Is time up for Skaife???-the leg incident !!!.

Grimace · 24 Mar 2004, 07:51 (Ref:917509)

Skaifes crash a decade or so ago in the Nissan GTR when he inverted the car obviously caused himself an ongoing injury and caused his leg "to lose all feeling" in the the Clipsal Race 2 is indeed a worry for his ongoing ability to carry this injury and perform at the high standard this category now requires.

He even commented on TV on Sunday "he is getting older"-
He looked pitiful on the ground getting exercises to try and get fit enough for the race

Could this be a hint he may take a managerial role and retire from driving and save his body the gruelling torment of long distance Supercar driving.

That bad roll in the GTR must have been more serious than it appeared at the time.

And years ago he suffered a huge shunt at Gibson Motorsport going backwards at full speed into the wall at the end of the Eastern Creek main straight. It was a monumental hit in the Commodore.

Plus other crashes -like the "head on" at Melbourne all take a toll.

vortexo · 24 Mar 2004, 08:58 (Ref:917567)

On the radio's on Sunday I heard Skaife (I think) say he had an ice pack on his neck which was annoying him. He pulled it out and it landed on the Motec stuff. He radioed in he thought it would be ok.

Amaroo Park · 24 Mar 2004, 09:08 (Ref:917588)

I saw footage of that roll in 1990 an dit was a nothing roll really. He was on the telly the next day saying he was fine nothing wrong. I think Mark is now finding out what Glenn Seton went through for years and he can't hack it.

**GTRMagic** · 24 Mar 2004, 09:51 (Ref:917635)

There are a few drivers in the current series who have back and bum problems caused by accidents....

.. some have cured them with special seats, and a change in the ergonomics of the seating position, while others, including Skaifey, remain badly afflicted.

While it is a horrible thing for M.Skaife to have to go thru, imagine the issue with safety of other competitors where a driver's foot/leg goes numb and he cant manoeuvre his foot to hit the brake pedal, as suggested in this week's motorsport press....

Mattracer · 24 Mar 2004, 09:55 (Ref:917638)

Wishful thinking Grimace...

Grimace · 24 Mar 2004, 10:04 (Ref:917643)

Quote:

Originally posted by Mattracer
Wishful thinking Grimace...

Sorry but those are the cold hard facts!!!

rdmdog · 24 Mar 2004, 10:07 (Ref:917645)

Isnt it amazing that once the lightweight engine has been taken away, the leg is the cause of a lack of performance. Just like how Murph forgot how to drive at EC when he had the heavy engine back after Bathurst & NZ.

HMMMMMMMM, leg, I think he is pulling yours!!!

Mattracer · 24 Mar 2004, 10:26 (Ref:917662)

Quote:

Originally posted by Grimace
Sorry but those are the cold hard facts!!!

OK then!

Crash Test · 24 Mar 2004, 12:01 (Ref:917735)

Hrmmm, one crappy round and he should retire? Crickey, we should only have 5 drivers left in the series!

I think given the right situation, team, car etc, just about any driver in the field could be a consistent race winner... but when everything isn't happening correctly, it looks like the driver is a dud.

I remember the roll over, at the top of Brabham Straight. Hit the wall fairly hard, and flipped her over. Not the worst thing ever, but just tghe right hit at just the right angle can stuff you up good and proper.

Grimace · 24 Mar 2004, 12:59 (Ref:917811)

Get real ---Its not about "one crappy round" its about a

motor racing accident/s that may affect the guy

particularly as he is getting older-even he said that on National TV!!!-

try driving a manual with a dead leg- least at flat out

racing speed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does anyone know what leg it was?????accelerator/brake/clutch

Crash Test · 24 Mar 2004, 13:06 (Ref:917832)

But crickey, since the accident, he has won how many championships and how many bathursts, suffering two flare ups of this injury, which were at the same track, and probably attributed to the physical nature of the track. If he had problems everywhere and constantly, he certainly wouldn't be as competitive as he has been, and one would think that he would know when to go if he wasn't up to it...

Gaz170 · 24 Mar 2004, 21:30 (Ref:918383)

I heard that the bad leg was affecting his braking.
I think they meant right leg (Skaifey doesn't left foot brake AFIK ).

Dirk · 24 Mar 2004, 21:48 (Ref:918401)

If anything wouldn't it have been his turn one accident at Eastern Creek in the Commodore that would be affecting him??

GROUPA · 24 Mar 2004, 22:07 (Ref:918429)

I remember the one in the GTR Skyline @ Adelaide....Richo & Skaife had a bet on beers....who would be buying the drinks etc.....when Skaife rolled & Richo drove by he got on the radio and notified Fred Gibson Skaife would be buying a brewer given the damage to the car

Gudgeon · 24 Mar 2004, 22:32 (Ref:918460)

Rdmdog you have worked out what has happened to HRT. The HRT clones PWR and K Mart are still using the old 18o engines which are giving more power and more driveability than the new HMS engine which HRT are committed to use Skaife and Tod Kelly no longer have the luxury of the extra H.P to make them look like superstars. Steve Richards and Team Dynamik have the best HMS engines I think that you will continue to see a levelling of the playing field as the full impact of the control engine weights is felt

Joe5619 · 24 Mar 2004, 23:24 (Ref:918528)

Quote:

Originally posted by Grimace
Does anyone know what leg it was?????accelerator/brake/clutch

You must have a pretty big 3rd leg if your using 3 legs to drive a manual!!!!!!

Kerri · 24 Mar 2004, 23:32 (Ref:918541)

Good one

SRabbit · 25 Mar 2004, 00:17 (Ref:918582)

MS : 'hey Craig, come & have a look at this new seat I've got - comfy isn't it? So how's that feel to be sitting there again?'

Lowndesfan6 · 25 Mar 2004, 01:19 (Ref:918617)

Grimace, you don't know much at all do you.
As if he's going to take a managerial role. The bloke's only 37........I know he whinges alot, (like on Sports Tonight on Friday after qualifying where I thought he was going to start crying cause he missed the top 10), but he's not that old.
He'll be racing till he's at least 45 - 50 yrs old.

Onlooker · 25 Mar 2004, 02:53 (Ref:918673)

Do you think that a doctor would OK him to drive a school bus if he sometimes had a leg that is used for braking that lost all feeling and went numb.
If in the even of a magor accident like say the Dumbrell incident, a driver explained that he thought that he actually backed off but due to him having no feeling in his leg he didn't know by how much,and data confirmed he still had say 40% throttle on at the point of impact,what would be the consequence,could this driver be charged for creating an accident by continueing to drive? Would the other teams have the right to sue the team for failing to present a driver in a fit enough condition that he didn't cause risk to their investment?Would it be like a mentaly ill person who is not responsable for his actions?
Or say we remove the leg issue and think about the Rat with his Carbon Monoxide problem in 99,what if he had infact nodded off behind the wheel as the car came down pitlane and ran over a few officials /crew members drove into a garage and toppled their fuel rig ? What then,driver health and saftey issues should come first not the desire to hang in there and try and salvage some points at the risk of the other competitios etc.

Good Old Bazza · 25 Mar 2004, 03:03 (Ref:918682)

If Skaife is still carrying injuries (Which I highly doubt) wouldn't they be from the huge one he had off the end of the straight at Eastern Creek in testing 5 or 6 years ago:confused:

Crash Test · 25 Mar 2004, 04:10 (Ref:918713)

Quote:

Originally posted by Onlooker
Do you think that a doctor would OK him to drive a school bus if he sometimes had a leg that is used for braking that lost all feeling and went numb.

You've be shocked if you knew how many public transport workers are on methadone, now that worries me!!

Crickey, it's ok for Zanardi to race with no legs, and alright for others to race with one eye. The number of accidents on the weekend showed that you can have a big one if you have two good legs and is on the money. Don't you think if he wasn't in control of the car he would pull out, or does he lack the common sense that he would drive on and have a big one

Onlooker · 25 Mar 2004, 04:19 (Ref:918722)

He did pull out straight after crashing the car last time didn't he so I guess he has shown that he is very intune with his ability to make the right call in the same set of circumstances,he slowed down and spun out a few times instead,but got some POINTS.Yep

Crash Test · 25 Mar 2004, 04:22 (Ref:918724)

Pffttt... trust me, I don't have a problem with him finishing last

But heck, he's had a dead leg twice in 14 years, i'd cut him some slack and not write him off just yet...

Onlooker · 25 Mar 2004, 04:36 (Ref:918728)

I'm not in anyway writing him off.Just pointing out how both he and the Rat were a danger to themselves and probally others.If the Rat had started to feel a bit sleepy in the car in 04 like in 99 do you think he would have kept going or pulled in?

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