Silverstone Accident

Recaro race seats and Schroth 6 point harness supplied by MSAR Safety kept us alive. Thanks guys.

John Thorne

Well, nearly 10 years in racing so it had to happen sometime, my first really big shunt - and I wasn't even driving at the time!

Off side corner took the brunt.	Overall 7.	Snapped wheel & snapped brake disc.
Front chassis totally destroyed.	All suspension components scrapped.	Rear Quarter.

While testing a new driver for next seasons CSL Cup, the combination of cold tyres and some oil down on the circuit meant we spun off at Abbey corner on Silverstone GP circuit. Unluckily enough we managed to avoid the tyre wall and slammed sideways into a concrete retaining wall at over 60mph, this was the result.

Overall shot of damage.	Footwell.	Front chassis.
Overall 5.	Remainder of wheel & tyre assembly.	Overall shot 2.

The driver was knocked unconscious and in the aftermath I looked over to see him slumped in the seat and thought “Oh God, he's dead”, I put my hand on his chest to check his breathing and when he moaned I thought “Oh thank God, he's alive." The marshalls were fantastic, they did their usual brilliant job, got me out, got the driver out and sent us down to the medical centre as quickly as they could.

The force was so great the passenger seat frames warped.	Warped transmission tunnel.	Snapped top mount.
Cockpit remained intact.	Cracked floor pan behind drivers seat.	Snapped chassis leg.

Prognosis looked OK for me but Roger was incoherent and both of us were rushed to Northampton General Hospital. A few hours later and Roger is on his way home with a mild concussion but I'm in a bit of trouble. Turns out I've broken my ribs on the right hand side and I'm peeing blood - not good. One overnight stay later and a full chest ultrasound confirm I've done my best to re-arrange my internal organs with the result of some internal bruising but nothing long term, I'm let home with the NHS version of horse tranqulisers and told to 'rest'. Ha.

The floor of the drivers side folded underneath itself.	Bent passenger sub frame.	Drivers footwell.
Wheel 2.	Passengers footwell intact.	Creased Firewall.

I see the car for the first time a few days later (there's only so much day time TV one can take before even pain forces you out) and I'm a little shocked, the impact was tremendous. The E46 chassis is strong in itself but we've managed to narrow the whole car by nearly a foot. Even the transmission tunnel and floor are buckled to the extent that they are folded over one another, it really is pretty shocking to see.

Overall 3.	Drivers floor 2.	Warped transmission tunnel.
Overall 4.	Drivers foot well in tact, with minor warping of pedal box.	Warped firewall.

We spend a long time developing our cages for all of our race cars and the same overall design is used on the Cup cars and the Vauxhalls and I have to say I'm glad we put so much effort into them, the passenger compartment is nearly unaffected, even the pedal area suffers almost zero intrusion and Roger and my injuries are purely due to the shock force itself. We triple brace the front suspension towers and brace these into a special dash bar which runs across the width of the car and even this has been compressed together by the impact – concrete walls don't give much.

Offside front wing.	Snapped brake disc.	Transmission Tunnel.
Roof and pillars totally in tact and un-moved.	Broken chassis.	Overall 8.
Front shot.	Footwell.

I can think of better ways to market a cage but no better way of testing one. The car's shell is destroyed but we can strip most of what is there and build a new car so its a testimony to the E46 shell as well. Tough cars these E46 M3's. Our safety was also ensured by our using top quality safety equipment. Recaro race seats and Schroth 6 point harness supplied by MSAR Safety kept us alive. Thanks guys.

Bent & destroyed competition shock unit.	Underside.	Crack behind drivers seat.
Passengers seat rail warped.	Nearside front leg moved 10mm.	Collapsed manifold primaries.
fside wheel arch.	Even the near-side chassis leg moved 10mm.