Race Car Deaths: The Medical Causes of Racing Deaths with Examples...

Article has been updated. Linky here: Race Car Driver Deaths: The Medical Causes of Racing Deaths w Examples

 

Hmm... I'm not sure LeMans - AOC are to blame... however I get the point about what caused the death.

I've raced ( 1989 - 1990 Formula Renault) and know that racing is dangerous. in those days when I was racing - amature to be sure - Elio Deangelis was the last F-1 driver who died in an F-1 car... and people knew that you had to be careful...

today i think racing has the appearance of being so safe that kids - young drivers - take huge risk becuase they have never been around a fatality in a race... so i think its a combo of both. can it be / should it be made safter - YES... but I think drivers have to "calm down" as well...

Not to say Simonsen's death was due to his own fault... but perhaps when its raining at LeMans and you are in the first hour of the race - you dont need to use all the kerbs & track? reel it in a bit... my ten cents.

 

Well as someone that briefly raced as well, I don't disagree...except show me a racer that will "calm down" - not going to happen. If they do, they wouldn't be there.

There will always be inherent risks associated with racing. I totally agree there are things that can be done (e.g., eliminate pack racing with open wheel cars a la Indy), but a slide in the rain at Le Mans is something you can't prevent 100%.

I was shocked the accident was fatal, until I read the report. When you start having aortic ruptures, not sure how you prevent it...

 

in this case, you prevent it by not bolting armco directly to a tree.

 

"To finish first, you must finish". Bad decisions all around. But if you want to put the blame where it is due.....pilot error, pure and simple. Trying to win it in the first hour is like trying to get laid when you pick her up. Takes time to do both and if you really want to win.....you pace yourself. Same for the other. Just because it's LeMans doesn't mean we run full throttle right out of the gate. One only need to look at the winner to see how it was done. They simply ran their own race right up to the end.

 

I tend to agree with your assessment. Wet paint in the first hour of a 24 hour race... you have to settle down.

armco bolted to a tree? in retrospect sounds like a bad ideal... I'm sure it has to do with right of way and who owns the trees... so keep the trees to keep the race? or no race because they will not cut down the trees? I dont know.

I guess the thing with racing is - how much is it about historic tracks and how much about pure racing and safety?

you could rebuild a track like Monaco in the desert but is it really that much challenge with wide open runoff's ? is Lemans - LeMans with no tertra rouge? Mulsanne? I dont have the answer. I think from a racer's point of view - there is an inherent love of racing on tracks where the great of the past have raced.... its a challenge and curse.

As for racers who can calm down... lots of them ( usually the best) can do that...

Jackie Stewart, Jackie Ickxx, Derek Bell, Tom Kristensen, Alan Prost, etc... they all know / knew how to wait things out, take care of the car and pounce when the time was right.

 

Would it have been any different had the " tree " been the upright where the barrier is mounted to? I don't think it gives much, if any either.

I'm going to looke closer the next time I'm on a track walk for sure.

S

 

Forgetting the fatal nature of the accident and the problems with the Armco bolted to the trees, calling the initial departure of the circuit an error caused by an over eager driver is nonsense in the extreme. I will add that it shows a complete lack of knowledge of what it takes to be competitive in a race of the nature of Le Mans where the top guys need to drive at near qualifying pace all race long to have a chance of victory. This is especially true in the AM class where the allowed pro driver needs to build as much of a cushion as possible to later be eaten up by the amateur drivers in the squad.

This reminds me of Allan McNish who was hammered on after his accident for not being more cautious in traffic ignoring that it takes hundreds of such moves in a 24 hour race to be competitive and challenge for wins. Sorry but you can't be totally cautious and fast. Hindsight is always 20/20 but I tend to find that most of the Monday morning quarterbacks like to dissect tiny details while ignoring the big picture.

On a personal note I will add that Allan Simonson and I have been friends for a long time and he was an extraordinary endurance racer with a real head on his shoulders. Errors were almost unheard of with him as he was super fast while hardly ever putting a foot wrong. He won big endurance races all over the world in ungodly poor conditions so a little damp patch at Le Mans was hardly out of his depth.

 

Well said. Prayers to Allan Simonson's family and friends. My thoughts are with you too since you knew him.

 

Well said. I wonder if the commenter(s) about pilot error has ever raced seriously in a very talented field and at the front. Every fast and talented racer I know races on the limit of grip at all times. I know I do and while not a pro I know what it is like to drive truly quickly against talented competitors and how easy it is for something to go wrong. If I am not mistaken this car was on the pole in its class and everything I have read and heard from current endurance racers is that you must run sprint pace since the cars are so reliable. I've raced the Thunderhill 25 hour a few times and frankly used rain as a chance to make up time, since many drivers do not look for all the grip and overslow. To say Simonsen should have throttled back is balderdash and anathema to the way real racers drive.

Now I'll agree that every time you strap in you are making what many consider to be an "error" in judgment, since the activity is so intrinsically dangerous. But I almost never call "pilot error" in a race incident because the avocation is intrinsically dangerous and EVERY fast driver has had shunts. I've been upside down, have permanently sore wrists form all the wheel-wrenching in car-car contact, and had my bell rung and wind knocked out of me more than once. I have been fortunate to avoid any serious injury, in part because I usually race slower cars, but I remember scaring the crap out of myself on the high banks at Pocono qualifying in Viper Cup in the rain. The NASCAR weenies would never even try, and sliding on the banking was terrifying. But I was always looking for all the grip I could find all the time, despite knowing that I could overdo it and end up in the wall.

Blame the driver? harumpf!

 

Respectfully disagree. Look at the laps times for the first few hours. On a slower, but quick pace but not all out. Trying to push a bad position both at the start of a race and with inclement weather is a bad decision on the drivers part.

 

Please advise us of your racing resume in any serious amateur or professional race where you won or set the pole in a field with real depth of other drivers who had things like champinships under their belt, so that we can better understand your personal experience with what it takes to go fast and win.

And a wet track is always slower than a dry one, so what?

 

Former racing mechanic. Driving not my interest. Still doesn't change the fact that a bad decision was made. Running fast means running with your head. You don't push a bad position particularly at the start of a race.

 

Respectfully, I don't think you have the experience to make that assessment. Were Simonsen's lap times in the few laps he ran signifcanlty faster than his competitors such that it appears Simonsen was overdriving the car? I have looked for a lap chart but can't find one. It looked to me like the Corvette following him was on a comparable pace.

 

And look at this bit of trackside video - many cars having issues, including an incident right in front of Simonsen that may have disrupted his ability to properly place the car (start viewing at about 1:10):

Private footage Full HD ©a_bloc - Le Mans 24h 2013 Allan Simonsen #95 Aston Martin Fatal Crash - YouTube

 

Actually I can make that assessment. I have seen enough professional drivers to determine if someone has made a bad decision. Case in point..... lost a friend at Indy in 1982. He made a bad decision. Trying to ignore the fact that drivers make bad decisions is simply a poor line of thinking. If the car came back with no signs of mechanical failure and no other cars were involved, then it comes down to two things.....track condition and driver decision making. In this case, both were suspect. Wet roads do not promote good tire adhesion and painted surfaces with water on them only augmented the problem. That is a driver decision. Failure to heed to the conditions put both driver and car at risk. In this case...it had a very bad ending.

 

I think that if you strip everything else away and focus only on a narrow band of facts then it is very easy to place the blame on the driver. This is what lawyers do as they make their arguments in a vacuum that best defends their point of view and is also a big reason why lawyers are so loathed in society. Lets not forget the bigger picture.

Top line drivers earn their keep by pushing the boundaries of the possible and by taking risk every moment that they are on the track. Some drivers are regular crashers with few results to show for it while others are seen as great by repeatedly tempting fate over and over again. I believe that the latter earn a certain degree of latitude when judging individual performances as they need to be taken in the context of a greater career built on the foundations of such risk and aggressions.

Yes Allan and I were friends but my opinion is based on the fundamental beliefs that I have about motor racing and not clouded in defense of a fallen friend.

 

You may offer whatever opinion you prefer. I respect that. But based upon my time working around racing and my considerable time working on cars, I see this differently. I agree a professional driver has to push the boundaries in order to win, but those boundaries are pushed when the end of the race is in sight and either the win or a podium is in sight. True professionals know when it is "go" time and don't move on it until that time. Normally a controlled pace that keeps the car in contention is preferred. I have been fortunate to have know several successful drivers of both IMSA and Indy Car. Based upon their performances thru the years, I will retain my opinion as it stands. I will state for the record that while our opinions are different, I am saddened to the lose of your friend. I also lost one to racing. Never an easy thing.

 

I agree with you, as soon as you 'calm down' you are out of a ride.

IIRC Ricardo Paletti ruptured his aorta at Canada GP in 1982.

Racing is dangerous, for sure, but hell, just driving on city streets is more dangerous than ever, I cannot believe the number of people I see smoking, eating AND playing with their cell phones - all at the same time. Couple all that with a mom in a minivan or Suburban taking the kiddies to school, and it's a disaster.

 

I don't know how you can really say Gordon Smiley made a bad decision, he twitched a bit at full speed,
no matter what you do you were going to crash. You can't say he overcorrected this way or that way -
- not at that speed - no matter what he did he was going to hit - HARD, ANY kind of a correction at
that speed in that place on the track was going to meet with a bad result, it's not like anyone can
slam on the brakes and point to the infield.

I have still never seen a crash as violent as that - before or since - and if any of you have not seen it, visit youtube.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYnTtul3670[/ame]