Autoblog

Petter Solberg crashes through vineyard, into utility pole at French WRC event

Zach Bowman — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 12:01:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Europe, Videos, Celebrities

If one absolutely must crash out of professional rally event, one might as well do it with style. At least that seems to be the philosophy of Petter Solberg. The Norwegian World Rally Championship driver bowed out of the Rally of France Alsace on Saturday when he left the course, drove through a vineyard, rejoined the course briefly, drove through a second vineyard and struck a power pole. As if that weren't bizarre enough, the impact sent the pole crashing to the ground, narrowly missing spectators and sending power lines arcing across parked vehicles in the area.

Solberg started the day with his Ford Fiesta RS in fourth place overall, but ended his bout for the podium on the first stage. Fortunately, no injuries were reported as a result of the off. You can take a closer look at the scene in the video below. Trust us, you'll want to watch this one a few times.

Continue reading Petter Solberg crashes through vineyard, into utility pole at French WRC event

Petter Solberg crashes through vineyard, into utility pole at French WRC event originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 07 Oct 2012 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rally crash gets exciting after car comes to complete stop

Zach Bowman — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 19:59:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos, Subaru, Racing

Racing of any variety is inherently dangerous, and rally racing may very well be the most dangerous flavor of all motorsports. Niceties like track runoff and Armco barriers are replaced with sturdy oak trees, water hazards and some nice old lady's front porch. Hell, just getting out of the car post-off can be hazardous to your health.

Just ask the BRAKIM Racing team. Driver and co-driver suffered a brief miscommunication last weekend during Stage 7 of Rally West Virginia, which was enough to put the team's Subaru down a quick embankment.

After the party came to a stop, the co-driver decided to do his best to extricate himself from the car by climbing up and out of the passenger window. That's when things began to get really hairy. Ladies and gentlemen, please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times. Amazingly enough, no one was harmed. Check out the video below to see the craziness.

Continue reading Rally crash gets exciting after car comes to complete stop

Rally crash gets exciting after car comes to complete stop originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 Jul 2012 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rally car plows into crowd in France, kills two [w/video]

Jeff Sabatini — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:59:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Europe, Safety, Videos

A rally race in France ended in a tragedy this weekend, when a driver missed his turn and hit a crowd of people. Two deaths were reported, with 17 injured including a race marshall and several children, according to the BBC.

Four of the injuries were deemed "serious," and the scope of the accident overwhelmed rescue services, according to the report. The driver was also injured, and is in the custody of the police, who have launched an investigation, according to iafrica.com.

The Pays des Maures race was being held in Southern France, with the accident occurring on Saturday afternoon near Toulon, according to the BBC.

Scroll down to see a TV report on the accident, in French.

Continue reading Rally car plows into crowd in France, kills two [w/video]

Rally car plows into crowd in France, kills two [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Watch spectators rush to save lives of rally drivers trapped in capsized Renault

Steven J. Ewing — Fri, 18 May 2012 19:45:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Safety, Videos, Renault, Racing

We don't need to tell you why rally racing - though awesome - is incredibly dangerous. As much as we love to watch turbocharged, all-wheel-drive Euro hatches being flung around on dirt, gravel, snow and tarmac, the fact that many of these races go through small towns and wooded trails leaves plenty of room for disaster.

Case in point: This Renault Clio racer went off course during the 2012 Mazowiecki Rally, leaving driver Patrick Osowiecki and navigator Maciej Wrona trapped upside-down in a lake. According to CarScoop, no race officials were near the scene of the accident, but some selfless spectators rushed in to attempt to free Osowiecki and Wrona from their racecar. Scroll down to watch the action unfold.

Continue reading Watch spectators rush to save lives of rally drivers trapped in capsized Renault

Watch spectators rush to save lives of rally drivers trapped in capsized Renault originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 18 May 2012 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rally car slams into pole, continues on to finish second

John Neff — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos

Most accidents in motorsport will immediately terminate any chance you have of winning the race. Not so when you're nickname is "Crazy Leo." Rally driver Leonid Urlichich demonstrates in the videos below how you can shake off an accident like a boxer recovers from a right hook.

The footage comes from the 2012 Rallye Perce-Neige held in early February where Leo and his navigator Carl Williamson were competing in the woods of Maniwaki, Quebec. Leo reportedly tapped the brakes while careening flat out down a snowy straight and his Subaru WRX STI doth protested. The car spun around backwards and slammed, rather violently, into a telephone pole. Amazingly, the damage was mostly cosmetic and the car wound up facing the right way on the track, so Crazy Leo just hit the gas and continued on to ultimately finish the rally in second place.

Scroll down to watch a trio of videos showing the accident as well as the crowd's reaction to Leo's recovery.

Continue reading Rally car slams into pole, continues on to finish second

Rally car slams into pole, continues on to finish second originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Watch Evgeny Novikov crash spectacularly out of the 2012 Rally Mexico

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:01:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos, Ford, Racing

Rally racing, like virtually every other form of motorsport in the world, is a dangerous activity. As much as we love watching a talented driver negotiate a tricky off-road race course with skill and luck, crashing is no doubt part of the experience as well. And crashes happen rather often in the world of rallying.

During the 2012 Rally Mexico, which took place from March 8-11, 2012, there were two drivers who started the race but were forced to retire after crashing out. One of those was Evgeny Novikov, who ended his race in spectacular fashion after the roof vent of his Ford Fiesta RS WRC blew away, causing the cabin to fill with dust and debris. As the commentators point out, he was truly driving blind, at least until he veered off course and crashed.

When we say Noviko crashed, what we really mean is that he flipped, rolled and generally demolished his Fiesta rally car with a vengeance before ending up on the roof. See for yourself by watching the video below.

Continue reading Watch Evgeny Novikov crash spectacularly out of the 2012 Rally Mexico

Watch Evgeny Novikov crash spectacularly out of the 2012 Rally Mexico originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: New footage of Ken Block's crash in Portugal

Chris Shunk — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 19:58:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos, Ford

Ken Block wreck at Rally of Portugal - Click above to watch the video after the jump

During a shakedown run before the 2011 Rally of Portugal, Ken Block wrecked his Ford Fiesta WRC car in a big way. The high-sprung rally car clipped a berm at the start of a turn, and the resulting series of flips were both violent and scary. Block and his teammate Alex Gelsomino checked out of the hospital with a clean bill of health, but the same prognosis can't be said of the car.

That means we don't feel guilty for showing you more footage of the wreck, which comes courtesy of the Monster World Rally team. The post-jump clip is over two minutes long, with the oddball goofiness we've come to expect from Block and Co. We're thinking the theme here is that of a near-death experience - we can't fathom another reason why Block would be floating around a pool, in full racing gear, with an angelic glow all around him.

Hit the jump to watch the horrific crash, which makes its entrance at 2:13, followed by a slow-motion replay.

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Video: New footage of Ken Block's crash in Portugal

Video: New footage of Ken Block's crash in Portugal originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rally at X Games 14 wows the crowds [SPOILER ALERT]

John Neff — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:58:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports

Click above for high-res gallery of rally at X Games 14

You can bitch and moan about the X Games version of rally racing being less pure than what you see on WRC, and while there are no trees whizzing by or bottomless pits in which to careen, the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA offered many opportunities for competitors to crash their cars in spectacular fashion. This year's event at X Games 14 was divided between driving on dirt within the stadium and pavement outside with a big jump smack dab in the center of the stadium giving fans the best view of the biggest car-nage.

The most spectacular example of mechanical mayhem from this past weekend's two-hour competition was during the quarterfinals in which Andrew Comrie-Picard didn't quite make the big jump and smacked his rear end on the lip of the receiving ramp, which flipped his car end over end (see above and more in gallery). His competitor at the time, Dave Mirra, who is an X Games alum competing for the first time in a car rather than on a bike, just had to finish to win. He tagged the wall halfway through the race, however, and was forced to finish without being able to turn left.

Find out what happened in the gold medal race, as well video of that race and the Mirra/Comrie-Picard duel after the jump, and view some photos of yesterday's Rally X action in the gallery below.

Gallery: X Games 14 (2008) - Rally

[Source: Expn]

Continue reading Rally at X Games 14 wows the crowds [SPOILER ALERT]

Rally at X Games 14 wows the crowds [SPOILER ALERT] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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