Talk about screaming like a little girl... [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLkLtBkUVuo]Waltrip's Ride Of A Lifetime - YouTube[/ame]
ROFLMAO Think he might have been over acting just a bit.. That said, I watched the race live the other night and fell in love with that track, it is now on my Bucket list!! The V8 Supercars have it going on, some of the very best racing there is! Matter fact, not sure which I'm more excited about going to Austin to see, F1 or the Supercars?
That was definitely one heck of a track... didn't see the start of the race so I don't know if they discussed it, but does anyone know what the total elevation change is over the course of the track? Quite the roller coaster.
At one point they mentioned that the elevation change was about the height of the Washington Monument in DC which is 555 feet. I'd bet that some of the downhill portions are steeper than the appeared on the telly. Waltrip did the worst commentating that I've seen on a race broadcast. His comments were often wrong, very amateurish and totally nauseating at best...he should stick with NASCAR!
While it is not a permanent circuit the elevation change is listed at 174m which is a little more than 571 feet. For perspective: VIR's total elevation change for the full course is only 40m or about 130 feet, and VIR is considered to have a substantial elevation change for a permanent circuit.... So it has over four times the elevation change as VIR!!!
You're kidding, right? He'd had a drive around the course in a regular road car a day or so earlier so I'm sure he prepared some of those lines but it looked to me like he was doing all he could to stick to his lines and make light of it so he wouldn't appear as scared as he really was. I think he gave up on that after a bit... The ride around was my favorite part of the uselessly overdone pre-race show. I was hoping that would be posted up somewhere. Unfortunately that clip didn't show the whole ride. In another thread I said "if the coverage is good I think it will be fun to watch" but Waltrip made it hard for me to enjoy. When I heard his boogity boogity boogity boogity crap I almost turned it off. It's a great track. Best race I've seen so far broadcast from Bathurst was a GT1 race. The V8 Supercars fit the track just as well though in different ways. I like the co-driver twist they throw in for the Bathurst 1000. They have to swap drivers for part of the race and put someone behind the wheel who isn't a current series driver. It's a roll of the dice, caused some real entertainment, and made a big difference in the outcome for a number of teams.
Excellent race (especially on DRV), commentators were crap, that track just killed me.... must at least see it once (bucket list for sure).
No doubt he was experiencing pucker factor, but old DW thinks he is funny and is reknowned in these parts for overacting....lol He didn't earn the nickname "Jaws" so many years ago because of his great personality..... of course I've had the pleasure of having him call me an A$$ Hole to my face...but that's a whole another story.. and a fact I am proud of. LOL
Not DW here, video of a spectacular incident from the race for those who missed it. (I wish Speed would have just broadcast the Aussie commentary...) [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilJll5hzd9Q]David Besnard Firey Crash!!! - Bathurst 2011 - YouTube[/ame]
I had heard about this crash (waiting for this weekend to watch it). Any one have any idea why the fire actually started up around the barrier and not the car? Weird that it started away from the car.....
Best theory I've read is it may have been either the battery (they mount them in the rear) or some bits of hot metal parts (rotor?) were ripped off at the impact point and landed very near but not within the fuel spill and then the fuel spread quickly to them. FWIW, here's a better clip. It's longer but the coverage of how the accident happened is much better plus more on the fire marshals, they're even interviewed! :lol: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qEam3Ew3AE]2011 Bathurst 1000 - David Besnard Fire Crash! - Full [HD] - YouTube[/ame]