If you’ve ever wondered about the purpose of roof scoops on rally cars, you’re about to get your answer… and a demonstration of what happens when they suddenly get ripped off.
For starters, the scoops raise the air pressure inside the vehicle, thereby keeping dust out while releasing warm cabin air. And when Russian driver Evgeny Novikov was piloting a Fiesta RS rally car through an unusually-long 30-mile stretch during WRC Rally Mexico earlier this month, he briefly went off-course, resulting in the decapitation of the roof scoop. Shortly after the roof scoop’s disappearance, dust began surging into the car and visibility dropped to almost nothing. The result? A big crash.
Luckily, both Novikov and his co-pilot walked away without a scratch. Thanks, Fiesta. Thanks, roll cage.
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