F1 history: drivers killed by racing accidents/Interesting find (merged)

[Jordi]

No problem, Craig.
Well, I guess the clowns are the same fans that attend Daytona or Talladega to watch "the Big One"... they are not racing fans really.

[racer69]

Kind of following on from previous posts (i've entered this one late ), no-one, well no real motorsport fan, wants to see accidents or driver fatalities, but at the same time it's not as if we should just ignore that they don't happen, they are part of the sport, the drivers who compete realise that they risk these consequences, and therefore they should be discussed if people want to.

[Jordi]

Indeed racer69. Part of what makes the drivers heroes are the fact that they fight for race wins at speeds in excess of 300 kph, therefore in a risky sport.
Obviously if you're an athlete, you are very good and you train very hard, but the risk factor in track and field is almost non-existant. The fact that the risk is high in racing is what makes the professionals special to us, their fans.

[Joe Fan]

Originally posted by MiniMe
This from the web: List Drivers Killed In Action - this is obviously not all F1
MASTEN GREGORY

Better scratch Masten off the list. He had a 20 year race careeer and died of a heart attack at age 53.

[bcobbus]

I don't really buy into the "it will always be dangerous, so get over it" argument. That is what people would say to Jackie Stewart when he was trying to change things for the better. I have been watching racing since I was a little boy, about 15 years, and the changes that I have seen in that time have been dramatic, yet there is always something that can be done to make things just a little bit safer for the drivers and all those involved in the sport.

As for the Tom Pryce accident, well, I feel that anybody who watches the video clips has their views of racing changed forever! I must admitt that the accident that really effected me however was the Roger Williamson accident at Zandvoort in 1973. Only David Purley stoped to help, and the rest of the safety crusader drivers just kept driving around and around, sickening! I could not help but be angry! What makes these two accidents even more frustrating is that they both could have been prevented if people would have done their job right.

[Pils1989]

MiniMe, Andre Pilette passed away from natural death in his hospital death.
His father died in a road crash in 1921 but not during a race.

[crozier74]

www.motorsportmemorial.org

[rbs]

Didier Pironi also died racing, but in an off-shore power boat.

[JeremySmith]

The contents of this thread are the very reason I think that the USGP should have been cancelled.