Dan Wheldon

[Winnershsaint]

Channel hopping yesterday evening on Sky and caught the horrific accident as it happened. Switched over immediately as I could just tell the outcome wasn't going to be good from the footage. Whatever your views on cars, motor racing etc to race around those oval tracks at 220 mph three or even four abreast takes real courage. These guys know what they are getting themselves into and the margins are extremely small when you race on those limits, however my thoughts are with his family at this sad time. RIP.

 

[Intelligenthamster]

Agree. RIP Dan.

I remember seeing the immediate aftermath of Fabio Casartelli's accident in the '95 tour, which was horrible.

Racing drivers, racing cyclists - much more guts than I have.

 

[gbb]

Yes indeed, RIP Dan Wheldon. I miss the Indy series on TV. A lot of people find it boring, i find it anything but...there's so so much going on., perhaps this accident shows there's just too much going on. It really can be hair raising stuff. It makes F1 looks like kids stuff.

 

[Winnershsaint]

It's easy to see this differently from such high profile cycling accidents, but essentially they are the same. You have supremely talented people risking everying to perform on or beyond the limits where mistakes or misfortune can prove costly. The mentality it takes to take on an alpine descent on a bike cannot be far removed from that of a race driver. Walter Weylandt/Dan Wheldon guys with more guts than I would ever have.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Theres already talk of this being 'the Senna moment' where Indycar finally wakes up and makes changes (slower? less cars?) to make it safer, remember until Senna F1 still had an appalling safety record....

 

[ASC1951]

It makes F1 looks like kids stuff.

Formula One is kids stuff - Tyre Changing Races for Tax Exiles.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

Theres already talk of this being 'the Senna moment' where Indycar finally wakes up and makes changes (slower? less cars?) to make it safer, remember until Senna F1 still had an appalling safety record....

Not so, Senna was the first driver to die in a GP for twelve years. The fifties, sixties and seventies were the decades when drivers were regularly killed on the track. IIRC 1978 was the first year a whole season passed without a fatality.

 

[ianrauk]

Indy Car, like F1 has a very good track record for fatalities. Though it's the nature of the beast with racing on high speed ovals. 30-40 cars travelling at over 200mph side by side inches away from each other. And as the OP said, the racing drivers know the score & what they are letting themselves in for.

I saw a Nascar Oval race (In Dover Delaware) a few years back. For sheer excitement, it knocks F1 into a cocked hat. There were some spectacular crashes in the race. And I was amazed at how quickly the race marshals/authorities/other drivers reacted. The instance there was a crash, the race was instantly slowed down. Unfortunately for Dan Wheldon's crash there was no time for anyone to react and it was just sheer bad luck.

The Indy Car series have been talking about reducing the amount of Oval races anyway. Over half the races are now dedicated tracks or street circuits.

 

[gb155]

I was amazed that the average lap around there was 20 seconds

The Indy 500 is restricted to 33 cars , no more are permitted - period - at Vegas, on a track 1.5 miles shorter than the Indy 500, there were 34 cars.....

Rip Dan !!!!

 

[smokeysmoo]

Theres already talk of this being 'the Senna moment'

and not forgetting Roland Ratzenberger

 

[tyred]

Not that it makes a huge deal of difference but to be pedantic, Senna was the first driver to be killed during a GP since Ricardo Paletti in 1982. Ratzenberger was killed during qualifiying, not in the race itself. Elio de Angelis (sp?) was killed during pre-season testing at Paul Ricard in 1986. F1's safety record by 1994 was pretty good but not perfect (remember Martin Donnelly and others who weren't killed but picked up serious injuries in that period). It's even better now but the risk is always present, something the drivers and everyone else involved are aware of.

 

[skudupnorth]

I watched the crash on the news and was shocked how many burst fuel tanks/lines there were and the resulting fires afterwards.I don't remember as much fire in Rally/ F.1/Touring car accidents,is there less control on such things ?

 

[gb155]

I watched the crash on the news and was shocked how many burst fuel tanks/lines there were and the resulting fires afterwards.I don't remember as much fire in Rally/ F.1/Touring car accidents,is there less control on such things ?

F1 use bladders

Indy doesn't

F1 has run offs

Indy has no run offs, just Walls and catch fences

F1 is 170-180 mph

Indy is 220-225 mph

 

[vernon]

Formula One is kids stuff - Tyre Changing Races for Tax Exiles.

The best description of F1 yet.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

The best description of F1 yet.

For those who don't understand the sport, just as cycle racing is a competition to find the best performance enhancing drugs, as non-cyclists might say.