Rally Champion Mark Higgins Near Crash at 150 mph @ 2011 Isle of Man TT

The guy in the right seat was pretty cool. I know I woulda said something like OH S#@!*.... :eek6:

 

AWD ftw, wow. What great composure.

 

Rally drivers are the most skilled drivers in the world I'm convinced. Particularly to drive that fast on public roads like they do in Australia and the Isle of Man. Rally drivers make loud clanging noises when they walk.

 

I thought the passenger showed a surprising lack of imagination - he can't have thought that his life was about to end.

A little research shows he is Chris Cantle, a photographer for Road & Track. British websites credit him with a 'stiff upper lip' (does that British idiom for brave exist in the US?), though I would attribute that to the dodgy 'tache.

 

So he wasn't the co-driver. I wondered why he wasn't doing any talking.

Jim

 

Sometimes it is a good thing to be blissfully ignorant to ones surroundings.

That was pure skill behind the wheel!

 

I like Higgins' delay in reacting to what had just happened as the reality sank in...LOL

They were all but Fubar, because there was nothing soft there that they would have impacted...

 

Almost made a new picture window in a house or two.
mad skillz..... wow

 

And think about the guys that do that on a bike. :crazy:

 

Call me crazy but I'd just about give my left nut to go around that place in anger and in my Mini!!!

 

I too would like to drive that course very much. I'm keeping my nuts.

 

Wow.....didn't realize they had car rallies there. Was only aware of the TT race. Now in addition to Targa Newfoundland I have got to do this one!

 

I believe that was a demo drive over the course. They do rally on the Isle of Mann it is the Manx rally. This should get the adrenalin flowing.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwvIRuCLbyg]YouTube - ‪Ari Vatanen - Manx Rally 1983‬‏[/ame]

 

And at that bump at the bottom of Bray Hill, Higgins was doing 150mph while the bikes are doing 185mph....

Elsewhere in yesterday's Senior TT, Dan Kneen survived this moment:

YouTube - ‪Isle of man tt (massive moment for dan kneen)‬‏

 

That was freaking scary. How he held onto that I'll never know. Must have been some sort of miracle. Notice how the camera man reacted? Yikes!!!

 

Exactly what is possible when a great driver's subconscious take's over! Had he consciously thought about the corrections he was making, they would have been too little or too much and definately too late to have saved them.

That magical moment of pure mastery!!

.....and a bit of luck. LOL

 

I don't think I can embed this so I hope the link will let you guys view the video:

Isle of Man TT record video | Auto Express News | News | Auto Express

Starting at 4:00 is a three-view slo-mo of the 150mph 'tank slapper' Higgins had at the bottom of Brae Hill, with his voice-over describing how he was keeping the power on, but dabbing the brakes as the car passed through the straight-ahead position on each swing.

I don't see what's wrong with my preferred response of wild panic, locking all four wheels and some really loud screaming.....

 

OMG! ! ! !