ferrari 355 Challenge crash

Holy SH*%# ! Amazing piece of footage!!

 

To watch something like that will make you drive in the touring class. It sure didn't look good. The F car driver will never be the same if he makes it. Did he live?

 

My opinion, it looks like he was not seriously injured. He was able to stand on his own, albeit with assistance - but go figure: you've just slammed another vehicle at high speed, caught fire and spun out of control. That's a lot for someone to take. It's heartwrenching to see the moment on video 2 where he tries to sit upright but falls back onto his back. I think he's probably alright, which is amazing considering the fact that he was stuck in the fire for so long.

Thanks for providing links to see the aftermath - I always hate seeing just the bad part and not knowing what happened either before or after.

 

If you check the archives this crash has been discussed in the racing forum at least a dozen times. the driver survived but sued the racing organizers. Ten years later he recieved a settlement.

Kind Regards,

Jon P. Kofod
www.flatoutracing.net

 

He should have got a huge settlement, can't believe how long it took them to get to him!!

 

Quite right. I found it appalling the fact the steward left him!

Poor guy, must have had his visor burnt all over his face I reckon, ouch

 

He sustained very serious and dehabilitating burns. Sad story.

 

only goes to show how much I know about motorsports racing... In my defense, I figured it was more than something he could "walk off"

Matty brings up a good point about the rescue person leaving him. Didn't think about that. I just can't believe this was ten years ago (or so)...

 

Rob,

Ironically this very video contributed to my decision to start racing a 355 Challenge! I think its a huge testament to the safety of a 355C, that the driver did walk away. If the track workers had done their job, he would have suffered very little, considering the crash. I can only imagine the results if my Cobra race car had been in a similar incident…..

Watching it again does make me want to do a proper fuel cell before next year.

See you there.

Mark

 

I can't believe he lived. It looked like a wreck that would definitely leave the driver dead. It is amazing that the rescue workers did not get him out faster.
BT

 

A fuel cell is an excellent idea and I would encourage it. However, it wouldn't have helped in this instance since it looks like the fire was caused by fuel leaking out of the P-car.

 

Makes me relize my fire Bottle is for show. You need an automatic realease system here.

 

I have 2 Fuel cells for the 355's

talk to me

-a

 

I had not seen the second half.....it put me a little more at rest, as the other copy of the video I had seen had the caption "fatal accident".

 

Have seen the first part numerous times but never the second part--thanks for sharing!!!

 

I can't believe how they just chucked him into the meat wagon...no stretcher, no kid gloves, just get your ass in there! His car will be on e-bay soon as "never been raced".

 

Careful about old fuel cells: "The legal life span of a bladder set by the FIA and NASCAR is five years. Fuel bladders and (hard rubber) plastic cells age not only with time but also with the use of fuel. The more exotic the racing fuel, the faster the cell will age. The fuel degraded the (hard rubber) plastic and rubber cells by pulling out the plasticizer, which keeps the fuel cell pliable. Over a period of about three years, (hard rubber) plastic cells can become very brittle and can shatter under impact, and with no nylon to aid in holding the cell together, the fuel will dump right out. The bladder type cells start to lose their strength after about five years. Fuel cell foam should be replaced between three and five years depending on the type of fuel used."http://www.fuelsafe.com/faqs.htm

That being said, I am sure Aaron knows this and wouldn't sell you an old cell or put one in his car.

 

I read about this a long time ago - the guy suffered third degree burns on like 40% of his body, and the settlement was something like $2,000,000.00

 

I haven't seen the second video either. It is amazing the guy walked away. It's a good thing he had on Nomex.

 

Thats a hard situation... hard to watch.. hopefully it has caused changes to how things are done at that track.

I'm not a lawyer or anything close to it, but I wonder what that case looked like? To have an SLA (for lack of better term) on how fast emergency workers can get to a wreck seems really hard to do. Getting a fire truck safely on track to get to a burning car when there is fog and a bunch of other guys racing on a track would take some time. I think the Senna accident was the same.

I wonder what affect a automatic fire suppresion system would have in a blaze that intense of fire?

 

Thanks to Rob for the great videos and the great job he did on the track himself as shown in his link.

It was inexcuseable that the steward merely fussed with the injured driver's helmet, tried to pick him up, and then after ignoring him and seeming helpless to assist, pushed him into the emergency van. What about basic life support, what about first aid, what the heck is going on here? Aren't these guys trained and if not what are they doing at a track? Wouldn't it make you pause before you decided to race at a track where help was so unavailable and inept?
Neal