I was there, too. I was watching that section of track, known as "the gravity cavity" by the local SCCA guys, until _just_ before Chip wrecked, because I had decided to watch them come out from under the bridge and dive through turn 12 for a while. Then, I did the _exact same thing_ just before Geoff crashed! Both times, I walked up back onto the bridge area and was greeted by those horrific aftermath scenes. It was incredible that they both got out alive. Keep in mind that only the Chevy Intrepid even had a carbon-fiber tub (Edit 1: That new Jag was probably CF, too), and that wasn't enough to save Tom Kendall from gruesome leg injuries at Watkin's Glen. This event was effectively the end of GTP. It was also disastrous for the brand-new Mazda team, remember. As others have mentioned, Porsche, which had long been the 'meat and potatoes' of American sports car racing, was already gone from IMSA racing, because they were flat broke at that time (hard to believe today, I know). So was Jaguar, really. Plus, Japan had recently entered the economic recession that still defines its economy today. GTP was getting extremely expensive at precisely the wrong moment, and the whole thing unraveled over the year following this race. Edit 2: The cause of both Nissan crashes was tire failure.
Man so many good memories watching these races from being a kid and seeing them on TV! also, I have sat in one of the ZX turbos Nissan maintains, so cool
We never got the full story on the Nissan accidents. IMO it was a suspension or half-shaft failure, Geoff and Chip were too good of drivers to have those kinds of accidents due to driver error. They should have pulled Brabham's car after Robinson's accident. This Nissan Team was never quite the same after this race.
Crazy! Not only was I at that race but was I was right on the fence next to where Chip Robinson's car landed, about 30 ft away (14:15). Still have photos of it, but can't believe I just now found this video!
I was there at the fence too. That's my blue Toyota pickup backed in next to the fence just a few feet from where Robinson had his impact. Debris and dirt rained down for what almost seemed like forever, and then I realized I was still alive. A buddy of mine was working a corner station across the track, heard the tire on the Nissan explode, and knew a big hit was on the way.
I've been lucky enough to see a few of these cars at the silverstone classic over the past few years, have to say the Bud Light Jag that led off the pole is by far one of the best, and makes an incredible noise!
that was the pinnacle of Nismo/NPTI/Electramotive VG30 development. devin rickey and the guys at NPTI vista were also key in developing the VG30 engines for the pond racer airplane. i attended the NPTI bankruptcy auction- the shop was incredible as were many of the deals. have built several cars (510s and a 610) using the VG and it is an incredible power plant- even by today's standards. i got to witness the event at del mar (got to meet steve millen- awesome guy) that year, but i wish i could have seen road atlanta.
I was there. There was a huge crowd, and GTP looked stronger than ever. But Jaguar had raised the cost bar too high with that controversial car. Porsche was already long-gone, by then. This race was the end of Nissan as a competitive team because they wrote-off three chassis (one in practice, maybe not a total loss), and the bosses back in Japan decided to wind the program down in 1992 rather than rebuild. Mazda's program never quite came together, and they quit during 1993. Jag went away, too, having priced themselves out of GTP along with everyone else. Well, truthfully, IMSA's rules allowed costs to get out of control, it wasn't Jag's fault. Toyota was the only factory team left, and they totally dominated until the new 'World Sports Car' (WSC) rules came into effect. WSC gave us the Ferrari 333SP, Ferrari's return to sports car racing after about 20 years of racing only in F1.
Wow what an amazing race, and those two wrecks for the Nissan team DAMN SCARY!..Thank you for these awesome uploads..Those cars and crews back then versus what they race now..
Brandon Ryan No, Laguna Seca sucks for racing, it's what I like to call a "time trial track" since passing is stupidly hard. ***** needs Road Atlanta (I prefer the new one to be honest, the old dip was stupidly dangerous) and maybe Circuit of The Americas or Road America
Agree. Atlanta, Virginia, and Laguna would be excellent additions.. The plethora of stupid little cheap street courses is one of the reasons why I have no interest in watching Indycar.
Amazing really only 20-25 years ago how inept and unorganized track workers still were. If that car had caught on fire brabham would have been severely burned or killed for sure
Road Atlanta was scary with its earthen embankment and loose tires then. A sports racer blew a tire at the same place that year when i was working that station at the runoffs
The ground effects had nothing to do with it, and when they eventually _were_ banned, the cars' flat undertrays resulted in dramatic, dangerous back flips like those of the Mercedes CLR. Talk about backfire!
I’d like to clear up the cause of the crash speculations up. My motorsports engineering professor Andrew Borme was a design engineer for Electramotive from ‘89 to ‘91 and the Chief Aerodynamicist of Nissan’s GTP program from ‘91 until ‘94, and he explained these failures to us like this - the tire manufacturers and teams were not working too closely together at the time, and so as teams made more and more aerodynamic improvements (more downforce), the tires they were running should have been redesigned. Tires have a peak of friction that they can withstand, and at this point, the R92 was pushing way past this. Too much downforce for the tires actually results in a loss of grip, and at Road Atlanta at the time, there was a dip in the track, which has since been repaved and leveled. The dip was enough to unsettle the car and break what the tires could handle.
A french sponsor NRJ a great french actual music (Former Sponsor of Stade Français in Rugby) in the car onboard in debut, strange in the 90's in IMSA, Franck Freon or Philippe Gache or driver ??? Chip Robinson are very lucky don't heavely hurt or kill.
Had TWR bothered to update the XJR-14 it could have crushed the competition in '92, shame after half way there challenge petered out and Toyota over took them.
Holy crap that Nissan crash! This is why they went away with Group C! The cars are too damn fast for there own good! GTP died due to lack of competition though.
I was there, too. I was watching that section of track, known as "the gravity cavity" by the local SCCA guys, until _just_ before Chip wrecked, because I had decided to watch them come out from under the bridge and dive through turn 12 for a while. Then, I did the _exact same thing_ just before Geoff crashed! Both times, I walked up back onto the bridge area and was greeted by those horrific aftermath scenes. It was incredible that they both got out alive. Keep in mind that only the Chevy Intrepid even had a carbon-fiber tub (Edit 1: That new Jag was probably CF, too), and that wasn't enough to save Tom Kendall from gruesome leg injuries at Watkin's Glen.
This event was effectively the end of GTP. It was also disastrous for the brand-new Mazda team, remember. As others have mentioned, Porsche, which had long been the 'meat and potatoes' of American sports car racing, was already gone from IMSA racing, because they were flat broke at that time (hard to believe today, I know). So was Jaguar, really. Plus, Japan had recently entered the economic recession that still defines its economy today. GTP was getting extremely expensive at precisely the wrong moment, and the whole thing unraveled over the year following this race.
Edit 2: The cause of both Nissan crashes was tire failure.
Same problem caused the same crash for Brabham on a Thursday test day at Road America I believe in 92
Man so many good memories watching these races from being a kid and seeing them on TV!
also, I have sat in one of the ZX turbos Nissan maintains, so cool
We never got the full story on the Nissan accidents. IMO it was a suspension or half-shaft failure, Geoff and Chip were too good of drivers to have those kinds of accidents due to driver error. They should have pulled Brabham's car after Robinson's accident. This Nissan Team was never quite the same after this race.
Tires thigh speed. Same problem for Brabham test day crash at Road America
@@JamesCook-u9h Right rear both times? Could be suspension settings?
Crazy! Not only was I at that race but was I was right on the fence next to where Chip Robinson's car landed, about 30 ft away (14:15). Still have photos of it, but can't believe I just now found this video!
I was there at the fence too. That's my blue Toyota pickup backed in next to the fence just a few feet from where Robinson had his impact. Debris and dirt rained down for what almost seemed like forever, and then I realized I was still alive. A buddy of mine was working a corner station across the track, heard the tire on the Nissan explode, and knew a big hit was on the way.
I've been lucky enough to see a few of these cars at the silverstone classic over the past few years, have to say the Bud Light Jag that led off the pole is by far one of the best, and makes an incredible noise!
vorrei ascoltare la musica dei Punk Floid se è possibile GRAZIE
that was the pinnacle of Nismo/NPTI/Electramotive VG30 development. devin rickey and the guys at NPTI vista were also key in developing the VG30 engines for the pond racer airplane. i attended the NPTI bankruptcy auction- the shop was incredible as were many of the deals. have built several cars (510s and a 610) using the VG and it is an incredible power plant- even by today's standards. i got to witness the event at del mar (got to meet steve millen- awesome guy) that year, but i wish i could have seen road atlanta.
Grp C, Grp B(Rally), IMSA GTP GTO, GT1-GT2, old 90s DTM. iam a lucky one, i guess. I saw and heared the last years of real Motorsport.
Yep your lucky, nowadays there are only electro, hybrid, diesel, downsized/ecologically/DB-killed bullshit racecars.
14:16 Watched it over and over again and I still can't believe Chip made it out. Thank you God for pulling Chip out of that alive!
Chip more likely wrote a check to the angels afterwards.
more like thank the rollcage doing its job, God had nothing to do with this
@@cool3865 Yes, to the roll cage but, God gave designers the wisdom to build the safety into it it so, Thank you God!!!
@@cool3865 Which God? The one that you think doesn't exist?
I wish you people would make up your minds.
@@jgraham8248 Indeed. Amen!
I was there. There was a huge crowd, and GTP looked stronger than ever. But Jaguar had raised the cost bar too high with that controversial car. Porsche was already long-gone, by then. This race was the end of Nissan as a competitive team because they wrote-off three chassis (one in practice, maybe not a total loss), and the bosses back in Japan decided to wind the program down in 1992 rather than rebuild. Mazda's program never quite came together, and they quit during 1993. Jag went away, too, having priced themselves out of GTP along with everyone else.
Well, truthfully, IMSA's rules allowed costs to get out of control, it wasn't Jag's fault. Toyota was the only factory team left, and they totally dominated until the new 'World Sports Car' (WSC) rules came into effect. WSC gave us the Ferrari 333SP, Ferrari's return to sports car racing after about 20 years of racing only in F1.
Yep
Wow what an amazing race, and those two wrecks for the Nissan team DAMN SCARY!..Thank you for these awesome uploads..Those cars and crews back then versus what they race now..
4:29 race start
Wish Indycars would race at tracks like this instead of a multitude of stupid street courses. This track is fantastic
I agree. This, and definitely Laguna Seca need to be on the schedule.
Brandon Ryan No, Laguna Seca sucks for racing, it's what I like to call a "time trial track" since passing is stupidly hard. ***** needs Road Atlanta (I prefer the new one to be honest, the old dip was stupidly dangerous) and maybe Circuit of The Americas or Road America
VIR would be an amazing track for Indycar!
Agree. Atlanta, Virginia, and Laguna would be excellent additions..
The plethora of stupid little cheap street courses is one of the reasons why I have no interest in watching Indycar.
It's a very bad spectator track. No good for indy cars, very few areas to see from.
Amazing really only 20-25 years ago how inept and unorganized track workers still were. If that car had caught on fire brabham would have been severely burned or killed for sure
Pretty sure the fuel tank was no longer attached to the car. The track workers could see that, otherwise I am sure you would have seen extinguishers.
Whoa! That’s the real Ron Burgundy!
Was there there standing very close to both wrecks. Amazed they survived the crashes.
We were there in Gravity Cavity for both wrecks. Debris world for sure
Road Atlanta was scary with its earthen embankment and loose tires then. A sports racer blew a tire at the same place that year when i was working that station at the runoffs
14:14 ouch.
I never see road ATL without the chicane at the end of the back straight. They were flying up to the bridge.
Jesus Christ, that Jag really sings on high revs!
How did Chip OR Geoff make it out?
I think this ended the Nissan effort in GTP, quite a loss for the team and I think took the fire out of the drivers
Chip Robinson's car exploded into a flashbanga bomb!
It is very brutal.
check how they had no quick release wing back then.
long live for Fangio!!
Chip was so lucky. Proves why the ground effect cars had to be banned.... both Nissans rear wings failed and the cars just spun instantly.
Tire failure was the actual cause of these accidents.......exacerbated by the incredible downforce these cars generated.
The ground effects had nothing to do with it, and when they eventually _were_ banned, the cars' flat undertrays resulted in dramatic, dangerous back flips like those of the Mercedes CLR. Talk about backfire!
I’d like to clear up the cause of the crash speculations up. My motorsports engineering professor Andrew Borme was a design engineer for Electramotive from ‘89 to ‘91 and the Chief Aerodynamicist of Nissan’s GTP program from ‘91 until ‘94, and he explained these failures to us like this - the tire manufacturers and teams were not working too closely together at the time, and so as teams made more and more aerodynamic improvements (more downforce), the tires they were running should have been redesigned. Tires have a peak of friction that they can withstand, and at this point, the R92 was pushing way past this. Too much downforce for the tires actually results in a loss of grip, and at Road Atlanta at the time, there was a dip in the track, which has since been repaved and leveled. The dip was enough to unsettle the car and break what the tires could handle.
I've not very seen so much terrifying wrecks in one race! A vast majority look like they were caused by aerodynamic instabilities and boost lag.
Nope. All were in fact caused by tire failure.
Any idea why this has the ALMS logo on the screen?
they were probably doing a rebroadcast thing
Crashs part @: 14:15 & 37:26 -> Nissan R92 each time.
OMG the speed os that Jag - hellacious - if it comes off conrer one it's going land in Tennesseee
That was undoubtedly an aerodinamync fault of the car in that section of the course. Not pilots fault for sure.
Fangio was still racing in the 90s? Wouldnt he have been in his 60s if not 70s?
It's his nephew.
A french sponsor NRJ a great french actual music (Former Sponsor of Stade Français in Rugby) in the car onboard in debut, strange in the 90's in IMSA, Franck Freon or Philippe Gache or driver ??? Chip Robinson are very lucky don't heavely hurt or kill.
Had TWR bothered to update the XJR-14 it could have crushed the competition in '92, shame after half way there challenge petered out and Toyota over took them.
The way group c went fucked over gtp
Holy crap that Nissan crash! This is why they went away with Group C! The cars are too damn fast for there own good! GTP died due to lack of competition though.
Yazan Sakran It had nothing to do with the cars being “too fast”.
@@chipattack912 or a "lack of competition".
More like the teams were too damn poor rofl