RJFabCab

Good point.

gbaker

The stills suggest he lost the shoulder belt(s) but the rest of the harness remained intact.

Larry Herman

He would have been better off "coming out" of the entire car.

Bryan Watts

Yup, the question is whether he came out of the belts or whether the belts broke.

RickBetterley

Good G*d - after looking at the stills (way more scary than the video) I'm surprised I still want to go on the track.
When you think about the performance of the cars that can be bought by anyone with the funding, it really gives you pause.
Ugh - I hope the driver recovers from this horrible crash.

Potomac-Greg

No fuel cell + no fire suit is a very scary situation and it's made me re-think my DE "fuel strategy." I typically tank up (full) in the morning so that I do not need to worry about refueling (and fuel at the track is so friggin' expensive). But why carry an extra 15 gallons of fuel around? I'll pay the extra pennies and fuel up during the DE day. And maybe pick up a nomex bunny suit.

mark kibort

the way a car falls apart is critical for its ability to absorb energy. not much absorption, when if just falls apart with so many weak pieces and attachements.

mongrelcat

That is really tough to watch. There's news of his condition here: http://brnonow.com/2010/05/giorgio-bartocci/

BC

F1 has crashes that bad - and usually not a lick of fire not caused by stuff like hot exhaust pipes. Not in recent memory has there been a real fuel fire. How are they different? More cut-off valves? Or?

Why were the extinguishers so in-effective against the fuel flame? Is it not a certain chemical?

Racerrob

This really speaks to the need for first class crew at the track. While it looks like they were equipped well enough, it does not appear that they were very efficient. I am thankful that the one "big one" that I have had was at the Glen. Those folks, from the flaggers to fire to EMS, are top notch! Some of the other tracks, er not so much.

mark kibort

Why dont they bring that big jet track sweeper to the fire and point it at the driver area. Then, the driver can get out, with help,and the fire is pointing away from the driver. Maybe they need a few hand held "jet pack" blowers where some of the safety team points air at the driver and the othes use the extinquishers. There is a new track safety invention for you !

kurt M

OK, lets add oxidiser to a fire. I get your idea but my guess is it would be full of problems. If the added air did not have a way to freely to exit it would go past the driver, fuel the fire further and come back out around the air that is being blown in. If the driver had fuel on him this would light him up like a blowtorch.

I have an idea, lets make pressurised tanks of cemicals or gasses that supress fire rather than add O2. We then train some guys to use them properly and pay them to hang around on the sides of the track at important points. When a fire starts they run up as fast as they can and supress the fire by using good equpment, training and procedure.

Potomac-Greg

Or a giant frying pan lid that you put on top of the vehicle (crane, helicopter, whatever)! Then lift the lid, and rush in before the driver suffocates.

RickBetterley

I was at DE event where there was a major off; nearest flagger runs toward the crash with the extinguisher bottle AND HAS A HEART ATTACK from the exertion.
Luckily there was no fire (and as it turned out he wasn't really having a heart attack, but he thought he was, which is all that mattered to him), so there was a longer delay to reach the driver than was planned.
It was a really good risk management lesson, and a reminder that 'what can go wrong will go wrong' is worth considering.

gums

f*****g horrendous scene!