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Owner Rolls C7 Corvette Z06 During Track Day At Willow Springs: Video

A video showing a scary rollover crash involving a C7 Corvette Z06 that occurred during a track day event at Willow Springs Raceway went viral this past week.

The video, uploaded to YouTube on January 19th, starts by showing a Velocity Yellow C7 Corvette Z06 in the pits at Willow Springs Raceway in California, with the owner standing next to the vehicle. The camera then shows the vehicle exiting the pits before the video changes to show the footage from the vehicle’s factory Performance Data Recorder (PDR). The PDR footage shows the driver losing control of the vehicle under partial throttle before it goes off track, hits a mound of dirt and rolls over.

Photos of the crash aftermath show the C7 Corvette Z06 upside in the infield at the circuit, which is located about 70 miles north of Los Angeles, with the roof completely collapsed in on the passenger side. The driver and his passenger were thankfully able to escape the crash without injury and are even seen in the video having a laugh about the incident in the paddock afterward.

“Well, it was fun while it lasted. We’ve got some good war stories to tell, huh, Tom?” the driver, Steve, says to his friend that was in the passenger seat. “Well, that’s it for today as far as racing, kind of had a boo-boo. Yeah, we’re OK, just get me on my feet, I’ll be OK.”

While it’s unfortunate this Chevy fan’s Corvette Z06 was totaled, we’re glad to see that he escaped unhurt, as this crash was fairly serious and very easily could have ended up with a trip to the hospital – or perhaps worse. We hope this doesn’t discourage him or any other Corvette owners from taking their vehicles out on track, either. With a little bit of instruction and a measured approach, track days can be a safe and enjoyable way to tap into the true performance of the sports car.

Check out the video embedded below.

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Sam loves to write and has a passion for auto racing, karting and performance driving of all types.

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Comments

  1. That’s alarming. It sure didn’t hold up very well. The driver passenger are truly lucky to not be injured. Very poor performance for a modern car.

    Reply
    1. There is clearly no cage in this car, so what are you expecting? !

      When you roll an uncaged sports car at high rate of speed, the roof is going to pancake. On these cars, you have A-pillars, a carbon fiber targa top and a hatch comprised of 90% glass. I know that I wouldn’t want to roll mine over.

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    2. First I’m glad both are ok!
      Poor performance? Two people walked away from a roll over at over 70 miles an hour!
      The video appears to be first lap and as he makes the the turn goes full throttle, first mistake, tire are not warmed up less traction. The Green bars in upper right is throttle position and shows that. Second mistake is he never hit the brakes, that is the Red bar in the upper right corner. He was is Track Sport 2 mode which means active handling was off, that’s on the driver not the performance of the car. Had he put it in sport 1 the active handling would have stepped in and probably saved it.

      Reply
      1. The driver is an idiot or the person placing him in the car is. Probably never went to the GM sponsored Spring Mountain new owner vehicle driver training. Anyone who has knows that Track Sport 2 is for the professionals – those who know enough to be able to drive without stability controls. Not warming the tires up is just plain dumb. Having a passenger holding a GoPro on a track is dangerous.

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    3. It did what it was designed to do. Slow down the impact time and lower the sudden high G impact into a longer med G impact. Mind you that time is only extended by milliseconds but that’s all it takes. It’s designed to do that.
      I think we look at safety in very different ways. I’ve seen a few vets with the windshield almost flat and people walked away. The window frame has to hold 3 times the weight of the car. It’s not designed to stay rigid holding the car up. It’s designed to crush down slower easing impact and giving time for the occupants to move into the remaining space. Still it is a sports car and people are not buying them as the safest car they can drive.

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  2. Really? The video I watched showed two people walk away unharmed from a very bad car accident. I’d say the car did a great job at protecting the people inside it.

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  3. A. The depressing music in the background (a woman whining for 6 minutes) was not necessary.

    B. Too much car, not enough driver. As he exits the turn, you can hear the driver punch the throttle, causing the tires to break loose. After that, he completely loses control and rolls it. I have a C7 GS that I have tracked several times and punching the throttle while exiting a turn is a no-no. My slightly modded GS can break the tires loose very easily with ONLY ~505hp. The Z06 has 650hp, so when you punch it, you better know what you are doing. I’m glad that nobody was hurt.

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  4. Wasnt going that fast. The rolls were so slow they could actually be viewed.

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  5. The story says – then he hit a mound of dirt, and rolled over. Did the dirt mound off track contribute to the rolling over ?
    I am curious if this driver had driven this car, on this track before. If you notice, he just left pit row, makes the first left turn
    and never completes the first major turn on that track . This is my local track, about 30 minutes away.
    I personally do not like that first turn after the straight, it is challenging for me every time, I basically take it real easy.
    Not sure if the PDR shows if traction control was on or not, I am more confident with it on. Although a purist will
    try driving without it, it takes an experienced driver to handle the power.
    And finally, it is amazing that another driver and passenger are not int he hospital. If I were that passenger…. would get back on the track in the passenger seat ?

    Reply
  6. Music ruins the whole video. Driver was super late on his correction and turned the wheel too slowly. Go back
    to driving school. Also cold tires?

    Reply
  7. He never warmed up the tires – the first lap (or two, depending on the temperature) you should take it easy going around the track. Especially if this was the first morning session. He and is passenger are very lucky they walked away!

    Reply
  8. The music was extremely annoying. Why not do a voice over by the driver explaining what he was doing (and perhaps what he SHOULD have been doing)?

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  9. Ouch ! But glad the occupants were OK

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  10. Maybe he was suffering through that music during his joy ride?

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    1. That noise is his insurance agent whining about taking this rube onboard.

      Reply
  11. Glad they were okay. It takes courage to post your track accident online because everyone is a critic. He did a good job trying to save it but ran out of track.

    Reply
  12. Hope he had insurance that covers use of the vehicle on the track. Many insurance companies do not cover racing or other competition events at all. If that’s the case, the financial burden will rest solely on his shoulders.

    Reply
  13. Did anybody else notice the Hertz Car Sales sticker in the windshield! An old Hertz rental Vette that lost its life. Too bad!

    Reply
  14. As Dirty Harry once said, ‘A man must know his limitations.’
    Apparently this driver didn’t get that memo.

    Reply
  15. I once was close to putting a harness bar in my C7. That video shows what a mistake that would be without also installing a roll bar. If they had been using a four, or 5 point harness they would not have survived that roll over.
    I’ve never seen anything like that at the track. If the driver had had even a modicum of instruction, he would have used a few laps to warm up the car and get a feel for the track.
    The track is not for everyone, I hope he learned something.

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  16. The upside is that he won’t have to pay for parking at swing-arm gated parking lots…his car will fit right under !

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  17. Looks like a rookie driver with too much car and not enough traction control. There are other much more dangerous corners on that track. He should count himself lucky he rolled on that one.

    Reply
  18. One more thought, This was uploaded Jan 19, but when was it taken. Morning temps are running at 30 F degrees this week,
    even if you pre-heated your tires and if they are summer only, on cold pavement. Could be a problem.
    My summer only C8 tires do slide around a bit in the cold when I throttle up.

    Reply
  19. Another person whom can afford the product but has zero skill, common sense, and knows diddly squat about racing. Cold tires poor throttle control and lack of any driving skill caused this….poor quality you sound like a butthurt bmw/Ferrari owner. Your a special bunch of weak yuppies whom are physically sexually pathetic and think your financial status can overcome all.

    Reply
  20. You got to warm those tires at least a lap scrubbing them, just cant wack the throttle on cold tires those who can really can extract the potential of that car know that!

    Reply
  21. Insurance?! Ha!! Don’t call them! You busted this jem on a race track. Soooo check your policy. Go ahead make a claim. I’m sure there’s some kind of evidence out there in the world that you didn’t have this happen driving to the grocery store. I think I can figure out pretty easily what the outcome will be– claim denied!

    Reply

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