2023-08-13 14:25:07
In 1986, when we lost Jo Gartner at Le Mans and Elio de Angelis at Le Castellet (test), there were the tragedies in the Corsica Rally (Henri Toivonen, Sergio Cresto) and in Portugal (three spectators killed by the Ford of Joaquim Santos, 30 injured ) and, unlike co-driver Michel Wyder, Marc Surer narrowly survived the serious accident at the Hessen Rally.
But even more tragedies marked the 1973 racing season, 50 years ago.
In Formula 1, which at the time was increasingly gaining a foothold “live” on European TV stations, hundreds of thousands witnessed the Zandvoort drama. Young Brit Roger Williamson was killed in a crash in the Dutch GP on July 29th. It was only the 25-year-old’s second Formula 1 outing when, on lap eight, a suspected puncture broke out in March and caused him to roll over several times and land upside down.
The car caught fire immediately, Williamson was trapped. None of the miserably equipped marshals intervened, only competitor and friend David Purley stopped his march and tried to stop the flames with a hand-held fire extinguisher. By the time the first fire truck arrived, Williamson was dead. Purley was still trying to stop the other drivers (who blamed him for the crashed car) to no avail. He was later awarded the George’s Medal in Britain for his service – and died in an aerobatic plane crash in the English Channel in 1985, following seven F1 starts in the 1970s.
The second Formula 1 tragedy resulted in the retirement of three-time world champion Jackie Stewart. Tyrrell team-mate Francois Cevert (29), who was almost level with the Scottish team leader in terms of driving, died in a frontal collision with the crash barriers in Saturday qualifying at Watkins Glen (October 6). Ken Tyrrell withdrew from the US GP, Stewart’s F1 career ended before the 100th start.
The Indianapolis 500 claimed three lives: Art Pollard (46), a two-time winner of USAC races, the predecessor of CART/Champ Car/Indycar, died in practice on May 12. The race also became a drama, which was stopped on May 28th following David “Salt” Walther had an accident at the start. The pilot was seriously injured, as were numerous spectators in the boxes and lower rows of stands. The onset of rain prevented a restart, May 29th was also canceled as a race day due to rain, so the race only started on Wednesday, May 30th – with significantly fewer spectators, so that school children with free tickets should fill the ranks.
On lap 59, David “Swede” Savage (26), who had previously been in the lead to refuel, lost control of his Eagle-Offenhauser and crashed head-on into the wall. The full tank exploded, but Savage survived the blaze and was even responsive. He died 33 days later at Indianapolis’ Methodist Hospital following complications, presumably from attempted plasma, which caused hepatitis B and subsequent liver failure. Other sources cited a collapsed lung as the cause of death. As rescuers rushed to the scene, a mechanic belonging to Savage’s Graham McRae teammate, Armando Teran, was struck by a fire truck and fatally injured. Statistically, the 1973 Indy 500 was the most momentous since 1937.
In other automobile races in 1973, the Brit Garry Birrell had an accident in the F2 European Championship round in Rouen and the touring car drivers Hans-Peter Joisten and Massimo Larini in the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps; The Alpina-BMW driver from Cologne had won the 24-hour race on the Nürburgring a month earlier with team partner Niki Lauda. In the sports car race in Fuji, the Japanese Masaharu Nakano died in his chevron in a flaming inferno. In stock car racing, Ray Abney (USA) died in Englewood (USA), Dells in Wisconsin: Lyle Nabbefeldt (USA), Larry Smith (USA) in Talladega and Ivan Iglesias (BRA) in Taruma (BRA).
A tragedy also shaped the World Championship season in two-wheeler sport. On May 20, Jarno Saarinen and Renzo Pasolini died in the 250cc race of the Nations Grand Prix in Monza. The Italian Harley rider fell and the Finnish Yamaha rider mightn’t avoid it. The huge talent Saarinen crashed into the crash barriers, was thrown back and run over by several competitors. A total of 14 drivers were involved in the accident. It is still unclear whether a piston jamming at Pasolini or a slick of oil caused the crash.
During the Formula 750 race at Silverstone, New Zealander Kim Newcombe suffered such serious head injuries in a crash in Stowe that three days later he was declared brain dead and his wife had his life-support instruments switched off. The 29-year-old had previously finished on the podium six times in just eleven starts in the half-litre World Championships in 1972 and 1973 and had even won in Rijeka in 1973. He finished third at the Salzburgring.
In the Isle of Man, Briton John Clarke in the 250cc TT and compatriot Eric Piner in the 250cc Manx GP died. Spaniard Francisco Cufi lost his life in the 24 Hours of Montjuic. Other fatal accidents involved Cal Rayborn (USA) in the Marlboro Road Race Series in Pukehoke (NZL); in the Macao GP Shea Lun Tsang (HKG); in the North West 200 (Northern Ireland) Graham Fish (GBR); in the Swiss championship in Casale Monferrato: Franz Hullinger (SUI); in the Italian junior championship in Monza: Carlo Chionio, Renzo Colombini, Renato Galtrucco and Gaetano Bonali (all ITA).
That is (without guarantee of completeness) 25 motorsport deaths in a season that was cruel.
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#horror #season #Formula #cruel