Several Comments:
For those of you talking about getting around to sealing your firewall:
3.K.1 Engine Firewall. Gaps or holes in the engine firewall must be sealed up with metal plate or OE-type grommets. If you can see through it, we want it closed up. In addition to the required unbroken firewall between engine and cockpit, rear- and mid-engined cars must have a sturdy rear window or other complete upper barrier for driver protection against fire, hot oil, angry villagers, etc. Metal, heavy polycarbonate (1/4-inch or thicker), and OE glass are all acceptable.
I believe that rule dates back to the beginning of Lemons.
I was at COTA and they struggled with that fire for a while.
Water will help put out a fire by cooling it and it does block air too. I think foam would have been better.
In one of the videos you can see fire continuing to drop down from the car. Like the OE fuel tank was leaking and continuing to burn. It would be a really hard place to get water too with the car on the ground. The car body becomes an umbrella.
Lots of cars have the fuel tank very centrally located and encapsulated for crash protection. That would make them very hard to put out in a fire. This is not exclusive to 944s. Look at most BMWs or a Maita. Probably most modern cars. Figure out how you're gonna wash the fuel tank with the car on the ground.
If there was a fuel cell in the hatch, I would think they could put it out threw the hole that was formerly the back window. A fuel cell could more easily explain the fuel on the hand and leg, the fire under the car seems more like an OE tank.
Still no clue how the driver gets doused in fuel from the OE fuel system in a 944.
I bet the burst of fire in the video was the fuel tank rupturing or catching fire or something. Like maybe a fuel line was the initial source but once the car was on fire the fuel tank melted. Plastic is great for crash protection but melts a lot easier in a fire. It could have also been the fuel more or less blowing out of the tank due to pressure caused by heating it in the fire. It's hard to say but I bet a couple of the safety guys needed fresh undies after that.
It would be nice to have more clarity on where the fuel hitting his hand and leg came from and what the ignition source was.
The front of the car is the least burned so I think the fire and fuel was from the back and not the front. I would think a fire from fuel lines at the motor would have burned the engine compartment more.
I am surprised they are talking about this event much at all. I have not seen any press coverage of the Nash-Miata accident at Barber. There are plenty of things to discuss but I don't know how positive it would be.
Every car at COTA had to pass tech either that Friday or the weekend beforehand at TWS. The fire happened in the first hour of the race so the tech sticker had less than an hour of race time on it. This also demonstrates how important it is for teams to be able to recognize safe and unsafe situations. It is up to us to take care of our own safety.
Every pit stop is a good time to practice getting out of the car like it's on fire.
Complacency can result in bad things, it's happened to my team, pay attention.
Troy
#35 LRE
1973 Datsun 240Z