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British Indy car driver dies

Dan Weldon Died after being involved in a mass pile-up whilst driving at 200mph. Leaves wife and 2 young children.

R.I.P

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15331056

Comments

  • That pile-up was utterly horrendous and I'm amazed that more people weren't killed.
  • edited October 2011
    Other drivers said before the race that the track was too dangerous. It's also smaller than the usual track and there were 34 cars driving, many who are inexperienced at this level. All those factors put together and this unfortunately is the likely outcome.
  • yep, saw it on the news, terrible.

     

    RIP

  • Just also found out that the race organisers set him a challenge to start from the back of the grid and if he won, he'd receive $5M. Saying that, It's not thought to have been a factor in the accident as he did not cause it.

    Very stupid of them to set such challenges though.
  • BDLBDL
    edited October 2011

    Was flicking through the channels and literally just missed the accident to see the aftermarth of it. Absolute carnage

     

    RIP

  • BDLBDL
    edited October 2011
    .
  • Terrible loss, didn't have a car for this years Indy until the last moment, took a gamble in an unfancied car and won. Was always the driver I looked out for whenever I watched the series, sad loss of a huge talent. RIP
  • It's crazy that you get that many cars going round an oval track with a concrete wall on one side. At least with stock cars they're designed for an impact, and crashes are probably what attract some fans. Those Indy cars look like reinforced F1 cars. Perhaps it's just ignorance on my behalf, but I'm surprised that deaths aren't so regular.

    R.I.P. From what I've heard he was an extremely talented driver.
  • It's crazy that you get that many cars going round an oval track with a concrete wall on one side. At least with stock cars they're designed for an impact, and crashes are probably what attract some fans. Those Indy cars look like reinforced F1 cars. Perhaps it's just ignorance on my behalf, but I'm surprised that deaths aren't so regular.

    R.I.P. From what I've heard he was an extremely talented driver.
    These cars are also alot faster than F1 cars too.
  • edited October 2011
    The survival cells of these cars are something else, and the banking does help slow things down an awful lot. Safety procedure, medical advances and technology all contribute to ensuring that this kind of tragic event is a rarity now. Unfortunately the mix of speed, metal, concrete, fuel, combustion and the other cars was just too much. Just to put things into perspective though, if that was button or Hamilton in the Korean gp, then i reckon the British media would be in uproar about the dangers of motorsport, but as he plied his trade in the US, I doubt they'll pay much attention to the future of indycar and its drivers
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  • Both F1 and Indy are alot safer these days.  That was the first fatality in 5 years and Senna in 93(?) was the last in formula 1. Have a look at the thread that was up over the weekend about Senna movie. Bedsaddick posted a link on there taking you to a documentary about F1 in the 50's & 60's. It seemed hardly a race went by without someone losing their life.
  • "These cars are also alot faster than F1 cars too."

    IndyCars are capable of higher straight line speed, partially due to their different aerodynamics (they are set-up for straight-line speed, so have less drag) and different regulations. F1 cars have far higher cornering speeds. What this means is that an IndyCar would win on an oval, whilst an F1 car would win on a street or traditional circuit where there are more corners.

    So which is faster is more complicated, and most F1 engineers would claim that on anything over than an oval they'd be confident in their car winning out, especially if the regulations governing F1 were relaxed.

    A truly sad event, especially when it looks like it could easily have been avoided. The mix of over crowding and greatly varied pace/experience always made this sort of incident a distinct possibility, especially with the "no margin for error" nature of oval racing.
  • honestly looked like something from a sci-fi movie...debris and flames everywhere.

    RIP
  • Very sad news. Not a motorsport fan but I do tune in now and then to follow any British racers. I didn't see the crash and am glad that from the time I was watching the programme (around 10pm) the incident was not repeated. One of the guest presenters in the sky studio burst into tears (that nearly had me going and I didn't even know the guy).
    Apparently they have a much safer car for next year and Weldon was one of the drivers who has been testing it.
  • edited October 2011

    Sounds like a number of factors combined to cause a terrible accident. Very sad, RIP.

    (The '50s/'60s documentary mentioned by Tango was called 'The Killing Years' and was on BBC3 recently. Frightening.)

  • Had watched him racing at the Indy 500, Iowa and Richmond a few years ago on trips to the US. There are much shorter tracks than the Vegas one but as they are tighter the speeds aren't quite as high. But that is a large numbers of cars for that size track. They usually just have that number at the Indy 500 which is much larger track.

    The main focus in the US is the NASCAR's and Indy Racing is a poor relation to them. Hadn't seen much of the series this year as I don't have Sky but Justin Wilson another English driver was injured in a crash a few months ago as well.

    A tragic waste of life of a hugely talented driver who most people in the UK had never heard of.

    R.I.P. Dan
  • R.I.P 

    more safety measures Should've been taken and they Should've listened to the drivers complaints.  
  • edited October 2011
    .
  • edited October 2011


    Here is the link to the film Grand Prix - The Killer years. 

    An amazing watch.
  • Very sad, feel bad for his family who were watching knowing that was the moment he lost his life.

    Watched the replay last night and the American commentator said we were waiting for the big one... so obviously there must've been concerns about the sport.
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  • They have been showing the replay on every channel 5 news update today . A little insensitive maybe ?
  • Local lad Mike Conway had a massive accident in last seasons Indy series. Thankfully recovered ok and racing again this seasons Indy. 
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