It was a sound you’d never forget: the dull, abrupt thud of a pipe going through a radiator. At a 2013 SCCA Rallycross National Challenge, we had spent the previous winter wrapping up a build at Brianne Corn Racing that entailed a tweaked WRX engine in a flyweight 1996 Impreza (400 hp at 2,300 pounds), backing it to a close-ratio five-speed, and throwing on the long-travel AST coilovers. Driver Brianne was unloading it when a pipe that was laying below the grass line found its way into the core support, puncturing the radiator.
It was one of those freak things where no one is to blame; in fact, we were all kind of impressed, but it was still the night before a two-day event and Subaru parts were hard to find in Aggieland, Texas. The second issue was the core support had taken the brunt of the accident, bending it up so bad that even if we found a new rad, it’d be impossible to install. Amazingly, a trailer ramp and a diesel pickup were just the tools we needed: The ramp was hooked onto the bent support and then our heavy tow rig was driven up it, which was pressure needed to start kneading the front-end straight.
Despite best efforts, we couldn’t locate a new radiator by the morning’s tech, but a friend donated the stock unit out of his registered-to-race WRX, saving our weekend at the expense of his morning’s fun until a replacement made it later that day. Still one of my favorite epic-fail memories, but also the slice of selflessness the makes motorsports tick.
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