[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Bicycle Bob

I was a rear-engine booster all my life until Mercedes had their blowover crashes at Le Mans. Then, I realized that any fast, light, streamlined vehicle should have a stable glide. Even if it won't get airborne, it could hit a patch of wet ice with a strong crosswind. It should only slide, not yaw.
The 911 is a triumph of engineering to adapt a VW bug for sport. I'd say that it looks distinctive handsome, but not beautiful.

Do the front engine cars have an airborne glide to them?

Influential Moments in Racing
https://tb98nj.wordpress.com/2017/01/

Mercedes` backstory at Le Mans is…intriguing. They dropped out of Le Mans after the 1955 Disaster, but eventually eased their way back into it. By 1999, they had three cars as part of their team, and wanted to introduce a new prototype called the CLR to the track to replace the CLK GTR. An issue with the aerodynamics, however, made its way into the cars during construction, and was not picked up until the cars were finished. The flaw allowed for air to almost built up in pockets when going over a hill, of which there are a few at Le Mans, instead of being properly dispersed. Coupled with slipstream, this allowed for the car to easily take flight. During Happy Hour on Thursday, Mark Webber took to the skies down Mulsanne in the lead car, which was a complete writeoff after apparently going into the trees. Webber emerged from the car unhurt, and the cars were allowed to take to the track in qualifying, which actually went fine.

On Saturday, during a warmup, Mulsanne became a launch pad for the CLR, with Webber again in the driver`s seat.

This time the car ended up staying in bounds and landing on the track inverted. Webber`s team withdrew, but the other two Mercedes kept going after the manufacturer fixed what they could. Guess what happened to Peter Dumbreck during the race at Indianapolis?

Mercedes parked the surviving CLR and went home, vowing to not return to Le Mans for a long while. Again*. Thankfully, Peter was okay after his midair cartwheel. It would be nine years before another blowover occurred at Le Mans, and they`ve happened every now and again since. It`s not exactly easy to completely prevent, with how lightweight these cars are…