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Anyone seen the Henry Surtee's crash?







Northstander

Well-known member
Oct 13, 2003
14,031
Apologies for the heading, its not mine
 






Marc

New member
Jul 6, 2003
25,267
Always a shame when a racing driver dies (even more so when its someone so young), I dont usually add to the RIPPERS on here but as I'm a motor racing fan and probably seen young Surtees race before at Brands then:

R.I.P.
 






clippedgull

Hotdogs, extra onions
Aug 11, 2003
20,789
Near Ducks, Geese, and Seagulls
Freak accident. I assume it must have broke his neck :(

Hopefully he didn't know anything about it.

The guy who's tyre it was must be feeling awful, even though it was no fault of his.
 


csider

Active member
Dec 11, 2006
4,505
Hove
did he walk away from it then die?? or was it the other driver walking away...?

(serious question)

rip.
 








Northstander

Well-known member
Oct 13, 2003
14,031
did he walk away from it then die?? or was it the other driver walking away...?

(serious question)

rip.

the walking driver is fromt the first car, Surtee's is sat in the second car after the tyre bounced on his head and possibly broke his neck
 












sam86

Moderator
Feb 18, 2009
9,947
That sums up why I HATE people that watch F1 for the 'crashes'.

Rest in peace you unfortunate soul.
 


Garage_Doors

Originally the Swankers
Jun 28, 2008
11,790
Brighton
It instantly reminded me that it was exactly the same accident that caused the early demise of Ayrton Senna. I though after his death the wheels had to be tethered to stop this happening again. :(
 


Henry Surtees' car went in an unerring straight line at the wall.
Sadly, his neck was almost certainly broken in that momentary impact with the wheel as it bounced across the track. The tired wheel probably weighs about 100lbs, and the velocity of it meeting with his car was perhaps 160 miles per hour. The wheel really took off at speed after the car met with it.
Here's the vid in higher definition;

[yt]7mzywCbc5hs[/yt]
 


It seems amazing that there is nothing in the way of protection in front of the driver's heads in those cars, because there's always a chance of debris flying around off cars.
I suppose they can't impede vision with anything solid. Even a perspex screen could get oil or dirt on it and become a problem for their vision.
 




Dr Q

Well-known member
Jul 29, 2004
1,846
Cobbydale
It instantly reminded me that it was exactly the same accident that caused the early demise of Ayrton Senna. I though after his death the wheels had to be tethered to stop this happening again. :(

The wheels are tethered in F1 now, after marshalls was killed in Oz and Italy I think. However, despite this you still see the wheels on F1 cars come off, so maybe they need strenghthening. Whether they are in the F2 catagory in which poor Surtees was killed I don't know.

There is so much more protection around the drivers head these days. Looking back to the early/mid 90's the whole head and shoulders are exposed in an F1 car, its quite scarey, yet today, you can barely see the top of the helmet. This also extends down in to the lower catagories such as F2, F3 etc. Clearly even this couldn't prevent what was a freak accident, and short of putting a roof on the car, I really don't see what else they can do.
 


The wheels are tethered in F1 now, after marshalls was killed in Oz and Italy I think. However, despite this you still see the wheels on F1 cars come off, so maybe they need strenghthening. Whether they are in the F2 catagory in which poor Surtees was killed I don't know.

There is so much more protection around the drivers head these days. Looking back to the early/mid 90's the whole head and shoulders are exposed in an F1 car, its quite scarey, yet today, you can barely see the top of the helmet. This also extends down in to the lower catagories such as F2, F3 etc. Clearly even this couldn't prevent what was a freak accident, and short of putting a roof on the car, I really don't see what else they can do.

How about a small roll-bar (like you sometimes see on small convertibles by Porsche, Mazda or Toyota) that bends forward over the driver's head, and ends just an inch or so in front of the visor? A small piece of extra weight, but would work for larger objects such as wheels or fairings.
It would have to be easily removable for the driver to get out in event of a fire, though.
 


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