Yesterday we told you about Nissan DeltaWing’s horrendous crash during a practice session for 2012 Petit Le Mans at the Road Atlanta track. Well, in less than 24 hours the team has repaired the car and brought back to tiptop shape for Saturday’s race. Talk about determination.
The car didn’t look good at all after the crash. It rolled over and covered some ground on its roof – well, roll hoops – before hitting the wall. And it did all that after being struck severely on the side by a GTC Class Porsche.
Fortunately though, the car’s “tub” – a carbon-fibre survival-cell used in all Le Mans-style prototype racing, was tough enough to survive the crash. That is also what saved the life of driver Gunnar Jeannette.
So the car is back on the grid. DeltaWing is an experimental vehicle that doesn’t qualify in any official categories. So other teams should cut it a bit of slack and don’t put it in danger. The team has worked too hard on it, and after the Le Mans 24 hours crash and then this, they just cannot afford another accident.
“The biggest impact the car suffered was actually the hit from the Porsche; but, the subsequent damage from the rollover and then hitting the wall broke a lot of components,” said Nissan DeltaWing Concept Originator, Ben Bowlby. “We had some damage to the roll hoop but that was mainly cosmetic. Unfortunately we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The good thing is the car again proved itself to be remarkably safe.”