Atom catches fire at the track

[Atommatt]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1bikrtqKFQ Go to 6:11 on the video

Glad no one got hurt.

[garef001]

I wonder what happened?

[cvjoint]

At the end of the review the guy said he'll never get into an Ariel Atom again. Haha, what a wuss. It's not unusual for a car to catch on fire at the track. The new NSX and the new ZR1 Corvette all caught fire while testing. 911 and 458 caught fire on the street even under low load. These are complicated beasts.

[Richard Buckingham]

This is why if you can afford an Atom you should also be able to afford a full fireproof suit, gloves and underwear. I never drive on track without them all on, all the time, no matter the weather. You can never spend enough money on safety and your own well being.

This is also one more reason why I no longer take passengers. No longer having a passenger seat also helps enforce that rule though!

[cvjoint]

My street car has electric door release which would likely be shot in some fires. You have to remember the manual latch release. Odds are I can get out of the Atom faster than a C7Z. From the fires I've seen production cars are tricky too, the cabin can fill with smoke fast whereas an Atom is vented sufficiently for that not be an issue.

On track I think it's a tossup between safety in your average sports car and the Atom.

[Frank Orozco]

The location of the fire has me assuming they forgot to replace the fuel cap after filling it with gas. A full tank splashing out during a high speed run like that can probably cause a fire if it sprays on the hot exhaust/header.

[timcking]

Thanks for posting this. Forgetting to replace the fuel cap makes complete sense. A "heads up".