o, i am completely aware of this. my bro and i call it “matching the RPM’s”. but you said “racer”. i thought you were saying someone could switch gears without the clutch while racing, which is impossible.
Wheel hop in a front wheel drive car is simpler. There’s a shorter path from transaxle to wheel. There’s just a pair of CV (constant velocity) joints on each side of the transaxle. The pair near the transaxle lets the wheel bounce up and down. The pair near the wheels allows for steering. When your unweighted right-front wheel was going through its bite-slip cycle, it probably put a strain on the CV joints. Frankly, though, I’m not as well versed on front wheel drive, and I’m not sure what might get hurt.