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It's not all smooth, being a motoring writer. A motoring journalist claims he is facing bankruptcy after he was sued for damaging a former professional racing driver's £1.25m Porsche. Freelance Mark Hales was at the wheel of the Porsche 917 when its engine exploded, Press Gazette's website reports today. And the car's owner, ex-Formula One driver David Piper, is now suing him for damages, claiming the damage was caused by Hales “over-revving” the engine during a track session in 2009. Hales claims the gear jumped out, leading to engine failure. It seems 82-year-old Piper told the High Court: “If you bend it, you mend it.” He says he had to ship his Porsche to Germany for the engine repairs. According to reports, Hales has been ordered to pay nearly £50,000 for the repair and is also facing £63,000 in legal fees after a High Court judge ruled that the incident was a result of “driver error”.
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Hales's 917 is sometimes described as a 'replica' but the fact is that no two 917s could possibly be truly identical. They were all made at vast cost for endurance racing events and although successful were notoriously difficult to drive, killing several well-known drivers. A flat 12 air-cooled turbocharged engine putting out (in some versions) an alleged 1200hp is not a cheap piece of kit, or one destined to do high mileages with minimal servicing. The sound of a 917 driven in anger has to be heard to be believed.
One long-tailed version could exceed 250mph on long straights but developed a terrifying aerodynamic weave at high speed. The most successful variant was the scorpion-like Gulf Porsche version developed by Ferry Porsche's sister's Porsche dealership. Its chopped-off Kamm tail and totally naked rear slowed it down a bit but made it more stable and driveable. Not for the faint-hearted though. I wouldn't dare try myself.
Claiming he over-revved it because it slipped out of gear is a crap excuse even if true.
I seem to remember Top Gear getting into trouble by twisting the driveshafts on someone's genuine C-type Jaguar while doing that tyre-smoking doughnutty thing they do. Damn yobbos.
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Every historic sports car I've seen has a rev limiter. I can't understand why this didn't.
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A rev limiter does not prevent you from dropping it into too low a gear at too high a road speed.
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>> A rev limiter does not prevent you from dropping it into too low a gear at too high a road speed.
That isn't what is alleged to have happened though.
Many years ago I knew (slightly!) a suave black coke dealer, quite a pleasant character with good taste in cars. He told me sadly that he had blown up the engine of his Alfa Romeo Montreal - a rare car with a very zippy four-cam V8 in the front - by over-revving it. I imagine euphoria and carelessness were to blame.
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I seem to remember a story when the first Jag xj220 came out, or was it the McLaren F1, but a journalist put it into first gear at 100mph and it went bang!
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Mark Hales is an incredibly skilled and experienced racing driver, who has driven a lot of exotica over the years and returned it unharmed.
I remember him thrashing Nick Mason's F40 around Donington Park in the 80's for Fast Lane magazine's fabulous audio cassette feature. An incredibly smooth, precise and measured driver who was fully aware of mechanical sympathy, as he mentioned it to be behind many aspects of the way he treated the car at the time.
A car breaking while someone is driving it is not the same as someone driving it badly and damaging it. I feel sorry for the guy.
Last edited by: DP on Wed 23 Jan 13 at 19:53
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>> An incredibly smooth, precise and measured driver who was fully aware of mechanical sympathy, as he mentioned it to be behind many aspects of the way he treated the car at the time.
One wouldn't doubt that really. No one would lend such a machine to someone they didn't know could treat it right. And of course one has to feel sorry for him.
The disagreement with the owner about what was said before and what is being said now is pretty unfortunate. The owner agreed to cover the cost if the engine blew up. Perhaps he should have added 'without being over-revved'. Unfortunate. Now the unfortunate Hales has lost in court.
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mind how you drive - Armel Coussine
