Also if valve/piston contact happened the idle could be erratic. Try to do a compression test at least, or a leak down test if you are still wondering and can't sleep.
I know how it feels. Been there, done that.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by reecespieces
[B]Rally cars have sequential transmission, they only go up and down for upshifts and downshifts. Those drivers have little to worry about in terms of misshifting. I think british touring cars and champ cars also have sequential transmission as well, just a couple more examples.

I personally think that if you cup the knob instead of gripping, you lessen the chance of shifting into the wrong gear, at least with me and my Voodoo knob. If you grip it and you're taking a slight turn at high speed, you may pull it a certain direction instead of straight down the gate.

Only the top rally cars have sequential shifts - certainly Group N cars are using stock format.

The only gear change I can imagine getting anyone in this kind of trouble would be going to 2nd from 5th. I find that, as the stick centres itself in line with 3rd and 4th gears, the easiest thing is to let the lever do the work and come to a rest in the middle gate where 3rd and 4th are easily found. Less 'manhandling' certainly helps and the change can still be done reasonably quickly - too much haste moving the stick causes crunched gears anyway and ends up being much more stressful on the components (and eventually the driver) IMHO.