So just close your eyes and pretend you are racing up Pikes Peak at 80 miles per hour much of which has no guard rail to help stop you from rolling about 14,000 feet down the the side of the mountain when all of a sudden the friggin hood flies open! Over the years I have heard people give their thoughts impression of what they would do if that ever happened... "Simple, I'd just look out the side window or between the opening." Bill Cosby said it best in his impression of Noah... "Riiight"
Trust me on this one folks because it's happened to me. First of all when it does happen, there is no warning and talk about fast... It happens so fast your brain really doesn't know what happened for a few seconds needless to say Murphy's Law will guarantee it happens at the worst possible time. (While racing up Pikes Peak for example.) And that brainstorm of looking out the side window... Forget it especially if you strapped in with a 5 point harness. It just ain't happening. The correct thing to do is unfasten your seat belts, put your head between your legs and kiss yer ass good bye and hope for the best. At this point you have two choices... Hit the brakes or hit the gas and go out in glory.
Well that's exactly what happened to Marcus Gronholm and Timo Alanne from Osmo Sewden in the #3 2009 Ford Fiesta Unlimited class during qualifying at Pikes Peak.
Speaking of Murphy's law, not in a million years would you ever expect to see someone crash during a transit section of qualifying... right? Wrong! Here is what happened to the Aaron McConnell and Brian Moody from Littleton Colorado in their #422 1995 Subaru Impreza STI during a transit stage. Trust me when I tell you, getting picked up by a tractor bucket isn't a good way to qualify.
Now if you want to see a photo that shows what pushing the envelope looks like, this has to be it. This would be something I am familiar with since this is none other than our very own Californian team made up of Tom Koch and Joe David from Ridgecrest, CA in the #229 Pro Truck class 2003 Ford F-150. No wonder they qualified in first place.
And keep in mind... this is just practice folks!
On a far more "routine" practice day here is our buddy Paul Dallanbach in the #98 2WD Open Wheel class machine taking it all in stride as he does some tire testing to determine what's best for the big day.
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