FIA official crashes F1 Renault car

An official of F1's governing body FIA on Thursday had a high speed crash at the wheel of a contemporary grand prix car.

On the occasion of Renault's 'roadshow' event in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates' automobile club president Mohammed bin Sulayem - also FIA vice president for sport - shunted last year's R28 single seater.

On the main straight of the Dubai Autodrome, the car swung to the right under power and struck the concrete barrier, necessitating a visit for the 14-time Middle East rally champion to the medical centre.

Earlier, bin Sulayem had successfully driven the car on a closed road.

"Fortunately he was uninjured and the car will be taken back to be repaired," said a Renault spokesman.

In Dubai for the roadshow event is Fernando Alonso's teammate Nelson Piquet.

Source: GMM

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AUDINICK

Who let this guy drive ? So what if he's FIA`s vice president.

April 10, 2009 1:29 pm

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3 replies

kimbo

can you read "14-time Middle East rally champion"?

April 10, 2009 2:41 pm

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super_car_muscle_man

i cannot believe he crashed the car in a straight line. I know in a high powered car when it looses traction it can veer off but that looked crazy! unless the car malfunctioned - i.e traction control suddenly went off under full throttle or throttle jammed suddnely, he is a retard. being a rally champ and driving an f1 car is NOT the same. of all the people they could have chosen, i think its rediculous he was allowed to drive. hopefully renault dont make that costly mistake again.

April 11, 2009 9:50 am

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s2k_turbo

lol what a looser :)

April 13, 2009 10:56 am

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zdenda20

He let go of the gas, launch control was disengaged and hence at that low speed, F1 cars have very little to no downforce and make the car pretty unstable...

April 10, 2009 1:33 pm

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4 replies

Beetle

By the sound of it he kept the throttle wide open and was still open when he stopped,

April 10, 2009 1:38 pm

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zdenda20

After taking a closer look, it seems that he undershifted/put it into neutral by mistake and thus disengaging the ESP...

April 10, 2009 3:05 pm

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un_peacekeeper

There is not traction control, nor is there launch control. ESP is also banned.

April 10, 2009 5:43 pm

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zdenda20

What I meant was launch control, which shouldnt disable itself unless you break (but I think he undershifted (from the sounds of things)=massive spin to the wheels) or theres sooo many buttons on the steering wheel that a person not in the "know" can easily make a mistake...

April 10, 2009 8:05 pm

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joshg_5

Tires were probably "cold" too...

April 10, 2009 3:18 pm

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mr_SVX

Wow. Never thought i'd see a GT-40 beat an F1 car...

April 10, 2009 3:29 pm

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DeleteThisAccount

Doesn't look like a serious crash, besides, it's a Renault, it's bound to break down.

April 10, 2009 3:45 pm

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ubercool

I bet Lewis Hamilton laughs at this crash :P

April 10, 2009 3:58 pm

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Audi_lover

LOL...what a loser!!!!

April 10, 2009 4:04 pm

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1 reply

Adam73

I suppose you could drive one???

April 11, 2009 4:35 am

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NardoW12

The GT40 guy is a better driver. Enough said.

April 10, 2009 6:16 pm

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1 reply

kimbo

so you're comparing GT40 to F1 car? congrats mate.

April 10, 2009 9:12 pm

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amhirst

"in UAE u c benzs n lambos going at 250km/h o everyday, dont u think that takes skills?" Not really, what skill does it take to travel with 250km/h in a highway?? "As for Mohammed bin Sulayem he is an outstanding driver, he drove his own enzo at 300+km/h on a dubai highway with traffic!!Dont u think that takes skill too?" Not really again, maybe it takes a deathwish to do it, but not much more than that...

April 10, 2009 7:10 pm

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1 reply

SadaT

Yea u probably drive a benz at 250km/h everyday. rite?

April 11, 2009 11:05 pm

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mojtaba2

I respect Muhammed Bin Sulayem, he is a great rally champion, however, that does not mean that because he is a great rally driver, he can be a good F1 driver. They are totally different classes of racing.

April 10, 2009 7:28 pm

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CarLife

I speculate the issue is that he's a rally driver?

April 11, 2009 12:42 am

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GONDOR

as reported in other sites there was a gearbox problem when he shift from first to second the car did not respond and go automatically to natural then suddenly its back to the first gear again with the too much throttle that he keep for the second gear it spins so it`s not he`s fault

April 11, 2009 8:39 am

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YuZi

Just the experience of driving a supercar and keeping it in control really makes a substantial difference to your driving skills. Sorry, but I am of the opinion that driving a supercar (specially if they really do it everyday) does gradually improve your skills.

April 11, 2009 11:04 am

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1 reply

DeleteThisAccount

I'd agree with you if we were in the 80s. Nowadays driving a mainstream supercar is no harder than driving a Volvo estate, and the supercar manufacturers go to great lengths to improve on it as well. After all... dead clients can't buy cars...

April 11, 2009 11:12 am

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clinton

May I take this opportunity to remind all users that WCF will not stand for any racially abusiive comments on this site. Thanks.

April 11, 2009 12:25 pm

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fQation

its not his first time crashing cars while driving fast , he was a rally driver alright but he is old now he should quit his shenanigans once and for all lol

April 11, 2009 3:09 pm

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ADCAR

any looser sitting on his pc want to criticize bin Sulayem can kiss some aaa. this guy is a champion, race is in his blood. if you are in the other side of the world and never heard of him you can do some research.

April 11, 2009 6:52 pm

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uaee7m

Mohd bin sulayem have driven mostly all cars in this world, from supercars to rally cars to go karts to formula... This accident didnt occur to his lack of driving skills, cuz if he lacked any driving skills he wouldnt be 14 times rally champion.... In addition, but im not really sure with this info i got but this accident occured of some tyre fault, because it was too cold or something not really sure and heard some ppl say technical fault from gearbox... but it sure wasnt his fault...

April 11, 2009 7:34 pm

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ADCAR

From Wikipedia.com Mohammed bin Sulayem (12 November 1961 - ) is a UAE champion rally driver who lives in Dubai. He has won more FIA regional championships, and more international rallies, than any other racer in history. His premier event has been the FIA Middle-East Rally Championship. Since first winning in 1986, he has gone on to win the event 14 times, never having been defeated. He took a sabbatical from racing after his 2002 season.

April 11, 2009 7:57 pm

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1 reply

kattanh3

from the way the car threw its tail off, i'd say its probably some malfunction. i don't think it was a driver's fault, let alone someone so experienced

April 11, 2009 8:13 pm

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zhonda

I was shocked to learn that the car was equipped with intermediate tyres??? WTF, this was a hot sunny day in Dubai, why no slicks? It was dusty too, due to high winds and blowing sand, not the best conditions for launching an F1 car on rain tyres.

April 12, 2009 4:48 am

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SpeedFreak15

haha tru true zhonda i,d hate to be the person driving... hahaha everytime i look at this i cant help but laugh...

April 12, 2009 3:54 pm

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