F1 car takes flight

F1 car takes flight

It happens every once in a while, but I still get a kick out of it. I just hope no one got hurt or died.
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/ver/223/popup/index.php?cl=3864174

thats pretty crazy

dang thats crazy

not an f1 car, its a le mans porsche 911. and that video is pretty old, from the 90s i believe.

BUT A SIGHT TO SEE!

all ricers, take note....the bigger your wing, the greater your downforce, the less likely this will happen to you!!

lol..

Yeah, I feel the car lifting up like I'm about to gain air at highway speeds. It looks like I'll need a double decker rice wing now.

ugh...those wings look ridiculous.

I remember seeing that some time ago - I'm pretty sure that turbo4age is right, it is a Porsche 911GT1 that flipped in the 1998 Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

Anyone remember that brutal flip of the Mercedes Benz CLK GTR at Le Mans 1999 - and there was was a BMW V12 LMR that flipped at almost the exact same spot as the Porsche did, in 2000.

I thought they engineered them to have just the right amount of downforce to not flip. So why is it that they still do?

It is more that just downforce at work here - you could fill an entire textbook on the physics of what is involved with a Le Mans vehicle blowing over like that. The short explanation - the cars do not sit perfectly parallel to the grond - but actually at a 2-5 degree forward rake angle (front is lower than the rear). This small rake angle generates a venturi-like effect - where the majority of the ground effects (downforce) is generated. This angle is so sensitive, that even 0.1" (one-tenth of an inch) one way or the other one either the front or rear end, can have a significant effect on downforce.

Now if the nose of the car, rises even one degree of nose-down rake angle, the ground effects generated by the rake and flat bottom of the car will suddenly become lift. The angle could be shifted by rough roads (bumps temporarily pop the front end up in the air) or by following leading cars very closely (drafting tends to be more detrimental - since air exiting the lead car is highly turbulent, reducing the following car's overall downforce - even at ranges approaching 160'-500' (50m-150m), depending on speed).

The maximum possible positive pressure generated (lift - also called stagnation pressure) can be had with just a few degrees of nose-up rake angle. The force generated from these few degrees of nose-up angle could be in excess of 4000 lbs at 200 mph. Given that the cars generally run around half that - easy to see how these cars get blown over so easily.

Very interesting. It's even easier to lift up since the weight of the cars are so low as well. The drafting does make sense, however you would have to be drafting fairly close to the vehicle in front, which I do see happening in the video. It all checks out. Thanks for clearing that up!