When people drive fast vehicles at high speeds, accidents are bound to happen. When these people happen to be professional Formula One race car drivers, the numbers of accidents decrease, but still exist. Just ask German F1 driver, Adrian Sutil, who had a little trouble keeping the Gumpert Apollo steady during some testing at the Nurburgring.
Apparently, Sutil was in the middle of testing when he lost control and crashed the Apollo. The Apollo escaped with just a few repairs, but apparently Sutil suffered a few broken teeth. No other injuries were reported.
As a reminder, the Gumpert Apollo is powered by a 4.2-liter bi-turbo 8-cylinder engine and weighs in at around 2400 lbs. It can sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds and can hit a top speed of 225 mph. Apparently, it’s a little more difficult to keep a 700 HP supercar at bay than it is a Formula One car. Okay, not even we believe that, but we’re sure the F1 cars have more safety devices in place just in case an accident does occur.
Usually, when anyone buys a high performance sports car, the first advice typically provided to them is to take a high performance driving course to learn how to handle the amount of power shooting out of it. If the driver of the sports car doesn’t heed to this warning then incidents like this can easily take place. A driver testing his Ferrari 458 Italia at the Vallelunga racetrack during the race of the Ferrari Club Italia lost control over his sports car and ran right smack into a wall. Luckily, the damages caused to his red 458 Italia are repairable.
The Ferrari 458 Italia is powered by a 4,499 cc V8 engine that delivers a total of 570 HP at 9,000 rpm and a peak torque of 540 Nm at 6000 rpm. Top speed goes up to an impressive 201 mph so is no wonder people have trouble controlling it.
Please tell us it isn’t so. During a routine test drive over in Steinegg, Germany, a 2012 Porsche 911/991 prototype has inexplicably gone up in flames. According to fire chief commander, Klaus Buchinger, the fire started in the engine bay and "the car has burned like tinder." Apparently, the car completely burned through in only 15 minutes. The cause for the fire is still unknown.
The vehicle testing was a special prototype developed for the Chinese market, but will be finding its way back to the Porsche center in Weissach for further examination. Once the malfunctioning element has been discovered and corrected, we’re sure the 2012 Porsche 911 will successfully find its way to its official debut later this year at the Frankfurt Motor Show. That, or it will continue to go down in flames like the first few Ferrari 458 Italia units. We’re hoping for the former and not the latter.
As a reminder, the 2012 Porsche 911/991 will be powered by a 3.4-liter, direct-injected flat-six engine that delivers a total of 350 HP at 6400 rpm and max torque of 280 lb-ft between 4400 and 6000 rpm. The Carrera S, on the other hand, will get a 3.8-liter flat-six with direct injection engine that delivers a total of 400 HP at 7000 rpm.
’Jackass" star Ryan Dunn has reportedly died after being involved in a car crash in Pennsylvania earlier this morning. According to TMZ as confirmed by Bam Margera’s mom, Dunn and an unidentified person died after crashing on Route 322 and New Street in West Goshen Township around 3am in what appeared to be Dunn’s Porsche 911 GT3. It is unclear who the driver of the vehicle was, but reports are stating that the vehicle erupted into flames and was later towed away as the crumbled mess seen in the picture above.
In a disturbing twist, Dunn - most known for his stunt in the first ’Jackass’ movie where he strategically placed a Hot Wheels car inside his bum - had apparently tweeted a photo of himself with a couple of buddies a few hours earlier. The photo showed all three gentlemen engaging in what looks to be a few alcoholic beverages. There’s been no word as to whether or not alcohol was the culprit, but other sources are also claiming that the vehicle was traveling at a high speed of 110 mph when the crash occurred. Either way, we’re sure investigations are underway to determine the main factor behind this sad event.
UPDATE 06/20/2011: The West Goshen Township Police Department have confirmed that Ryan Dunn was indeed the driver of his own 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 and that both victims "died as a result of injuries sustained in the accident." Police have also stated that "speed may have been a contributing factor to the accident." Investigations are still underway.
We’ll keep you posted on this story as it develops.
By now we’ve seen the footage of Tanner Foust, aka Hot Wheels’ ’Yellow Driver’, and his remarkable record-setting jump for the longest of a four-wheeled vehicle at the Indianapolis 500.
The feat in itself is very impressive considering the dangers and risks involved in such a daredevil stunt. But while we applauded and congratulated Foust for his courageous derring-do, what we didn’t know at that time was that the whole jump almost never happened.
In a recent video that was just released by Hot Wheels, the company took us back to one of Foust’s previous practice sessions and showed us just how close he came to severely crashing his four-wheeler.
The video goes into detail about how a perfect jump is supposed to happen - Foust was supposed to hit the ramp at a speed of 109 mph and continuing to accelerate - and how Foust got it wrong on one of his attempts, a mistake that almost proved fatal were it not for the modified suspension system in the four-wheeled vehicle.
Check out the video and watch how a practice stunt that almost went wrong could have severely injured one of Top Gear USA’s hosts.
