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I know I will be practicing. Also trying to embed in motor-memory hitting the kill switch.

WTF??? The Porsche driver had done up his harness with the buckle release lever facing towards his body.

Yeah all kinds of problems with that. If others were trying to get him out, if he has a big frontal bang, that bucket would hurt!

One of the comments on the forum I saw it on made a good point - if you are stopped on the track put your brakes on - brake lights signals to oncoming cars there is an issue before they get there.

We are lucky our car's fuel tank is over the rear axle, though that does not mean we can't have a fire - see the previous discussion on this subject.

Lesson 1 - drive with the visor down: it does more than stop debris hitting your eyes.

Lesson 2 - hit the kill switch first, then take whatever action necessary. They don't have external switches over there

Lesson 3 - if you use cool suits, radios, drink bottles ... set them up to disconnect fast

Brave man to go to a burning car, help the driver, and stand around while he gets out - with no helmet.

Yeah he was a champion going to help him, 2 others cars sitting watching. Those drink lines? wow just rip them out, who cares, if you can.

Lesson 1...Unless your transmission has locked solid or the wheels have fallen off, don't stop on the track!

This guy is out in 8 seconds but was extremely lucky to not make the situation worse for himself. This is also a good demonstration of why we have windows on our track cars!

Pretty hard to judge someone in this position, never know how we will react in the same situation. Get bbq'd or bail and risk getting run into......

Bit of a fail by the other drivers. I might not be a hero, but I think I'd at least grab an extinguisher and help fight the flames.

I would like to think the same. No matter how many times you are told... "stay in your car with harness on"... the guys car was on fire and he couldn't get out. !! How could you watch that? Goes to show, whether regs require them or not, carry an extinguisher.

True that everyone is an armchair expert but I would argue that knowing your equipment inside out (how to disconnect, undo etc) and practicing your "what to do if..." procedures lessens your chance of panic or making a mistake that could cost you.

That bloke jumped out of his car while it was still going fast enough to spin. Lucky to not run himself over, lucky to not be collected by other cars, lucky to not be crushed between the car and the pit wall.

Agree that an extinguisher is a must if you are going on track. I think CAMS are mental for not mandating them anymore and only calling for a minimum of 1kg.

deviant wrote:Agree that an extinguisher is a must if you are going on track. I think CAMS are mental for not mandating them anymore and only calling for a minimum of 1kg.

Yeah, I was thinking that in that situation I might be brave enough to grab my 1kg and run to the fire. But, maybe with a 1kg extinguisher I'd just be pissing into the wind anyway. Maybe if there was 10 people with 1kg...

Deviant totally agree. Committing it to muscle memory is important for that type of situation. Lets hope none of us need to execute it in reality.

I spent 4 or 5 years as a marshal and flaggie in the UK. A 9KG powder extinguisher is about all that is effective for a big fire but only when it is backed up with more powder to keep the oxygen out and then followed up with foam to remove heat. For a proper fire the fire tender is all that is going to help.

A 1KG is good for bashing a window out or dealing with a very small fire such as some wiring, a bit of grass on the exhaust or a pod filter burning. They have only a few seconds worth of cover in them at best and are all to easy to fully discharge without even getting to the cause of the fire.

If you have a bit of a fire the first thing to NOT do is to fling the bonnet open and let oxygen in to it. You want to be killing the power totally and popping the bonnet so it is just on the first latch. Lift the edge if you can do safely and use the extinguisher in short bursts under the gap.

Fire inside the car is a different game altogether. Get the car SAFELY stopped and GTFO! If you are stuck you will again need to be sparing with that 1KG of powder. Remember the fire will consume the air inside the car and your helmet very quickly.

At the last tuning day I did everyone was reminded that it is not just on track that things go wrong. A sports sedan RX7 trundled in to the paddock and suddenly burst in to flames. There was fire inside the car that scorched the drivers helmet and melted the window net. Fortunately he had not yet removed his helmet or unzipped his overalls as so many do on their way back to their garage.

Okay I know this all sounds dramatic and that big fires are thankfully rare but lets not be complacent and lets remember that our car does not know the difference between a crash at an un-timed fun day or under full race conditions.

Good info Deviant.

Removing the oxygen from a car fire might put it out but if the fire isn't out long enough for the heat to die down then it will reignite as soon as it gets oxygen back.

A fire here


heats up the body and firewall and soon you have a fire here:



A 1kg extinguisher might not do much with a big car fire but it would be handy when a fellow competitor is on fire.