VIDEO: Russian WRC driver nearly flips Citroen C4 in Finland
Evgeny Novikov's Citroen C4 in action - click above to watch video
Oh, my. Talk about a moment filled with more chutzpah than skill. In this short but nonetheless heart-pounding video, Russian rally driver Evgeny Novikov takes a jump at full tilt and nearly backflips his Citroën C4. The close-but-no-crash incident happened during this past weekend's Rally Finland. While we're all for maximum hoonage, this is almost too close for comfort. Watch the video after the jump.
[Source: 0-60mag.com]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Carlos 11:32AM (8/06/2009)
That man has serious brass ones. That was wicked
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Rick 4:42PM (8/06/2009)
Him? Did you see the navigator? He never stopped reading/flipping through his note pad.
Slav 11:28AM (8/07/2009)
Yeah, the navigator is pretty awesome; doesn't even twitch when the whole thing happened. That's some serious commitment and professionalism :)
JeSuZ Cicle 11:34AM (8/06/2009)
Why is this not popular in America again?
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Biomech 11:37AM (8/06/2009)
I'd personally much rather watch men constantly turning left for hours on end. This stuff is BORING!
Brian 11:38AM (8/06/2009)
Because it requires people to walk to the stages maybe ?
Yes I was just kidding.
Bip-D-Bo 12:49PM (8/06/2009)
NASCAR is more profitable. Bleachers can seat thousands in relative safety with a view of the whole track. Can you imagine the liablity insurance in America for a rally race?
Max 2:37PM (8/07/2009)
+1. This is so much more fun to watch than let's say.. People making left turns...
Even more fun than Formula 1
Bran 2:20PM (8/06/2009)
NASCAR, the most interesting version of traffic.
TheoWelles 12:07AM (8/07/2009)
I love the sport of Rallying, it is a true display of car control, and exhilarating, but watching it on TV (where most motor sport is watched) isn't so great, unlike F1, or NASCAR, or MotoGP, WRC races are edited into a report, due to time/camera restraints, and I think that hurts how viewable rallying actually is. If you could have something like the special stages, which could be broadcast live, I think that would help expand the sport greatly.
Fernando 11:38AM (8/06/2009)
Saw this live and he crashed bad like 2 corners later. I love WRC!
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William 11:40AM (8/06/2009)
I love how the navigator never really took his eyes off the notes.
"Over crest...caution jump...into tight butt-pucker!"
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jrhmobile 11:40AM (8/06/2009)
Loved the bit where he closed his eyes before he stuck the landing ...
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Shiftright 11:41AM (8/06/2009)
That'll leave a racing stripe in his shorts...
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Max 2:37PM (8/07/2009)
LMAO rofl.
JoeGecko 11:49AM (8/06/2009)
Wow... that was amazing :) Good stuffs. Cant be believe that Fernando actually saw that live... wicked !
Joe
http://www.eastangliansaabdealers.co.uk/
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Patliean1 11:49AM (8/06/2009)
Wickedly awesome. Neither of them flintched. And you thought your commute in morning traffic was stressful...
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Bennet Pullen 11:58AM (8/06/2009)
After watching that Colin McRea rally driving instructional video posted a while back I'd have to guess this was driver error. He showed how to use the engine in the front of the car as a gyroscope to control the cars pitch in the air. It looks like after leaving the ground he left his foot planted which makes the engine spin up and raises the front of the car, if it starts to go up like that you can just let off the throttle a bit and it will sink right down again. At least that's what Colin says ;)
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spdracerut 12:15PM (8/06/2009)
Using the engine as a gyro applies to motocross bikes too. It's how those guys control the attitude of the bike when they decide to jump 30ft up in the air.
James Sonne 2:07PM (8/06/2009)
I was at first skeptical of the idea of the powertrain acting as gyroscope. Angular momentum would be along the center (hub) axis of the wheels, potentially making the vehicle yaw if not all wheels are receiving the same torque.
But the clutch, transmission, and drivetrain of a rear- or all- wheel drive (longitudinal) vehicle might also produce a horizontal force along the vehicles length, a kind of "headwind" effect. If the vehicle is already pitched, this might account for further pitching, so this might be a valid effect. If the car is perfectly level off the jump, revving the motor would only produce a slight decrease in airspeed. But with positive pitch off the jump, the force would exaggerate that pitch due to an alignment of the angular momentum force and that of gravity. So yeah, Colin McRae knew what he was talking about, and that's why this WRC driver pitched so much and so late (the car in the video was maximally pitched when he hit the ground, not off the jump). Basically, get off the gas when your car goes air-born until just before you hit the ground (to prevent powertrain shock) (i.e. rev-match).