BREAKING: #5 Ford Racing Fiesta rolls at Pikes Peak
Ford Racing Fiesta at Pikes Peak - Click above for a high-res image gallery
Details surrounding the crash are scarce, so all we have right now is one lone report from a friend on the ground saying that the #5 Ford Fiesta crashed during a practice session yesterday, and that Andrea Ericksson was unharmed in the incident. We're working to secure some photos of the crash, so stay tuned as the story develops.
UPDATE: Apparently a misfire on the #5 Fiesta caused Ericksson to lose it into a corner and he wound up on his side. The vehicle is being worked on now and it appears it didn't suffer any serious structural damage. Excerpts from Ford's release with an interview with Ericksson are posted below the fold.
Excerpts from Ford's release:
Andreas Eriksson-driver/manager Olsbergs Motor Sport Evolution-YOU HAD AN ADVENTUROUS DAY ON THE MOUNTAIN. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR DAY? "The mountain is a very strange place. It's a high altitude so it's hard to get everything working. Marcus' car seems to work quite well, we're having a little problem with the boost at the bottom that we're trying to solve, but I had a little misfire in mine. It was a little problematic today. I ran off of the right side, not the outside of the mountain, so that was quite good. For the moment my car is being worked on, they are making the uprights to fit back into place in the rear, left rear back, but we will be going tomorrow hopefully again. Hopefully we will get a hold of the problem. Anyway, we have two cars, one car is still a little treacherous so we're waiting for more parts. I need to upgrade here and there. I will when they get here, but now I have a little experience about this mountain. I have learned a little bit from the last couple of days that I have been here and I ordered more parts. We're getting there little by little, taking it one step at a time, but the preparations have been done and I hope everything is in place so we can have a good result."
AND YOU'RE DOING OKAY PHYSICALLY? "Yeah, I have a little headache and side ache. It was a big hit in the rock on the back left rear, so I'm not really feeling exactly right, right now."
ERIKSSON –WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE LITTLE MISFIRE? DID YOU SLIDE INTO A ROCK ON THE BACK LEFT REAR SIDE? "Yes, the car wasn't working well, but we sort of solved the problem. It still misfires a little and the part that we're looking for, they are pretty hard to find sometimes. But anyway, I thought it was quite okay in practice, maybe missing a little concentration and so on, but it was quite good enough for what it is worth. In the middle of moving around on the corners there was a little misfire and no power at all and the speed wouldn't get up quite as high, so I slid out on the corners, and I got out and it was quite bad on the wheel in the rear back. Then I flipped over onto its side."
DID YOU ROLL IT? "No, not rolled it but I put it on its side, mostly on the roof, the roof is not damaged, but a little on the side. But you've got to remember, the speed is higher than you think when you go because it doesn't feel like the car, the power runs quite well, the handling and everything, but when the power disappears it gets a little problematic."
IS THE BODY IN DECENT ENOUGH SHAPE THAT YOU CAN GET BACK OUT THERE? "Yes, it's in the body shop now. It's having its repairs done now on the rear, everything is on its way.
I'M GLAD YOU'RE NOT HURT AND EVERYTHING WENT OKAY. "Yeah, it's a good thing it happened on the inside of the mountain and not the outside."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
KeatMP 5:31PM (7/17/2009)
I really don't think that wing is big enough.
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ack154 5:32PM (7/17/2009)
Have you ever seen a Pike's Peak car?
drakkor 6:13PM (7/17/2009)
lol i bet you think its a ricer car don't you
XGM 6:35PM (7/17/2009)
Why did you get downranked ? Seriously some of these hill climb cars have bigger wings to really push it down like the XLR7 and Escudo.
KeatMP 7:05PM (7/17/2009)
I don't think it's a ricer. I just just taken back by how huge that thing is. And any aerodynamic modification is OK with me if it's a racing situation.
Randy 12:21AM (7/18/2009)
"I really don't think that wing is big enough."
Now if we were all talking car smack in a parking lot and looked across the street to see the Fiesta with that wing pull into Taco Bell and you said that, I'd a laughed my azz off.
Still kinda funny! :)
rooster 10:35AM (7/18/2009)
Knowing what the drops look like on Pikes Peak, I'd want all the traction I could get. The wings ahead of the front wheels are ugly, too, and if I saw it on the road, I'd attribute it to adding large effects to offset other deficiencies, but the peak takes big ones to run, so...
Tang 5:36PM (7/17/2009)
Nothing like a little drama.
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montoym 5:44PM (7/17/2009)
Well, at least he crashed while going up the mountian.
Yesterday in the local paper, there was a pic of a car on its top and the description said he crashed on the way down the mountain after his practice run.
Also seems that today there was another with the Fiestas due to overheating,
http://www.gazette.com/sports/peak-58653-hill-pikes.html
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ben 5:58PM (7/17/2009)
BREAKING; haha
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SubieYota 5:59PM (7/17/2009)
you can't throw a couple WRC europeans into this machine, on this mountain, and expect records to be broke. if ford wanted to make a splash, they should have hired Tajima to race the car. guarantee Tajima's Suzuki will have better time than the fiestas this weekend.
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jrhmobile 6:03PM (7/17/2009)
Does anybody know if someone is getting live video from Pikes Peak? I'm stuck working at the computer all weekend and I'd love to have this on in the background ...
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xpolarx 6:12PM (7/17/2009)
That must have been one hell of a misfire...
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why not the LS2LS7? 6:51PM (7/17/2009)
The pictures below seem to indicate that as expected, "misfire" is code for "drove the car off the mountain".
Jorge 6:25PM (7/17/2009)
While Autoblog tries to get the pics for the crash, watch it for yourself in the Pikes Peak page gallery:
http://www.ppihc.com/gallery.aspx?categoryid=6280&photomode=3&tabid=10
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anewnerrad 6:58PM (7/17/2009)
I like the wood front splitter ala top gear budget evo... LOL!!
Jorge 7:06PM (7/17/2009)
that part its in plywood so no one can say it isnt a green car, LOL
montoym 7:11PM (7/17/2009)
I think that may actually be there to conform to the rules. I don't tknow the rules per se, but I know I have seen wood used in some forms of racing to keep the cars at a legal height. If after the race, there is no wood, or very little left, then judges can say the car was set up too low. Makes for a fairly inexpensive tool to catch cheating.
Then again, on a (mostly) dirt track, ride height seems to be a self-policing item.
Just a guess though.
Jorge 7:30PM (7/17/2009)
I think your are right montoym. I have read about that before.
chris 7:19PM (7/17/2009)
Photos of the crash/wreckage here:
http://www.ppihc.com/gallery.aspx?categoryid=6275&photomode=3&tabid=10
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