Monday 24 October 2011

Inherent dangers, the nature of the beast

Frightening scenes as cars collide at over 200km/h at Las Vegas resulting in the death of Dan Wheldon

The past week has seen two tragedies in the motor sport world. The exciting talents of Dan Wheldon and Marco Simoncelli were cut abruptly short doing what they loved. Immediately following Wheldon's Las Vegas crash, questions were brought to a head on the safety of the IndyCar category. While safety in the Moto GP class was questioned too following Simoncelli's fatal incident, it appears that there was little that could prevent a similar accident occurring again in such freak circumstances.

IndyCar has jumped quickly to arrest all concerns and will hold a safety conference where all drivers will be encouraged to voice their concerns. In addition to this, IndyCar has approved the introduction of a new body for all cars to use in the 2012 season. Ironically this new prototype was being tested by Dan Wheldon in the lead up to his death. This prototype body will include rear bumpers, a first for open wheel racing, which will aim to reduce the chance or a car becoming airborne. A variety of others measures will be open for discussion as safety is put intensely under the microscope.

2012 prototype IndyCar tested by Dan Wheldon

But how safe car motor sport truly become? The IndyCar series sees its cars reach speeds of nearly 360km/h, formula one, not run on oval circuits, sees top speeds of around 300km/h and Moto GP has its riders falling off bikes at similar speeds (the fastest speed ever recorded by a Moto GP bike was just shy of 350km/h). At such intense velocity, any crash has certain potential for death, particularly on motorcycles where there is no protection available to stop something like the Simoncelli crash, where he was hit by incoming bikes unable to avoid him, from being fatal. The human body was not designed for, nor can it withstand, going from over 300km/h to zero in the space of just a few feet.

While such a scenario doesn't usually occur, their is always the potential for it to do so, thus the possibility for death will always remain. Track, car and driver safety has moved leaps and bounds in recent times. Tracks now offer run offs, escape lanes, gravel traps and the safer barrier has reduced impacts in oval racing dramatically. Cars and drivers have seen advancements in cockpits, roll bars, crumple zones and the HANS (head and neck support) device. Despite all of this, we still see the occasional fatality in motor sport. IndyCar has come under massive criticism with many drivers, including Mark Webber, from other formulas saying they would not run an opened wheel car on oval speedway tracks. Stating that having so many cars in a tight high speed scenario is a recipe for disaster, where cars can become airborne and pile ups are common when there is no where to go.

The tight, side by side, hard, fast and highly competitive nature of the IndyCar series is what makes it so popular. The nature of the beast seems to bring with it an inherent danger. An inherent and unavoidable potential for disaster. The drivers are aware and for this reason I do not damn motor sport. The early days of racing were littered with fatalities, and we, as fans, should be grateful that these two tragedies stand out, not because they are common, but because they are the opposite, they are freak, unusual and unlikely events. While we pray for the Wheldon and Simoncelli families, the drivers, fans and motor sports organisations must move on, without forgetting, and take valuable lessons away from a disastrous week.

I feel as though we should embrace the risk takers and enjoy every moment they put their lives on the line for us. We ought to treat them as true superstars, risking it all in the name of thrills and entertainment, the ultimate performers.


Rest in peace Marco Simoncelli and Dan Wheldon, gone but not forgotten. 

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