A Tesla driver put lives at risk by entering the track during a race
When you’re in the middle of a motorcycle race, the last thing you expect - or want- is a Tesla on the track driving the wrong way at you.
Track incursions during a race or trackday are rare, but they do happen. Rarely, though, does an apparent member of the public driving a Tesla stray out onto the track during a national-level race.
But that is what happened last weekend at Buttonwillow, California. The race taking place was the American Federation of Motorcyclists (AFM) Open Supersport and Middleweight Supersport events. The venue is, according to the Buttonwillow website, “Southern California’s Premier Race Track”, although after the events of last weekend, that may be called into question.
During the race, an AFM camera homes in on something moving around the track that is most definitely not supposed to be there. It becomes apparent that the car being driven on the track is a Tesla, with the commentator on the video exclaiming, “Is that a Tesla driver?! I believe that is a Tesla driver trying to find the charging station … I present to you, What the F”.
Even scarier for all involved is the fact that the car is going against the flow of racers. Had the car been unsighted by the marshals, who thankfully saw what was unfolding and quickly red-flagged the race, the outcome of this could have been much worse.
The series of events draws parallels with recent events on both sides of the Atlantic. In June 2023, again in the USA, a trackside ambulance crossed a live track during a motorcycle race at Roebling Road Raceway. In that incursion, a racer narrowly missed the front of the ambulance at around 130mph, leaving the track just after the near-miss and going on to crash.
Here in the UK, track incursions are less common, but they have happened. In the four-wheeled world, a VW Polo driven by an idiot took to Brands Hatch during a round of the 2014 Fun Cup series, leading to the race being temporarily stopped. The driver, Jack Cottle, was later jailed for eight months for causing a public nuisance, as his reckless act put the safety of the racers at risk.
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
