Topic: IndyCar -- RIP Dan Wheldon

[Angry Chicken]

Series nice guy and Daytona 500 champion Dan Wheldon died in a fiery 15-car crash in Las Vegas today.  The sport is mourning a gentleman racer of the old school mould.  A man who (at only 33 years old) stood out in stark contrast to some of the bad boys which some racing series seem so much to gravitate to in the interest of ratings.  He was a man of immense talent and had a deep reservoir of respect for his fellow driver.

He will be sorely missed.

[Scarecrow]

What a terrible tragedy, and an awful loss for his family and friends.  How truly sad.

[Force]

Definitely a tragedy, especially in light of the planned safety upgrades next year.

That said, let's hope the organizers begin to realize that racing in close proximity at 220+ mph on banked ovals is dangerous in open wheel cars, period.

RIP, Dan.

[safristi]

Life is a biatch.................and then you die..............sad............but he played in a Dangerous Venue.

[ovr50]

Definitely a tragedy, especially in light of the planned safety upgrades next year.

That said, let's hope the organizers begin to realize that racing in close proximity at 220+ mph on banked ovals is dangerous in open wheel cars, period.

RIP, Dan.

In response to this post:

http://worldsport.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/17/wheldons-death-must-be-watershed-moment-for-indycar/?hpt=hp_c2

[rrocket]

That said, let's hope the organizers begin to realize that racing in close proximity at 220+ mph on banked ovals is dangerous in open wheel cars, period.

RIP, Dan.

But I'd rather be in a car wreck in one of those at 200+ than a wreck in any of my cars at 60 MPH.  Despite the dangers, Indycars are incredibly safe.

[Guy]

Patrick Carpentier was on radio on my way back from work. He compared the fence on these ovals to a cheese grate; destroys the car in the same way..

Always sad news when someone looses his life...

[mmret]

I have to wonder, compared to F1, in Indycar you have so many cars travelling at such a huge average speed all compressed together....F1 must be many times safer just by design?

[rrocket]

Patrick Carpentier was on radio on my way back from work. He compared the fence on these ovals to a cheese grate; destroys the car in the same way..

Always sad news when someone looses his life...

True, but without them there would be no racing.  These cars are designed to come apart in a moderate wreck and you can't have parts of the car flying into the crowd.  His accident was a freak one, in that he sorta went head first into the fencing.

[rrocket]

I have to wonder, compared to F1, in Indycar you have so many cars travelling at such a huge average speed all compressed together....F1 must be many times safer just by design?

F1 cars are "slower", and since there is little passing in F1, you don't risk touching tires as much.  I'd say the construction of the drivers tub and safety in general is pretty close though.  A similar freak accident in F1 could take a life just as easily.  You go head first into any barrier and the possibility of death is quite high.

[Cord]

In retrospect, it looks like packing 30+ open wheeled cars together at a high speed oval is a recipe for disaster. Road courses only see cars come in contact with each other mostly during passing maneuvers or at the start, so the chances of 15 cars crashing at 200+ mph are much lower. Traveling in huge packs at 200+ mph doesn't seem to be suited to open wheel cars where the slightest wheel to wheel contact will result in a missile shot. And at those speeds on an oval, an airborne car is very likely to go into the catch fence.

[davidy]

In retrospect, it looks like packing 30+ open wheeled cars together at a high speed oval is a recipe for disaster. Road courses only see cars come in contact with each other mostly during passing maneuvers or at the start, so the chances of 15 cars crashing at 200+ mph are much lower. Traveling in huge packs at 200+ mph doesn't seem to be suited to open wheel cars where the slightest wheel to wheel contact will result in a missile shot. And at those speeds on an oval, an airborne car is very likely to go into the catch fence.

That's probably the one reason why F1 doesn't run on ovals....the risk/reward is too great.

In Weldon's case, it looks like his cockpit was facing into the catch fencing as it hit. He was travelling at over 220-225 mph (355-365 kph) when the accident happened in front of him.

Will Power also flew into the air. But he was damn lucky he didn't go into the fence cockpit first....I think that Power landed short of the fence if the reports are right.

Nascars are over twice as heavy as Indycars and not as fast. The drivers in Nascars are protected. You don't generally have wheels touching wheels resulting in a crash either.

[mmret]

Wouldn't it be a lot safer if you just put giant metal bumper things around the wheels? Like a frame around the whole thing. Bumpercars.

Of course would make it a pain to change the tires but if every team had to deal with it it would be fair enough.

[davidy]

Wouldn't it be a lot safer if you just put giant metal bumper things around the wheels? Like a frame around the whole thing. Bumpercars.

Of course would make it a pain to change the tires but if every team had to deal with it it would be fair enough.

Aerodynamics. You would need to redesign the Indycar.

Or maybe do what they do in Nascar....some sort of restrictor plate technology to slow down the Indycars by 10% or so....assuming that 200 mph is slow enough to prevent Indycars from being launched into the catch fencing. Also, have less cars in the field. Rookies or inexperienced drivers would be prevented from running on ovals.

Dave

[mmret]

Wouldn't it be a lot safer if you just put giant metal bumper things around the wheels? Like a frame around the whole thing. Bumpercars.

Of course would make it a pain to change the tires but if every team had to deal with it it would be fair enough.

Aerodynamics. You would need to redesign the Indycar.

Or maybe do what they do in Nascar....some sort of restrictor plate technology to slow down the Indycars by 10% or so....assuming that 200 mph is slow enough to prevent Indycars from being launched into the catch fencing. Also, have less cars in the field. Rookies or inexperienced drivers would be prevented from running on ovals.

Dave

I wonder if you flip a car...does it become up force...?