessarily know that there's an obstacle (or two, in the case of a driver stopped to help) ahead of them.

[@linutux]

Glad you found this. I'd definitely like to know more about the cause.

[@smosherx]

What race was this?

[@CassidysWorkshop]

@linutux Sorry, camera car did the wrong thing as well. He is now another object to be hit. Continue on and follow the directions of the flaggers. Anyway, even with a red flag you stop on track (drivers right).

[@K31TH3R]

That turned around too quickly to be anything other than a driver error. I'd guess it was a bad rev match/drivetrain shock that sent it sideways. With how violently sideways it went, probably the rear wheels really locked up so I wouldn't rule out that she grabbed 1st instead of 3rd, then clutched back in to try and save it, which kept her speed too high going backwards and the rest is history.

[@pfcrobinson]

it looked like he didnt have his harness tightned down enough. kinda looked like he got squished or his helmet came off.

[@Macabre1979]

@linutux its not allowed to stop on a track....

[@ModMINI]

Looks to me like rear wheel lockup due to lack of ABS. We don't know how easy we have it with modern ABS.

[@benjaminmoore985]

Porsche is the camera car I want to say

[@kirra77]

The Kit Car owner survived though his car was heavily damaged. I feel bad for the guy, he just wrecked a $20,000 car. That will barely get you a new Hyundai these days.

[@linutux]

The camera car actually did the right thing...sort of. He came to a stop on the right of the track anticipating an imminent red flag. He may actually have gotten out to help after the clip ended. However, if you look to the left of the track just before the Cobra flips, there's a corner worker less than 100ft away. It's almost always best to let the corner workers handle incidents. Drivers getting run over trying to help just makes it worse.

[@vandiemenrf82jim]

OMG !!

[@claudiadew]

Although, there may be a couple of home mades out there that might do what you describe. My frame has zero flex.

[@Captain_Obviously]

@kirra77 i dont know what world your living in but they are quite a bit more than 20k...

[@urmomsayswhat]

@jimmylayers you obviously have absolutely no experience with lapping days. I myself am both a driver and a corner marshal and the LAST thing we want is for a driver to be getting out of his car on a hot track. Safety is the number one concern at these lapping events and untrained drivers that arent insured the same as the track safety personnel should never be on a hot track outside of their cars. ESPECIALLY on the tarmac it's self .

[@mickey7106]

@jimmylayers because its not safe to jump out of your car in the middle of a race to help somebody out. sure its the right thing to do but thats what the track personel are for.

[@gozney1987]

that looked like it hurt, in my opinion converts shouldn't be allowed on track days without sufficient roll cage's.

[@rocketpunch12210]

Either something broke or oil on the track.

[@ahuggy911]

Running across a hot track is the worst thing to do.

[@gpcirillo]

Really odd for a car to flip without any help (curbs or ditches). Looks like he flipped b/c he was carrying a lot of speed backward and the tires were rolling not locked up.

[@ChromeJob]

@davidbspalding Oops, I was wrong. Red flag, you pull over ahem to right of track, on pavement. Never too good or experienced (neither of which describes me) to reread your HPDE documents. LOL But with other traffic coming, I think I would've pulled two off or four off on the inside of 14a, to get outta the way, as this driver did. BTW for those not experienced in HPDEs, they are not races, passing allowed only in designated zones with a clear "point by" from the front car.

[@BoyzNAcne]

oh fuck!

[@ewhusky99]

Even though it was a replica it is a shame.

[@WheezinDisYall]

sticky tires dont do well slideways

[@FASTFATBOY]

The guy in the video has no crotch belt in his car???? Is the camera car also a Cobra?

[@enduroian]

its a track day not road race

[@lsi624]

This war not love....IF a guy flips over on the track, you leave him to die in his own miserable flames...Nice "ball" shot on CAM2 by the way.

[@blur911]

That sucks, shoulda gone both feet in.

[@sanosabhju]

its not a car for race, if at skidding he flip

[@prosurfer2222]

ehhh its only a replica

[@linutux]

@fatgirlfister Amazingly, no.

[@bpmelo]

damn.... one less awesome car in the world... that is a pity....

[@Purgebox]

I am the driver of the car shooting the video in this clip. There is a reason I pulled off to the right as I did, based on the circumstances at the track that day. I can also explain exactly what went wrong that caused this Cobra to flip over so violently. If anyone wants to know the details ... let me know and I'll reply with additional info.

[@xDivinitysCreaturex]

Please let us know 🙏

[@AndieBlack13]

That Cobra replica is a not-so-good version....on a clean well made track there was no good reason why this car flipped. If you look carefully, from the rear the wheeltrack(overall width of wheels) is not correct...it's too narrow. A Cobra replica should look very wide at the wheels....not like this thing here....that's why it popped over.

[@19Clutch69]

Ricardo Ellison that is the most short sighted assumption I have ever read which is based on a low resolution video. FWIW, replicas that are track worthy typically are over engineered and an improvement over the original.

[@boomboomrory]

...And they have a frame that flexes like two chop sticks holding a huge engine.

[@lknugiyssxdnhznudsny4632]

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[@theflash4715]

Just another stupid kit car is all they flip like that because all they have is a ford for power..

[@ChromeJob]

@jimmylayers Not the way tracks work buddy. The Cobra flipped right after the turn 14 corner station, which no doubt started waving yellow, or double-yellow, to warn approaching drivers. The camera car could've gone, but clearly pulled off anticipating red (in which everyone has to slowly get off track to let emergency vehicles through), and positioned so he had clear sight of corner station 15 for instructions. That's procedure. Rules prohibit getting out of your car under those circumstances.