With the cold season now taking over an important part of the world, track days are getting more and more difficult to attend. And we are here to bring you a recent example of the risks that such an event involves.
Taking part in a track day behind the wheel of a Volkswagen Golf Mk II sounds like a dream on a budget, but things can easily turn into a nightmare. And this is what recently happened during a stint on the Zandvoort GP Circuit.
The Dutch track held a public event last weekend, with many of the mishaps that took place during the velocity gathering being present in the piece of footage at the bottom of the page.
And while the contraptions that took part in the adventure range from an old Nissan Micra to a 991.1-generation Porsche 911 GT3 RS, it was the said Golf that caught our eye.
Those of you who happen to be in a hurry should know that the Golf accident can be found at the 2:17 point of the video below. And the idea is to use this accident as a driving lesson and hopefully prevent potential future ka-bangs.
We can see the Vee-Dub carrying too much speed into a turn while chasing a pair of BMWs. Once the driver noticed the understeer, he suddenly took his foot off the gas, which led to the weight transferring to the front axle.
As such, the rear end became lighter and lost grip, a typical lift-off understeer situation.
Now, the tires of the car seemd to be rather grippy, but the suspension allowed for plenty of body roll. This made it extremely difficult for the driver to keep the car in check and we can see the man struggling to countersteer and eventually making overcorrection mistakes.
Alas, the Golf ended up nose-first into the guardrail, with the impact taking quite a toll on the car.
Fortunately, both the driver and the passenger exited the vehicle under their own power, quickly jumping behind the protection element on the inside of the circuit, as one should do during a track day.
The Dutch track held a public event last weekend, with many of the mishaps that took place during the velocity gathering being present in the piece of footage at the bottom of the page.
And while the contraptions that took part in the adventure range from an old Nissan Micra to a 991.1-generation Porsche 911 GT3 RS, it was the said Golf that caught our eye.
Those of you who happen to be in a hurry should know that the Golf accident can be found at the 2:17 point of the video below. And the idea is to use this accident as a driving lesson and hopefully prevent potential future ka-bangs.
We can see the Vee-Dub carrying too much speed into a turn while chasing a pair of BMWs. Once the driver noticed the understeer, he suddenly took his foot off the gas, which led to the weight transferring to the front axle.
As such, the rear end became lighter and lost grip, a typical lift-off understeer situation.
Now, the tires of the car seemd to be rather grippy, but the suspension allowed for plenty of body roll. This made it extremely difficult for the driver to keep the car in check and we can see the man struggling to countersteer and eventually making overcorrection mistakes.
Alas, the Golf ended up nose-first into the guardrail, with the impact taking quite a toll on the car.
Fortunately, both the driver and the passenger exited the vehicle under their own power, quickly jumping behind the protection element on the inside of the circuit, as one should do during a track day.