Sophia Floersch Survives Horror Macau Accident

Holee crud I've seen some scary **** in my motorsport life and that one's near the top. Best wishes to the lass and the others injured for speedy recoveries.

Every one who races has big cojones(even if they're metaphorical!)
 
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Why was she going so fast while everyone else was going more than half her speed? Lost control before braking? Not so familiar with the layout.
 
Every one who races has big kahunas (even if they're metaphorical!)

:p I think you meant cojones

kahuna noun
ka·hu·na | \kə-ˈhü-nə \
Definition of kahuna
1 : a preeminent person or thing
2 : a Hawaiian shaman

Why was she going so fast while everyone else was going more than half her speed? Lost control before braking? Not so familiar with the layout.

Not that we have full details yet... Probably front suspension damage from impact with another car just before the brake point sent her into a spin at the fastest point in the circuit.
 
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Also: this accident has now made me full pro-halo.
I see the benefit of head protection but disagree with you. We have to pressure the FIA to develop and implement the Shield rather than allow them to get complacent. It's going to be the better long-term solution for both safety and popularity of open wheel racing.

If we can't make the Shield work, if the 'thong' really is the best the FIA can do, then we might as well scrap open wheel racing altogether and just make LMP1 the new F1. Anyway, happy to see that no-one died from this violent looking crash. It begs the question though of whether or not sausage kerbs should exist in motor racing.
 
It begs the question though of whether or not sausage kerbs should exist in motor racing.

Looking at the crash for quite a while now... and I wounder if the curb didnt save two drivers in this case. Otherwise it would be one car headlong (edit: no she is heading backwards during the crash) into the side pod of another car. Maybe she goes under the other car, or flips into the guard rail. It could have been a lot worse. As it was the curb get her into the air and out of the way of some hard hits.

No doubt something needs to change to the circuit. Maybe a chicane if the runoff cannot be increased... the long straight into a fairly slow corner with no runoff seems a bit much.
 
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I see the benefit of head protection but disagree with you. We have to pressure the FIA to develop and implement the Shield rather than allow them to get complacent. It's going to be the better long-term solution for both safety and popularity of open wheel racing.

If we can't make the Shield work, if the 'thong' really is the best the FIA can do, then we might as well scrap open wheel racing altogether and just make LMP1 the new F1. Anyway, happy to see that no-one died from this violent looking crash. It begs the question though of whether or not sausage kerbs should exist in motor racing.
that's the point of a discussion, to disagree with eachtother and listen to eachothers arguments.

although i prefer the shield in terms of estatics, it simply isn't ready yet for mass-use. doesn't matter if the fia develops it or the teams, when it's proven that it works similar or better than the halo i'll be first in line to ask for it's implementations. but for now i would rather have some kind of head protection, which is practically only the halo at this point, on the car than nothing at all
 
for one scary fraction of a second upon seeing the clip the first time, i thought she was heading for a solid structure. glad it was just a tent-like temporal gazebo thingy. even more glad none of the poles/sticks in both the gazebo and the fence snapped and hit here. here's hoping the operation tomorrow will go fine and she will fully recover. if she quits the sport after this, i'd be the first to understand.
 
I'm just putting this here because I know a lot of the members will be interested, and then back on topic. The Billy Monger Story
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06qx4gt
Following the remarkable story of 18-year-old Billy Monger, one of Britain's most exciting young racing drivers, who in April 2017 was involved in a devastating crash, resulting in the amputation of his legs. Incredibly, soon after his accident, Billy resolved to get back to racing, in the hope of becoming the first ever amputee to race competitively in a single-seater racing car.

This film follows the extraordinary story of Billy and his family, as he pursues his dream to one day race in Formula One. With the support of the racing community and his hero Lewis Hamilton, Billy has to change the rules of motorsport and learn to drive again without legs, all while coming to terms with life as a disabled person - a term Billy is reluctant to accept.

This heartwarming and inspirational story is about the incredible will of one young man, but also the extraordinary support his family provides during the toughest time of their lives.
 
dumb curb placed there for no reason helped her to start the flight, the other car then completed it
DsSABAsVYAE-sy4.jpg

The limit of the corner should be the wall, this is just ridiculous
The area behind that part should be clean anyway, it should be a run off area, no reason to place people behind a wall at a 90º corner at the end of a long straight
I was thinking:
considering the speed her car had, what could have been the force of the impact if that high kerb had not been placed there?
I fear a direct impact against the barrier with the rear of her car, could have been even worse...

If they can't put a wider way out after that long straight, then is better to place an S-curve 200m before the corner. It's the only way, to race there a bit more safely, otherwise it's a disaster. It's far more dangerous than Montecarlo.
 
The video shows not all. Sophia was very close to the car ahead of her, and that driver braked earlier than expected. Due to the short distance she had no chance to react and rolled onto his rear tyre, loosing control in the process. Other footage of the corner crash reveals that before she went airborne she already was offline to the right and beside the curbs, the car being out of control and no grip, thus no braking effect. The rubbers in the turn then most likely seem to have made her car going airborn, and she flew backwards into the tower. That she were not flattened like a pan cake and killed, probably is right because she impacted backwards and the heavier rear end of the car impacted before her body in that wall, not on top of her. You can see that the rear hit into the wall, then the car turned up, the top end ponting to the sky and the open cockpit squezzed into the structure. I assume if she would have doved in nose first, the engine and rear end would have hammered her like a Wiener Schnitzel, killing her instantly. This way it was "just" the lighter front nose that formed ballistic energy to kick the chassis deeper into the structure after the rear end had impacted.

I have not yet seen any vidoe showing the car collision that led to all this, so it is hard to say whether it weas close or distant to the turn, and whether she went airborn due to the rubber in the turn, or the collision. But there was a collision before, another driver driving right behind Sophia has said that, he was very close and saw it all.

The girl was very, very lucky. Unbelievably lucky. More lucky than a sane mind can comprehend.

Another driver was injured too, also two media people and one track marshal.

I beleive in freedom and self responsibility. No need to regklate all and evethying and lecture peopel on what they are allwoed to take in risks and what not. But nobody shoudl have illusions, no drivers, not marshals, not the audience. When somebody decides its worth for him to take the risk, then that is his deicison and I'm fine with it. But he then must also accept ther possible consequences. Same for people attending such events, races or air shows. If fate is in a gloomy mood and stares right into your eyes, don't complain then - you have chosen to be there, nobody forced you.

Personally I think that driving open wheelers at tracks with walls left and right and limited space like in parts of Macau is no good idea. But then you have horrible Indycar crashes, too, so - freedom of own deicison, self responsibility.
 
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Regardless if the curb being there or not, it'd have been a big crash either way. But the launching bit could have been avoided had that damn sausage curb not been there. Why they havent been banned I dont know, they've been the cause of huge accidents for years now.
The entire crash happened out of unfortunate misunderstandings. Her not seeing the car in front slowing and the track marshal waving the flag for whatever, wrong reason.
She was incredibly lucky though; her head and rollbar went into the opening in the tower where the photographers take pictures through. The rear of the car went below and the steering wheel and the rest of the front hit the top of the tower. There's a pic floating about where you can see the steering wheel and surrounding area smashed. This is the luckiest thing I've ever seen, thank god. But I do think a minor tweak should be made to the corner; remove the idiotic curb (both of them), remove the photo tower, move the wall back and extent the runoff. Cars do arrive at some speed there.

**** happends, but at Macau its usually big.
 
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I was thinking:
considering the speed her car had, what could have been the force of the impact if that high kerb had not been placed there?
I fear a direct impact against the barrier with the rear of her car, could have been even worse...

If they can't put a wider way out after that long straight, then is better to place an S-curve 200m before the corner. It's the only way, to race there a bit more safely, otherwise it's a disaster. It's far more dangerous than Montecarlo.
Barriers are made for the car to crash....
maxresdefault.jpg

And crashing the back of your car is the best thing that can happen at high speeds. That's the reason Indycar removed the apron from Indianapolis, it reduces the chances of the car rotating and hitting with the front (tho lately they seem to be able to do that anyway)
Even if she hit the other car and the wall would be better as the cars are also made to absorb impact.
The real danger when she left the track was bigger chances of pieces of any object, especially the fence itself, could get into the car and hurt her (halo won't stop that if the piece is not big enough, only the windscreen could do it). A driver died at Sebring last week because of this, something managed to break her helmet and hit her
 
Regardless if the curb being there or not, it'd have been a big crash either way. But the launching bit could have been avoided had that damn sausage curb not been there. Why they havent been banned I dont know, they've been the cause of huge accidents for years now.
The entire crash happened out of unfortunate misunderstandings. Her not seeing the car in front slowing and the track marshal waving the flag for whatever, wrong reason.
She was incredibly lucky though; her head and rollbar went into the opening in the tower where the photographers take pictures through. The rear of the car went below and the steering wheel and the rest of the front hit the top of the tower. There's a pic floating about where you can see the steering wheel and surrounding area smashed. This is the luckiest thing I've ever seen, thank god. But I do think a minor tweak should be made to the corner; remove the idiotic curb (both of them), remove the photo tower, move the wall back and extent the runoff. Cars do arrive at some speed there.

**** happends, but at Macau its usually big.
She most likely saw it slowing, since she was chasing it, she was in attack mode. The driver of that car braked unusually early, another driver right behind Sophia said. This must have surprised her, and due to the short gap she simply had no chance to react. Same witness driver also said that there was some kind of yellow light event at the beginning of the straight, and that he thinks the race organisers failed their responsibility. The report he gave to the media that I red, was not all too clear about this.

Thats why I never chase another car, human or AI, for longer time at closest range possible. The longer I do, the more the margin for any errors gets eaten up. I may zoom in and flal back, but I never stay for longer time before I divert to the side or flal back, in any case if the car brakes unexpectedly, I overshoot into open space, not into the car. - Well, at least I try to drive like this. :) Most times, it works out well for me and the other car when bad things happen.
 
God she is only a baby. I can't imagine how her parents felt watching that. Actually I know because I have a Daughter who's only three years younger. I hope she comes out of this without any lasting effects. We are all fortunate here racing in the SIM world. We never have to worry about dying or become a paraplegic or anything like that. This just brings to light the danger that is quite literally around every corner.
 
God she is only a baby. I can't imagine how her parents felt watching that. Actually I know because I have a Daughter who's only three years younger. I hope she comes out of this without any lasting effects. We are all fortunate here racing in the SIM world. We never have to worry about dying or become a paraplegic or anything like that. This just brings to light the danger that is quite literally around every corner.

It seems her father was there with sophia, i saw them on Instagram having lunch at the day before the race somewhere near the circuit , i can't imagine how shocked , worried and devastated that man was when he saw the accident...
i hope the end result will be a positive one with a full recovery
 
Holy crap, one of the most dramatic, terrifying accidents I have seen in the modern era. Wishing her a speedy recovery, scary stuff.

I'm told that, from a pure physics standpoint, the brakes are the single most powerful system on a modern racecar. Seeing the speed differential between her car and the other cars taking that corner really brings that fact home in spectacular fashion.
 

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