By Karan Singh

StreetFire.net

Here’s a whole slew of vintage rally crash footage, mostly Renaults, to kick off your weekend. Enjoy!

Rally Car Crash Compilation

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

I’ve never been shy about admitting that I love watching crash comps. But most of the time, the screaming engines, buckling metal and general noise of the wrecks is buried under some of the crappiest music imaginable. Really, you don’t need tinny European techno beats or ridiculous American rap metal to add drama to a rally crash. When the focus of a shot is a high-performance car spinning like an alternator pulley while shedding sheet metal, any additional elements are going to make it less compelling. And that’s why Crazy Finns Crashing is so killer. There’s no extraneous editing, no insipid soundtrack, no trippy title cards. All you hear is what the camera heard, and it’s perfect. Prepare for an exciting ten minutes….

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

Let’s say your dad has a hot 1969 Camaro Pro Touring car and you’re a red-blooded American kid. Your parents go out for the evening and you decide to have a little fun. One kid in New Jersey did just that, put down nearly 400 feet of rubber, and then crashed into the landscaping in a neighbor’s front yard.

BangShift.com forum member Huskinhano lives in the neighborhood where the incident took place, and his son happens to be friends with the kid who had the off-street excursion. Luckily no one was hurt, and the only damage came to the car, a tree, some bushes, and apparently another car that was struck by a tree that stopped the Camaro’s skid. Head over to the BangShift.com forum to read the whole story and see more photos of the carnage.

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

During qualifying for the Hungarian Gran Prix on Saturday, Ferrari driver Felipe Masa was struck in the head by a spring that came loose from another car. The impact caused him to loose consciousness, and his car eventually left the track and crashed into a tire barrier. While surgery to repair two skull fractures was successful, it’s unclear whether Masa will  be able to race again. Given that this incident comes just a week after driver Henry Surtees was killed after being struck by a tire during a Formula Two race, I have to wonder if we’re going to start seeing closed cockpits in F1. There are a bunch of crashes in the clip below, but Masa’s is the first one. Let’s hope he makes a full recovery.

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Here’s some more proof that racing motorbikes isn’t for the timid. After one rider loses it just before a turn, Italian racer Vittorio Iannuzzo winds up running straight into him and goes over the handlebars head first. It’s unclear who came out worse, but it’s safe to say both of these guys were pretty sore when they woke up the next morning. Ouch.

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Not including stupid, burnout-related accidents, this is one of the dumbest motorcycle crashes I’ve seen. Sure, the rider in the frame might have come in too hot—hey, it’s happened to me—but the guy on the camera bike? What the hell is he thinking? If his buddy is obviously wrecking, why exactly does he follow? Of course, that’s not the only problem here. In following his buddy, the camera guy avoids being hit by a GMC rounding the corner by what looks like inches. It’s not clear who’s “1st Time Down” this is, but let’s hope there were some lessons learned.

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Over the weekend in Greece, Sebastien Loeb lost it during about halfway through the Acropolis Rally and wound up making eight revolutions before coming to a stop.The good news is that Loeb and his driver are both in good shape. Unfortunately, that can’t be said for the pair’s Citroen C4, which is as bashed-up as you’d expect it to be. During interviews following the wreck, the world champion said that he basically came in to the turn too hot and over-corrected, which send the car over the edge of the road and started the tumble. Hopefully he and his team have better luck next time out.

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Most of the time, I like to keep the videos I put in the blog short and sweet, because I have the attention span of a fruit fly. But this coverage of the British Rally Championships was too good not to post. In the States, generally all we get to see of this insane form of racing are isolated crashes and turns, so getting to watch full professional coverage of a complete stage is a rare treat. Given that it’s 45 minutes long, it’s probably not the kind of thing you want to watch at work—not that, um, anyone ever does that—so if you don’t have time now, this action-packed clip will make perfect Saturday morning material. Enjoy.

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

The coolest part of this clip might not actually be the crash itself, but the way that the second driver, after going up on two wheels, manages to keep his Subie from flipping. And while I understand there’s a fair amount of luck involved in such a maneuver, I don’t think I’d be able to manage something like that even if I had all my fingers and toes crossed. It’s pretty clear from the first second that the Evo driver isn’t going to be able to navigate the turn—the angle is just too steep—but fortunately most his speed is lost before he makes contact with the statue. Think the driver and co-pilot were able to right the car and keep going? I’ll give them a 50/50 shot…

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Lots of people just wake up with a hangover after Memorial Day, but one Seattle man greeted Tuesday with the knowledge that he’d trashed his Porsche. Of course, given the car left the road at high-speed and hit a utility pole before flying into 15 feet of water off Seattle’s Alki beach, that doesn’t exactly rule out a hangover. Details come from KOMO News, which has reported the accident occurred about 2AM, and that the 50 year-old driver—who was alone in the vehicle—was able to free himself before firefighters arrived. Alki is a beautiful stretch of road and a popular cruising spot, and this isn’t the first time speeding drivers have lost it on this corner. But this Porsche might hold the distance record! We’ve got one more shot after the jump, and KOMO has a bunch more pics and a video of the story.

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