2015 Indy Car

Not being familiar with the setup in the cockpit, is the injury most likely from the helmet being crushed, the head movement back or forth on impact, (don't know how much head movement they have) or just the shock transmitted through the helmet. How are the helmets rated in open car? They have to take an inverted blow im guessing or a roll over side to side hig G force blows, but not sure on something like this. Very sad, wishing for good outcomes.
Nd

 

Indycar helmet standards are on the same FIA standard as F1, so I doubt that's the issue. he took a 15-20 pound blunt object to the head while traveling at 180+ mph, that's a big impact.

The Helmet

Homologated helmet standard mandatory in '13

Indianapolis 500 driver helmets are complex pieces of equipment | Autoweek

http://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/regulation/file/8860-2010_Advanced_Helmet.pdf

 

Firstly, best wishes to Justin and his family.

All motor racing fans round the world are pulling for you man! Get well soon!

+1

As most know, this has been heavily debated in the F1 section - After Phil's spring & particularly after Jules accident. While technically possible to stick a fighter plane canopy on the things I remain convinced it would cause more trouble than it solves.

I'm not being heartless here, but "motor racing is dangerous". There's no way anyone can foresee & plan for some of the things that can happen; That's why they're called "accidents".

Indeed. From the Indystar;

Apart from looking a little ridiculous IMO, I'm still not sure they really "help" from a safety perspective. I get they're trying to address the "riding up over another car issue", but bits flying off all the time has got to be as dangerous.

Incidentally, searching for news this morning, I came across this;

That makes much sense to me!

Finally, if you want "racing news", this is the place! The use of Tony's plane for his family was reported here last night; The mighty Washington Post ran the story just an hour or so back!......

Get well soon Justin.
Ian

 

And inevitably something deadly is going to happen with the cockpit. A fire with driver trapped inside or something.

Is it just me or does the amount of body on the indy car make this type of incident far more likely that what it's designed to prevent?

 

I was trying to avoid knocking IndyCar given the gravity of the accident, but this is certainly the case. The pieces seem to fly off a lot (which is why there was controversy around Indy) - I'm not following IndyCar at all, yet all I hear about is the body work.

 

1). Racing is dangerous
2). Every driver knows it
3). Every driver does it anyway knowing the risks

Indy car however does seem to have more serious incidents than other forms though.

 

I agree with those who are talking about enclosed cockpits. It's the simplest solution (though not the best) to the problems Indycar has had, going back to the likes of Greg Moore, Paul Dana, and Dan Wheldon (there have been more in the last 10 years). The speeds and the circuit configurations mean that these types of incidents are always going to be possible.

 

I don't think any of those 3 guys would still be alive if their cars had enclosed cockpits. possibly Dan, but then the entire top (roll hoop/engine cover) of his car was sheared off so I doubt it.

 

Certainly something to consider. The new aero does have more components which I can see from the Hinchcliffe incident when he got his concussion. I wouldn't consider the nose cone part of the new aero just another piece of an open wheel racer.

I honestly don't see how Indy Car would have prepared for such an issue. A front runner car hitting the wall in such as way that body parts fly up into the air and hit another racer in the pack directly in the head. They have made progress as his wheel did remain on the car which has been an issue before.

 

I love the racing that Indy Car has been doing lately. It may not be the most advanced technology such as F1 but the racing is simply better (IMO). They battle, touch wheels, and you really don't know who will be putting in a stellar drive for the weekend.

With that being said it has been quite a rough couple of years with regards to the incidents occurring on the track. Nobody wants to see some of the stuff have seen these past years.

Wheldon
Franchitti's injury
Hinchcliffe with his leg (keep in mind how close he was to bleeding out) and the concussion
Justin Wilson

I may have missed some but they need to review some things.

No update on JW from what I see.

 

+1

It was (a terrible) *accident* - As I keep harping on about, that's pretty much the definition of an accident! - Something nobody envisaged.

No one - not Todt, Charlie, the Indy guys, or anyone outside of the Lord Almighty can cover all the bases.

I'm sorry, but **** happens. I certainly don't like it, & hopefully they'll learn, but as others have said, if you want to be "safe" it's probably best to stay in bed & die from bed sores.

Ian

 

Agree, just saying the easy, knee-jerk solution is to cover the cockpits. It may have helped Wilson yesterday, but not the other three. I saw a pretty clear video of Moore's crash, and it seemed like he was still hanging in there after the initial impact. It was only after the car started to roll did it seem he lost consciousness.

 

How many cars go upside down versus a helmet being hit by debris?

A lot more

Imagine a car that was hit and rolled or was damaged to the point where the dome would not come off. Imagine the dome itself breaks and shards of plastic enter into the cockpit. Imagine it stuck in the kitty litter upside down with no possible air coming in.

As soon as you solve one problem, you create another. The facts are that being hit by an object is very rare and a helmet prevents serious injuries 99.9999% of the time in any accident.

The MUCH BIGGER ISSUE is that Indy Cars crash into solid walls at high speed when they are on ovals. And, when they crash, they usually end up in the racing line. That rarely is the case on F1 tracks where most of the time they end up in kitty litter and much less debris is ejected.

 

They have successfully added domes to hydroplanes, that's where you really don't wanna be upside down too long.

 

Agreed.

But, very different problems need solving; It's very helpful if your survival cell floats for example - A true survival cell that the jockey is "sealed" inside makes a lot of sense in that scenario.

And while water at 100mph+ is pretty hard, it's way more forgiving to that cell than asphalt or even kitty litter would ever be.

Cheers,
Ian

 

Still apples and oranges. They put domes in F16's also. That doesn't mean it won't have issues in a race car

 

How often do speed boats hit each other? How often to race cars hit each other?

Boats have domes to prevent drowning. Cars would have dome to protect them from an object. Completely different circumstances.

 

The Canopy in offshore powerboats and the capsule in drag boats are to protect the driver in a crash or if they stuff it. The oxygen tanks included in the cockpit are to keep them from drowning.

 

Completely agreed. As already noted, very different scenarios.......

Their survival cells also protect the guy (or girl) from being drowned if knocked out cold for example. Kind of important that the sucker doesn't sink before the rescue crews get there..... Not one of the problems F1 encounters. [With the occasional exception of the harbor at Monaco. ]

Cheers,
Ian

 

Totally agree. Ovals are a huge part of it plus the pack racing. I was honestly waiting for the other shoe to drop with some of these cars getting airborne this year also. There is just nowhere to go on some of these tracks and even the best driver may not find the right hole at 200mph.

Sage was a sitting duck out there. Wilson actually passed him already unconscious and easily could have hit him again.

Also agree on the canopies - malfunctions is what I would worry about, or what might break them.

 

IndyCar is holding a press conference in about 10 minutes (9pm Eastern)

http://www.wthr.com/category/200638/live-video

or here:

http://www.theindychannel.com/live-video

 

what is the update??

 

Sage Karam released. Nothing broken.

JW has passed away.

http://fox59.com/2015/08/24/indycar-driver-justin-wilson-passes-away-after-pocono-raceway-accident/

 

per a tweet by the AP, Justin passed away this evening.

 

Is this true, I heard he didn't make it