[The Gowfer]

sad sad news out of the F2 race at brands hatch today

the son of John Surtees has died after being hit by a wheel from another crash that he wasnt even involved in

clark hit the wall and one of his rear wheels flew of and bounced into the path of henry. he was KOed and hit the barrier at the next corner while still accelerating

[Skinto McGinto]

Already mentioned on the F1 thread...

[lichtie23]

Horrible tragedy.

R.I.P

[CooCoothenoo]

Was watching the F2 race live today and it was a truly freak accident, reminiscent of Markus Hottinger or Marco Campos. How ironic that his father survived one of racing's deadliest eras on both two and four wheels only for this to happen to his son. Thoughts are with John and Jane. The fact that fatal accidents are rare these days only makes his loss more shocking.

This post has been edited by CooCoothenoo: 19 July 2009 - 23:48

[Dave]

Quote

The son of motorsport legend John Surtees has been killed in a "freak" accident during a Formula Two (F2) race at Brands Hatch in Kent.
Henry Surtees, 18, was flown to the Royal London Hospital after he was struck by a wheel which flew off Jack Clarke's car.
His father, John, who won the Formula One World Championship in 1964, said Henry would be "deeply missed".
"Henry had followed his heart from the time he first sat in a kart," he added.

http://news.bbc.co.u...ent/8158445.stm

Haven't seen this posted here, and I know that motor-racing is not a favourite among people here but for those of us that follow all forms of this sport it's just another reminder that despite the advances in recent years it's still a dangerous sport.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=aTDiYS1NVW4 - is the video of the incident if anyone really wants to watch how he died. Not graphic at all but not exactly nice either.

[Dave]

Disregard my thread, I need to learn to look...

[flyingscot]

Dave, on Jul 22 2009, 00:45, said:

Disregard my thread, I need to learn to look...

Completely bizarre accident. Do these cars have wheel tethers like the F1 cars to try and retain them, or indeed reduce the impact. I seem to remember they were introduced to try and help after a marshall was killed by a wheel in Australia following a crash between Villenueve and Ralf Schumacher.

[drs]

Palmer says they do and they are having a full investigation into the circumsrances but that they did have tethers.

Poor Henry was just in the wrong place at the wrong time as they have confirmed it was the initial impact with the tyre that killed him.

[Mackie The Staggie]

flyingscot, on Jul 22 2009, 14:10, said:

Completely bizarre accident. Do these cars have wheel tethers like the F1 cars to try and retain them, or indeed reduce the impact. I seem to remember they were introduced to try and help after a marshall was killed by a wheel in Australia following a crash between Villenueve and Ralf Schumacher.

Yeah they do have wheel tethers on them attached at the hubs of the wheels, the thing is that the tethers are not alwasy going to work, even still in F1 the wheels come off.

Coulthard Crash last year

[Dave]

I feared this to be honest. I knew Health & Safety would come into this....

Yes, I understand it's incredibly important for all racing drivers to be as safe as possible, but accidents like this can't be predicted. If Clark had crashed just 1mph slower, or hit the barrier at 1 degree less than he did, the outcome could have been completely different. This was just a freak accident, and freak can't be emphasised enough. Investigations can go on, but the fact is Henry Surtees was just incredibly unlucky.

[CooCoothenoo]

It was simply a case of the wrong place at the wrong time. Surtees was running near the front earlier in the race but spun. If he hadn't spun he would have been in front of Clarke when the accident occurred. The fact he did spin shows he was pushing very hard, as a racing driver should, and it is best to remember him like that.