OT: RIP Justin Wilson

[Bruce K]

Horrific freak accident at the Pocono Indycar race yesterday.

Nosecone from Sage Karam's crashed car bounced up and hit him in the helmet at speed as he was driving by the crashing car.

One of Indycar's nicest, well-liked, most respected racers.

I am guessing Indy cars will look more like fighter jets next year with either canopies or windscreens or some other protection vs this kind of impact.

BK

[Tickdoc]

So sad.

[Tickdoc]

I read where tony Stewart lent his plane to the smith family to reunite them with him from Pennsylvania. Good on him.

[staggerwing]

Used to be big into watching the CART Indycar series, peaking just as Tony George was sticking his finger into the pie. Sadly, saw Jeff Krosnoff's horrific accident live on TV, as well as several slow motion replays in the minutes that followed. It quickly became apparent that no living being could have survived that accident. Also saw Greg Moore's accident, which initially seemed survivable. Seemed to remember the on-board black box recorded g-loadings that confirmed the sad reality.

Alex Zanardi's wreck was horrific too, but somehow he lived to see the track again. CARTS house doctors Terry Trammel and Steve Olvey, made some critical decisions that made all the difference in the world. Prior to that incident, I met Alex at Mid-Ohio, and he was extremely enthusiastic and friendly with the fans. He was also the only guy out doing laps on a Saturday practice session, and he was not soft shoeing it. Came down the back starting straightaway at 150+, trailing a massive rooster-tail, reeling it in just enough to float through the curves of Madness with the tail well out. Just a beautiful thing to see. Haven't kept up with him post CART, other than he continued to race sedans for a bit with hand controls. His wiki indicates he got into hand cycling big time, and even competed in an Iron Man, as a para-athlete.

All things considered, high level auto racing is amazingly safe, both for competitor and spectator alike. Five point harnesses, soft barriers on ovals, better catch fencing, sand traps, the HANS device, wheel tethers, and black boxes, have all helped. Sometimes, bad things happen.

Peace to Justin Wilson's family and loved ones.

[texbike]

Wow! That is really sad. I had a chance to meet and talk with him at a couple of corporate events when he was with RusPort. Really nice guy. Terrible end. :(

Texbike

[soulspinner]

Didn't see this race. Saw Wheldon and Moore go down. I love auto racing but when Indycars got airborne at fast ovals I stopped watching. This sounds like a freak accident but Sage Karam(rookie)crashed in front of him LEADING the race(anybody see it?) .Maybe he is not ready for this yet...

[oldpotatoe]

Horrific freak accident at the Pocono Indycar race yesterday.

Nosecone from Sage Karam's crashed car bounced up and hit him in the helmet at speed as he was driving by the crashing car.

One of Indycar's nicest, well-liked, most respected racers.

I am guessing Indy cars will look more like fighter jets next year with either canopies or windscreens or some other protection vs this kind of impact.

BK

I'm surprised they don't have them already..more 'aero'. As for fire, easy to blow them off ala aircraft..even Hydro boat racers have them.

[Bruce K]

You are dealing with the whole "tradition" of open wheel/open cockpit racing and the discussion that will go along with it.

On road courses where speeds are lower and the ability to look around is more important I just don't see it. On the super speedways and faster ovals... maybe the time has come.

F1 doesn't seem to have (or hasn't had) this issue

As someone who drove lower power formula cars (FV and FF) and who got hit twice in the helmet by flying debris (a chunk of asphalt and a piston/connecting rod from a blown motor) I find myself surprisingly ambivalent on the canopy thing

BK

[oldpotatoe]

You are dealing with the whole "tradition" of open wheel/open cockpit racing and the discussion that will go along with it.

On road courses where speeds are lower and the ability to look around is more important I just don't see it. On the super speedways and faster ovals... maybe the time has come.

F1 doesn't seem to have (or hasn't had) this issue

As someone who drove lower power formula cars (FV and FF) and who got hit twice in the helmet by flying debris (a chunk of asphalt and a piston/connecting rod from a blown motor) I find myself surprisingly ambivalent on the canopy thing

BK

:eek:

[zap]

edit



F1 doesn't seem to have (or hasn't had) this issue


BK

Sad. I was watching the race on TV.

Felipe Massa was hit in the helmet by a spring at the Hungaroring in '09. He missed the rest of the season. F1 also had some close calls during collisions. Alonso almost took of Raikkonen's head at this years Austrian GP when the two collided.

Safety has improved so much that it looks like the next step would be the incorporation of a canopy.

[FlashUNC]

You are dealing with the whole "tradition" of open wheel/open cockpit racing and the discussion that will go along with it.

On road courses where speeds are lower and the ability to look around is more important I just don't see it. On the super speedways and faster ovals... maybe the time has come.

F1 doesn't seem to have (or hasn't had) this issue

As someone who drove lower power formula cars (FV and FF) and who got hit twice in the helmet by flying debris (a chunk of asphalt and a piston/connecting rod from a blown motor) I find myself surprisingly ambivalent on the canopy thing

BK

F1 has had this issue, most notably with Ayrton Senna.

I stopped with CART/IndyCar after Dan Wheldon. What they've done as a series is completely irresponsible in some cases, placing driver safety in a back seat to trying to capture a dwindling audience.

Shame what happened to Justin. I'd like to think this'll lead to some serious reforms inside the organization, but as someone who gave up on it as a fan, I doubt it.

[JAllen]

What a freak incident. It could have been anyone, but he was running that line where the debris happened to be. Those guys have incredible reaction times, but when you're going that fast there's not much you can do.

Honestly, I don't think you can completely eliminate death or serious injury from motorsports, but folks can strive to make it as rare as possible. These guys know the risks every time they get in the vehicle. It comes with the territory. Doesn't change how tragic this is though.

[cfox]

You are dealing with the whole "tradition" of open wheel/open cockpit racing and the discussion that will go along with it.

On road courses where speeds are lower and the ability to look around is more important I just don't see it. On the super speedways and faster ovals... maybe the time has come.

F1 doesn't seem to have (or hasn't had) this issue

As someone who drove lower power formula cars (FV and FF) and who got hit twice in the helmet by flying debris (a chunk of asphalt and a piston/connecting rod from a blown motor) I find myself surprisingly ambivalent on the canopy thing

BK

In F1, Jules Bianchi just died recently from a head injury he suffered (last year) when he plowed into a crane removing a disabled car. And, as noted, Felipe Massa was in a coma from getting hit with a spring. The thick, carbon visor shield you see on F1 helmets is a direct result of Massa incident.

"Normal" crashes, even at high speed, are very safe these days. You see some crazy wrecks that guys walk away from. It's the unexpected stuff that gets you; cranes on the side of a rainy racetrack or entire nosecones flying off a car.

It didn't help that Wilson was 6"4", probably 8 inches taller than your average race car driver (most are pretty small guys).

I love to watch the Indy 500, but I've never been a fan of open wheel cars on ovals. They go so fast and if you go into a wall, you are coming out sideways into traffic in a carbon fiber missile.

RIP Justin.

[christian]

There's a reason we all called it Injured Racers League. Open wheel cars on ovals are a bad idea.

[A1CKot]

edit



Sad. I was watching the race on TV.

Felipe Massa was hit in the helmet by a spring at the Hungaroring in '09. He missed the rest of the season. F1 also had some close calls during collisions. Alonso almost took of Raikkonen's head at this years Austrian GP when the two collided.

Safety has improved so much that it looks like the next step would be the incorporation of a canopy.

Sad news.

Felipe Massa's injury was really bad. The long term effects aren't really all that apparent but other divers have said that he is not the same driver as before his accident. Also, Formula 1 just lost Jules Bianchi in nearly a year long struggle for life after a collision with a recovery tractor at last years Japanese GP.

Head injury are no joke and the forces that are involved in an impact like this are hard to imagine. If I recall correctly Audi decide to go to a closed car in LMP for safety and aero benefits. I think sooner rather than later the only open racing will be carts.

RIP Justin Wilson

[oliver1850]

So sad to read this. A very talented guy who was never in quite the right place at the right time.

I don't know that racing, whether on ovals or road courses can ever be safe. Jeff Krosnoff's accident was at Toronto. I saw Josele Garza's crash at Mid Ohio, and even though my car won the race, seeing it contributed heavily to my decision to quit racing. Viewing that crash made me more conscious that a horrendous crash could happen anywhere to any driver. Josele got out of it with "just" a broken leg, but it could easily have been much worse.