Horrific F4 accident - Billy Monger. | FerrariChat

Horrific F4 accident - Billy Monger.

Discussion in 'F1' started by singletrack, Apr 19, 2017.

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  1. singletrack

    singletrack F1 Veteran

    Mar 16, 2011
    5,767
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Not sure if others have been following this, but it's absolutely tragic. A 17 year old racer in the BRDC F4 championship had to have amputations to both legs after hitting a stationary car on the racing line at Donington Park a couple of days ago. It took 90 minutes to extract him from the car, but they could not save his legs. The video that is out there is almost unwatchable and one of the worst crashes I have ever seen.

    Please consider donating:

    https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/BillyMonger23

    Mods - if there is a more appropriate section, please move.

    Thank you for reading.
     
  2. maulaf

    maulaf Formula 3

    Feb 24, 2011
    1,422
    Cape Town
    Horrible accident, it could have ended worse.

    Viewing from the onboard, it is such an incredible amount of bad luck how other cars blocked his view of the stationary vehicle. Bizarre why that other kid didn't move off the road with a stranded car.

    I hope he recovers without his spirits broken.
     
  3. Bas

    Bas Four Time F1 World Champ

    Mar 24, 2008
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    Saw it on the weekend before the Bahrain race. I thought he was dead as he was still in the car an hour later. Was glad to find out after Bahrain he was conscious and talking throughout, tough kid!
     
  4. RWatters

    RWatters Formula 3

    Feb 21, 2006
    1,075
    Kansas
    He lost both lower legs due to the accident. Unreal. Horrible situation and a nightmare scenario for a racecar driver (pulling out to pass someone and there's a stationary car there). Really feel for him and his family.
     
  5. Nembo1777

    Nembo1777 F1 World Champ
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    #5 Nembo1777, Apr 19, 2017
    Last edited: Apr 19, 2017
    Following this since Sunday, it has to be one of the saddest racing accidents ever, 17 years old, legs, career dreams gone...awful, but they say he has a lot of spirit so hopefully he will battle and make something else of himself once his soul and then his body recover from the knees up.

    Godspeed Billy!

    PS: Hopefully Zanardi will get in touch and offer inspiration,

    http://www.alex-zanardi.com/

    Kubica too...and look at that chap who raced at Le Mans this year with both legs and arms missing, yes incredible but it happened...

    Hey maybe this kid is destined to be the first handicapped F1 driver in a few years?

    I remember when Clay Regazzoni showed me how his Daytona with hand steering worked in pitlane at Paul Ricard during the Tour Auto in 1999....he was not taking part it was just his road car and he was there spectating...that technology has evolved hugely recently.

    MS
     
  6. singletrack

    singletrack F1 Veteran

    Mar 16, 2011
    5,767
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Concur.

    Unfortunately w F4 as the first step from karting, there are going to be some pretty interesting situations out there.

    Not blaming the stopped car as I really don't know what happened. But if you can, you always get your car off the track if it is going to stop. Of course you may not always get the chance.

    We just had our first 3 races in US F4 (33 car field) and there were massive amounts of penalties handed out, several big hits, and tons of safety cars. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured this time.
     
  7. singletrack

    singletrack F1 Veteran

    Mar 16, 2011
    5,767
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Yah I think many people thought of Zanardi first. He even drove with prosthetics on his legs for BMW in GTLM if I'm not mistaken. In addition to his many accomplishments since his accident. This kid's life isn't over so hopefully he can be happy...with or without Motorsport.
     
  8. bpu699

    bpu699 F1 World Champ
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    What happened to the guy in the stationary car? From a physics point of view, the stationary car "feels" a greater acceleration going from 0-100mph in a split second. The moving car keeps moving and decelerates much slower...

    Is he dead?

    PS. Didn't watch the video... was there a link?
     
  9. singletrack

    singletrack F1 Veteran

    Mar 16, 2011
    5,767
    Pittsburgh, PA
    All they said was that he was extracted and taken to the medical center and then to the hospital. He was not airlifted so could not have been as serious.

    It's the same survival cell as F3, save the material in the side intrusion panels. So it should be able to absorb a lot of energy. The issue w Billy was the angle which chopped through the car. Just horrible luck.
     
  10. singletrack

    singletrack F1 Veteran

    Mar 16, 2011
    5,767
    Pittsburgh, PA
    If you search google you will get the video. Be prepared, it's terrible.
     
  11. Bas

    Bas Four Time F1 World Champ

    Mar 24, 2008
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    He crashed into Patrik Pasma...As Singletrack said, he was taken to Medical center then hospital for further checks but he's fine.
     
  12. Bas

    Bas Four Time F1 World Champ

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    Yep it's a shocking video.
     
  13. bpu699

    bpu699 F1 World Champ
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    That fact is amazing...

    One of my worst nightmares is spinning out on the track and getting hit while stationary. That's a lot of force to absorb...
     
  14. Bas

    Bas Four Time F1 World Champ

    Mar 24, 2008
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    https://www.motorsport.com/formula4/news/monger-woken-up-from-coma-after-amputations-896098/

    He's been woken up prior to more operations today, he's been very positive thus far...what a great kid.

    Button donated 15K, and even made a personal phone call (though I think Billy was in a coma at the time). Verstappen donated 15K, and Billy's former rival DeFrancesco a massive 26K. Fantastic support. So many shares throughout the motorsport community. The page has been set up for not even 24 hours and already over 485K donated!

    His amputations are below the knees, which is good news as that makes it a lot easier for him IMO, and racing won't be an impossible pipe dream.
     
  15. Ryan S.

    Ryan S. Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Mar 20, 2004
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    Lots of F1 guys supporting. Nico gave it a mention this AM.
     
  16. DF1

    DF1 Two Time F1 World Champ

    Amazing response by the entire world racing community from what I see online. Best wishes and strength to Billy and his family and team. The long road to recovery begins and he appears to be a strong strong young man.
     
  17. Sig. Roma

    Sig. Roma Formula 3
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    The BBC reported on its News broadcast at 1300 today that a fund of over GBP 500,000 had been raised for him, and an ex-Military guy, who lost his legs fighting, said that he will help Billy get back into a car.
     
  18. singletrack

    singletrack F1 Veteran

    Mar 16, 2011
    5,767
    Pittsburgh, PA
    I agree. Such a horrible thing, but the response has been amazing.
     
  19. singletrack

    singletrack F1 Veteran

    Mar 16, 2011
    5,767
    Pittsburgh, PA
    As of right now:

    12497 supportes
    521k UK pounds

    That's 667k USD.

    Hopefully it his 1m USD today. I bet it does.
     
  20. jgonzalesm6

    jgonzalesm6 Two Time F1 World Champ
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  21. sammysaber

    sammysaber Formula Junior

    Dec 21, 2011
    553
    Some good news here :

    Billy Monger crash: Amputee teen racer back behind wheel - BBC News

    A teenage racing driver who had to have both legs amputated after a high speed crash has got back behind the wheel.
    Billy Monger, from Surrey, hit the back of a stationary car at Donington Park in April and lost both of his lower legs, days before he turned 18.
    Eleven weeks on, he has now returned to the cockpit of a racing car at Brands Hatch in Kent.
    The adapted Fun Cup endurance racer is designed to look like a VW Beetle and has steering wheel mounted controls.
    The Formula 4 racer returned to the track with the assistance of Team BRIT, which helps disabled drivers and injured servicemen to compete in motorsport.

    He said: "It's been really good just to get back behind the wheel.
    And he added: "Team BRIT have got two steering wheels for me to try out today.
    "I've decided which one I prefer, now it's just about perfecting the technique."
    'Overwhelmed by help'
    Dave Player, Team BRIT founder said the aim was to give the teenager his first time out on the track and to get his race licence back.
    Monger said his ambition now was to compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours with Frenchman Frederic Sausset, who lost both arms and legs through an illness.

    "I'm not 100% committed to anything yet, we're just looking at different options to see what's best for me in the future," he said.
    "There's a lot of work involved in what's going on with my own rehabilitation, but that's all going well, so hopefully we'll be back out on track soon."

    The teenager thanked fans who had overwhelmed him with help: "People keep saying I'm the inspiration but I think all these people coming together to support someone who has gone through an accident like this, they're the true inspiration."

    Nice one.

    Best,

    Sammy
     
  22. jgonzalesm6

    jgonzalesm6 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Good to hear.....kid is resilient on getting back behind the seat...slowly of course.
     
  23. GrigioGuy

    GrigioGuy Splenda Daddy
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    Good to see he's driving, but he's done as a pro racer. Time to go find something else to do.
     
  24. jgonzalesm6

    jgonzalesm6 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Monger targets FIA F3 move after halo extraction test

    [​IMG]


     
  25. Patrick Dixon

    Patrick Dixon Formula 3

    Mar 27, 2012
    1,083
    UK
    He raced in British F3 this year and had a couple of respectable results. The car is adapted so that he brakes with his prosthetic leg (he has one below the knee and one above) and has a throttle paddle on the steering wheel.

    He seems like a lovely lad and I hope he has a great future either racing or not.
     
    sammysaber and maulaf like this.

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