Clio Maxi F1 pace car

[robi1000]

Can somebody explain this?

[16v_paddy]

The explanation could be boring though, I think a caption competition would be better :P

[RB23]

From memory it rear ended an F1 car, Tyrell I think, that was being towed back to the pits after breaking down in practice

[robi1000]

I really want to know if Maxi was a pace car for a F1 race (or if there's a vid or pics of it somewhere)!

You can make a caption competition later! :D

[16v_paddy]

Well I've seen footage of a williams being used as a safety car in F1 so it's feasible a maxi could've been used

[16v_paddy]

Not too far off topic but I found this while googling for more info on the maxi in the pic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zOgC05dJn4 Mk2 fail

[16v_paddy]

Found the explanation! :D http://www.enterf1.com/news/049-the-bite-point.asp

During practice for the 1995 Monaco Grand Prix, Taki Inoue spun and stalled his Footwork halfway around the circuit. At the end of the session he asked the marshals to tow him back to the pits rather than transport his car on the back of a truck. The marshals complied with Inoue's request but did so whilst the Safety Car was completing its customary lap at the end of practice. The Safety Car was in the safe hands of rally ace Jean Ragnotti but his skill was not enough to avoid an impact with the slow moving Inoue as he screamed through the blind swimming pool complex. The impact was so strong that it flipped the Footwork and smashed it into the barriers, taking a chuck out of Inoue's helmet. Thankfully the luckless Japanese driver was able to walk away uninjured.

[16v_paddy]

From wiki

The main drama of the day occurred when the practice session ended. Inoue had spun and stalled his Footwork, which was was being towed back to the pit lane by a recovery vehicle when it was struck from behind by the Renault Clio safety car—which was being taken on quick demonstration laps of the circuit in the hands of rally driver Jean Ragnotti, with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's press delegate as passenger—in the middle of the Piscine complex. The impact was sufficient to overturn the Footwork and render it a write-off: the FA16 sustained severe rear-end damage to the engine and gearbox, whilst the tow rope, attached to the car's crash structure behind the driver's head, pulled the roll hoop from the chassis.[20] Inoue, who still sitting in the cockpit with his helmet on but his seatbelts unfastened, sustained two impacts to the head, the severity of which was shown by the fact that a chunk had been taken out of his helmet. He was taken to The Princess Grace Hospital Centre for a brain scan and, although he was found to have sustained only a slight concussion, was not permitted to take part in the afternoon qualifying session as a precaution.[6][21] The Footwork team principal, Jackie Oliver, was infuriated by the incident, and wrote an official letter of complaint to the Automobile Club de Monaco, the body responsible for organising the event. He said that Inoue would have been killed had he not been wearing his helmet, and questioned the organisation of the ACM and Ragnotti's attitude: "Why was Ragnotti out there? It's just lack of discipline. I understand he had accomplished a couple of laps before at a million miles an hour with handbrake turns at the Loews hairpin. What was the purpose of him doing it? Was it to give officials a thrill?"[20] The stewards tacitly acknowledged that the incident was not Inoue's fault by authorising him to use the team's spare car for qualifying, but this was rendered academic by his non-participation in the session.[6]

[robi1000]

Ok, thanks for the info!

You can now create pic caption competition!

[16v_paddy]

Doing that research made me late for meeting my mate at the pub so you owe me a beer now :P