Waste: Alan Simonsen died unnecessarily

[sithot]

Who left the tree behind the retaining fence? Lemans is a dangerous place but between painting the track in areas where it WILL BE SLICK when wet and leaving a tree in the line of fire I'm wondering who is the brain trust? The in car-cam video of Simonsen (with a track assist) losing control shows his car putting a left rear on the edge of the "blue" paint. From there he was doomed. He attempted a correction at which point the car gained traction and shot to the left like a rocket hitting the tree/barrier. I quite sure there was little doctors could do to save him from blunt force trauma and the associated injuries.

Alan Simonsen died unnecessarily. The irony was Jim France waving the "green" flag at the start of the race. As head of one of the safest motor racing venues there is one must give NASCAR credit for saving lives. If they had designed the corner there would have been a safer barrier in place.

The paint on the track without griptex or some other traction enhancement is just dumb as owl shit.

My heartfelt condolences to the family.

This just sickens me.

[Frank Beck]

Tom, I'm with you regarding the tree but that was a wicked impact; even without the tree there 110+ into the rail at 45 degrees is a horrendous crash.
I don't think it was the slick curb. Almost looked like a mechanical to me. Final report will be interesting. Please post if you find it.

We have fooled ourselves into believing that we can make auto racing at this level "safe". Hope he knows Jesus. My heart goes out to his family.

[Bummler]

LeMans has been long overdue for a complete saftey makeover, the ACO needs to take some action....

[Kris Clewell]

am I going to be insensitive if I step in here and say that people die when running 10/10ths for hours at a time in a human made machine?

Guys did this when people died more. They put their helmets on without question the race after their best friends died. They drove by the burning bodies of their teammates. It will never be "Safe". While there were political reasons that racing was unsafe for so long, I think its important to realize that trying to cure the danger of this sport by cutting down all the trees without 100 miles of the circuit is ridiculous. Racing is dangerous. It was a freak accident. Lets remember him not someone who died because someone else didnt cut down a tree...May Allan RIP, remembered as a driver who died doing something he loved. Let him be remembered for someone who was one of the best at what he did. Let us realize that all of these guys, even Allan know what they do is dangerous. They stand on the shoulders of those who went before them. These were men with well worn leather for gumption, and testicles that arent described on the periodic table. They live for the thrill. The risk is known, and fuels the fire in their hearts to push harder. Going faster is what turns their hearts. No one wants anyone to die... but it happened. It will happen again. Its always needless, and there will never be a time when one couldnt pick out a reason for it, and blame someone. Lets not go down that road... it marginalizes these men.

[andrea70]

Bravo!
+1

Rip.

[davep]

The one thing that surprised me was that it happened 10 minutes into the race on lap 3.

[sithot]

I never suggested cutting down trees for 100 miles. That's silly. BUT, you can make it better for the driver's survivability. A guard rail in front of a tree is hardly anything more than keeping debris out of the crowd.

Here is +/-190mph into a "NASCAR wall". Simonsen wasn't going nearly that fast. This chap walked away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iQFoRoaKfs

If you suggest that these men know and understand the dangers then let us go back to Borax soaked cotton racing suits and leather helmets.

If being safe isn't the ultimate goal why do we mandate HANS Devices, Roll Cages, Fire Suits, Fire Compression Systems, etc. etc.

A slippery slope? You bet your ass.

RIP Alan. I hope someone steps ups to fight the good fight for you and your compatriots. May none of them die from such a stupid lack of foresight.

[luke-44]

...I don't think it was the slick curb. Almost looked like a mechanical to me. Final report will be interesting. ...

Sure looked like the slick blue paint to me and then coming off it he hooked up. Crazy.

[Frank Beck]

Sure looked like the slick blue paint to me and then coming off it he hooked up. Crazy.

The first few laps of a race are exactly when one might expect a major crash. More cars, traffic, and adrenaline than any other point in the race.

Hitting outside curbs with little more than a wiggle and correction is so common place I still find this crash very odd. Especially given that the car probably has a very sophisticated torque biasing diff.

In all fairness none of us who climb into 200mph race cars expect to die that day. Like everything else, we believe there is a risk factor involved but honestly for me I believe that it's no riskier than flying.

[Flieger]

This is also a "track" made up of French highways. The race is just 2 days a year plus some qualifying and testing. That said, there are the places like the Esses that now look like the moon, being expansive gravel traps.

I'd rather see some tires there than cutting down a tree. If they did that, the car would have just gone through the barrier.