In the wrong hands, those cars are a corner handful. That little rise and drop unloaded the rear and around he went.
Probably was trying to intentionally light up the rear coming onto the straight a bit and went a little too far....just because you're an Exec. doesn't mean you're immune to squiggly behavior at times.
Somewhere in Detroit, there is a GM toolmaker (or three) commissioning a commemorative plaque of this momentous occasion.
Supposedly he has a lot of track time and has an amateur race license. He's also been the first lap pace car driver for Belle Isle for a number of years. And to boot if anyone makes fun of him he can fire them on the spot. The dude is paid $7M a year.
Yeah. A lot of these guys have some serious track experience. This wasn't some goon crashing a car he had no business driving. Shit happens.
Track time in that car is the question. They require a different driving style. High HP short wheelbase and track rise/drop in a corner, better be gentle on exit. The Camaro ZL1 1LE would have been more friendly there imo.
Nahh.... It was the Pace Lap no less... He was the 2nd car too.... No friggin reason to wreck.... Track experience or not he is a over paid Goon....
Having led peeps around before I'd bet the biggest issue is he didn't want to slow the field down more than necessary.
^^that's especially true with cars on serious race rubber where they need to keep some heat in the tires to stay effective.
This one will always be my favorite. Safety car is late leaving, ignores the entire blend line and takes out the leader.
I also think GM should have blamed the driver. Weather and track conditions crashed your halo track weapon? Are we going to have to see Corvettes parked under over passes with Harleys from now on?
I don't get why they had to place blame at all. Yep, it happened. Nope, not going to speculate on why.
What would there be to speculate on anyway? 755 hp, leading a field of professional, world-class racers, on live TV. I know what happened. Everybody knows.
If it hadn't happened, none of us would be talking about the new corvette today. His raise should come from the marketing budget. Andy Warhol had a quote that said something like 'don't read your press, weigh it'.