Me too neither is comparing an accident where the 2nd driver tried to avoid it and one where he clearly didn't!
We manage our safety by only letting drivers go out in big groups or twin properly if they have a sticker saying they are safe. non-stickered drivers, if they appear dangerous, would be told to keep their distance from other drivers, they also go out on track with smaller numbers and more space. My advice to Matt G40 is that if you "have to avoid people spinning and pulling out" then you shouldn't be following so closely. We do brief people that if they spin, they should stay where they are and allow the following car to have right of way until it's clear, but if you are hooning through a yellow flag (saying a car has spun) and are surprised at a car pulling out, then in my eyes you're in the wrong. Anyway the BMWs in question both had our Buxton Drift Train stickers meaning we know they are safe, hence both cars only having a minor bump. It was about a 20mph impact by the time they actually hit eachother I'd guess, but at the time of the spin they'd have both been doing 50mph ish. If we were running a track where there was a potential for actual 50-60mph impacts then we'd re-think our safety, but unless one driver spins and the chase driver locks up from 120mph and only just slows to 60.... then that's not going to happen. As for that pic of a crumpled s14 rear - HA! That happens at every Buxton, it's hardly a bad crash. One mistake and boom the wall gets another victim, your s14 exhaust snaps off the turbo, you bodge it up and carry on, then go home with a ratchet strapped boot. It's only bad at Buxton when the rear screen finally goes through. Finally, as mentioned above, we certainly don't encourage people to be insane at Buxton, and if everybody had cages then that'd be brilliant, but our theory is that if people drive safely and are competent, then coupled with the way our track runs and the distances/speeds involved etc there is no reason to prevent people from doing what they enjoy. Since we've probably written off more cars at Buxton than any other drift track ever, I think we're in the best position to say what is and isn't likely to happen in a collision. Also, we don't have any lampposts at Buxton so there's no chance of "bending an s13 in half". A competent driver without a cage on a track with competent marshals run by competent people is much safer than a guy hooning around with a roll cage thinking he's invincible.
man i wanna have a go at buxton! looks so much fun! i better get me a winter e36 soon and pop over for a day!
Buxton's closed over winter ;-) the road snows over due to the altitude and you literally can't get to the track for a few months haha.
everyone knows s bodys have soft as shit rear ends, especially 14s. but they still have door bars. iv been shunted pretty hard in my passenger door before in the nissan. Caused similar damage to bens e36. The door bar didnt move a mm.
Fristly the driver in the vid is a serious risk anywhere, the first watch intital thoughts were surely he had time to stop, second watch thoughts were, he did have time to stop. Thrid veiw hang on why isnt there a marshal on the corner??
Mega lol. There are no Marshall's at crail other than the three grumpy bastards who stand.at the track entry to make sure no one hits the tyres on the drag straight. They don't give a fuck about health and safety (unless you happen to bring a bbc camera crew in which case they suddenly appear interested )
seen as it was my e36 that got the impact i must say as a driver at buxton safety is first for all the guys allowed to twin responsably and it was one of those incidents where we were both committed to the corner and matt spun i couldn't avoid hitting him from being close to his rear quarter. it just shows that within the confines of the track layout at buxton and the slightly slower entry and exit speed to most uk big tracks that twinning can be safe without a cage, and ultimately the responsability lies with the driver and common sense. just glad we were all ok and it won't put me off twinning again at buxton, faster circuits like teeside and mallory lydden etc i can 100% see why a cage is a must and fully respect that, thats just common sense!
