So true....10 years ago, cage was for wimps. Then about 7 years ago, a rollbar seemed like a good idea to my wife, I was ambivalent about it but did it to keep her happy. Now, full cage, and HANS, cage was my idea with enthusiastic support from my significant other, and the HANS she insisted on, especially given I've had neck issues.
The cage would not offer much protection from side impact. The closed one would. Canopies on fighter planes take a lot of pressure and offer protection. That seems like the better bet to me and still allows the car to not look dramatically altered.
I think the fighter canopy idea is the best. I was involved with the F16 canopy from the quality of manufacturing stand point and those things are tough.
I've seen a modified version in boat racing where the top of the bubble was open. Unlike the video above it was more than just a wrap around.
Agree with the above, they'll just have to make sure there's a quick release so the driver can get out fast, but as far advanced as car and aircraft technology is, that should be no problem.
It'd take a ton of testing though, obviously it's going to affect the setup/handling of the entire car.
No worries, I was sort of itching to go there myself and you weren't even the first to mention it.
Difficult driver egress is definitely the biggest counter issue, including extrication by others of a driver who is injured or even unconscious. On the other hand, the defensive roll bar idea is both ugly and, much more importantly, blocks quite a bit of the driver's view. It also does nothing to prevent side impact but that wasn't the focus of the study.
It has to work well or it's not worth doing and it can't cost a mint. Not easy to come up with something that 1) is effective, 2) doesn't cause significant new problems and 3) isn't outrageously expensive to buy and implement. Reminds me of the old business model that says "Here are your options, you can have it good, fast or cheap...pick two. If you want it good but you can't wait, it'll be expensive. If you want it good but also cheap, you'll be waiting a long time...maybe forever. If you want it right away but it also has to be cheap, it probably won't work."
I'm not surprised no one has come up with a perfect solution yet.
The other side of this is a lot of people just don't want it.
How often? I don't know the raw numbers but it's more often than I consider acceptable, esp. when it seems like a solution shouldn't be that hard to find. And I think that's a big reason why this issue is so polarizing, we all have different thresholds, levels of tolerance.
According to Trevor Carlin there was another close call the day of Wilson's incident. I didn't even hear about the other, but 1) close calls don't usually make news (plus "close" is relative) and 2) it was in GP3 (I think) and I rarely hear ANY news from the lesser series'.
Having owned a semi-enclosed motorcycle, the first issue with a canopy that occurs to me is how to deal with it misting up.
Though it would be interesting to know if air conditioning the driver would actually deliver a driver performance improvement greater than the weight and power needed to air condition the cockpit.
What, did you know him? I didn't, I've never even heard of the guy. He knew that he was involved in a dangerous sport, in which he could get killed and so did his family. A lot of good people die everyday. I can't get too choked up about it.
I just wondered if this was a statistically significant kind of event which warranted spending money and changing the rules to prevent it from ever happening again. How many driver's have been killed by flying debris in the last hundred years of motor racing, only one or is it thousands? It is something to consider before spending a lot of money to prevent something that is unlikely to happen again.
Totally agree. Don't get me wrong, I have the deepest sympathy for the Justin Wilson's family and his friends but he knew the dangers. Its like joining the military and thinking and you wont go any where people want to kill you, and yes there are quite a few them out there. I'd take a fraction of what any of those drivers make to do something like that for a living.
But to answer your question a top fuel driver came to mind, had to do a little research but his name was Darrell Russell, 2004, totally a freak thing, just like this.
I did read an article earlier today where covered canopies were being discussed again, but hey that could have been for the press.
No offence to Dale Earnhardt and please don't get me wrong his death was terrible. But the HANS device was a proven safety device and he faught against it.
I like the idea of a windscreen versus the full bubble. If they can make one that has acceptable performance then it would be the best compromise for now. It could also be a good pathway toward a full bubble.
Some of the reluctance is the old "it isn't going to happen to me" thing. I understand that, but as I have gotten older, I started thinking "it could happen to me" and take what safety measures I can.
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