V8 supercar explodes on the starting grid

commited

commited

commited

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Dublin, Ireland

Just watched this on TV and I'm in shock. I reckon they'll be reviewing the design of the cars from now on as that's incredibly serious!
 
The exact same thing happened 5-10 years ago.
Cant remember who the the driver was but i think it was at Owen Park raceway.
 
commited said:

Just watched this on TV and I'm in shock. I reckon they'll be reviewing the design of the cars from now on as that's incredibly serious!
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Heh I was just watching this on delayed coverage... Was quite an impressive impact, shows how strong the cars are when you see the left rear and rear of the car that had stalled!
 
mjt said:
Maybe the fact it's bio-ethanol makes a difference? Or is it just flawed design?
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The fuel cell still would have been destroyed no matter what fuel was in it, the way the cars currently are designed you have the fuel cell hanging out behind the rear axle as well as a lot of electrical equipment and the main battery in the boot.

The Fire may not have been quite as intense but there still would have been one.
 
Could have been a lot worse. The car that impacted the car in front was totally engulfed in flames for a fair few seconds
 
Huge impact, that Ferrari crash is sickening, I've seen it before and never want to watch it again :(
 
Reminded me of this, which probably won't be new to any of you. Quite sad.
Roger Williamson crashes hard on lap 8, roll his car and catches fire. Only yards away stood a fire tender, but no order was given to stop the race and its driver refused, perhaps rightly, to drive against the direction of the traffic. Worse, marshals with fire extinguishers merely watched as Purley fought a lone battle to right the upturned March. He could hear Williamson inside it. Roger pleaded with him to get him out. Time and again Purley tried to lift the car, but each time he failed. For two laps - at least 2m 47s -the fire was minimal, but then it grew dramatically in intensity. David tried to fight it after grabbing an extinguisher from one marshal, but by then the fire had too strong a hold. As the marshals still remained immobile, appalled spectators began to try and help, unable to believe what they were seeing. Only then were marshals with police dogs galvanized into action, to keep them back. Finally, in the most callous act of cowardice ever seen in motor racing, they moved at last and tried to drag the desolate Purley away. He shrugged them off angrily. Roger was uninjured in the cockpit, but they left him to die of asphyxiation. When they finally arrived, the fire trucks were far, far too late. David Purley : Through his tears he said, "I just couldn't turn it over. I could see he was alive and I could hear him shouting, but I couldn't get the car over. I was trying to get people to help me, and if I could have turned the car over he would have been alright, we could have got him out." Later, when the immediate grief had receded, he admitted, "I didn't even think about the heroism or any of that rubbish. I just did what comes naturally to a trained soldier who sees a fellow in trouble." Ian Philips - journalist and friend : "Purley actually had a conversation with him. David was trying to turn him over and told me afterwards how Roger had said to him, For God's sake, David, get me out of here', and he just couldn't get him out. The circumstances were just appalling. David Purley was later awared the British Imperial George Medal, the second highest (highest being the George Cross) medal that can ever be awarded to a civilian for bravery.
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OOF! poor bloke at the back.

Car in front of him moved to the right and a parked car appeared out of nowhere giving him no time to react !

Glad all are ok.
 
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