Son of legendary racer dies in race accident

[HyperTek]

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Probe into fatal Surtees accident (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/8160144.stm)

http://www.channel4.com/4car/media/features/2008/top-10-british-racing-drivers/03-large/john-surtees.jpg
The son of John Surtees *Legendary Formula 1 and moto racer, the only person to have won World Championships on both two and four wheels* has died this past weekend.

Henry Surtees, was only 18, racing in Formula 2 @ Brands Hatch , was struck in the head by a wheel that came off another car.....
aTDiYS1NVW4

R.I.P. Would have been nice to see the Surtees name once again in Formula 1..

[carnagexxxx]

It looked like it barely touched him! Talk about freak accidents! That is too much :(

Very sad.

[TiNMAN]

damnnnnnnnn :bite:

[SleepR 240sx]

wow...that's like final destination status right there...at least it was a quick way to go

[erikshift]

holy shit thats crazy, it is very sad.

[drift freaq]

Wow that sucks, oh well ya it would have been cool to see John Surtee's son in Formula one .

R.I.P.

[YoungGun]

Holy shit, RIP.

[atutt]

Did he die instatnly?

[iRONDONkey]

Did he die instatnly?

who was that person that got up?

was that him?

video is confusing...

[NISMO_tuner]

who was that person that got up?

was that him?

video is confusing...

The person that got up was the one that crashed into the tree.

He wasn't shown being taken out of his car.

RIP

[iRONDONkey]

probably explains why his foot was on the throttle the whole time...

[NISMO_tuner]

From the video it looks like it barely touched him, but Im pretty sure that wheel was traveling at a great amount of speed. That was instant death. Pretty sad, but at least he went quick without feeling a whole lotta hurt.

[TravisSW]

Death by fluke. That sucks soo much.

R.I.P.

[dOMEmE]

the wheels was coming slow, he came into the wheel fast....look at how far the wheel flies after he hits it.........wow, sucks major balls to go out that way.... R.I.P

[HyperTek]

crazy how he was the one to hit it too.. the son, and not some other random driver.. so it kinda ruins the chance of the legacy continuing.

[ravinaziankid]

Man the kid was so young too..the tire just landed right on his head.

[palmdale_mob]

Doesn't look like much, but if you read the article it says he hit the wheel at 120mph

Crazy....

[DrftSLowHomIe!!]

damm that sucks man crazy vid, RIP

[murda-c]

they should have like fighter canopies on those cars.

[tricky_ab]

Damn...that's rather fluke. At least he didn't have to suffer... RIP....

[Team DET]

wow that's crazy r.i.p

[jayrawr]

that is suuuper sad.

[kensreliableb18b]

so i hear they don't use wheel tethers for f2. <---they'd better now that this has happened.

so sad.

R.I.P.

[LeftNutOfGowd]

I'm sorry but once I saw the video it just reminded me of this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bFk9F5IwCE

And for the record I hate Dane Cook and that's a sorry ass way to go out

[HyperTek]

so i hear they don't use wheel tethers for f2. <---they'd better now that this has happened.




it was a direct hit to teh head, i wonder if that would have helped. Those are to prevent the head from snapping forward right?

[zenki.life]

they should have like fighter canopies on those cars.

+1

one would think.

[kensreliableb18b]

it was a direct hit to teh head, i wonder if that would have helped. Those are to prevent the head from snapping forward right?

no you're thinking hans device, tethers are used to strap the wheels to the chassis so they don't fly off like that.

[I LUV MY S13]

It looked like it barely touched him! Talk about freak accidents! That is too much :(

Very sad.

im sure those are heavy ass wheels and they're goin pretty fast

[HyperTek]

that would change the whole spectical that is open wheel/formula racing.

The wheels shouldnt have came off.. they wont come off that easily in F1 without raising speculation against that team.. but than again this isnt F1, its a lower class, where im sure they dont consider F1-type safety regulations.

If this would ahve happened in current F1, it would have made more front-page impact. Open wheel racing is no joke, and F1 drivers get paid millions for putting their lives on the line.

[Souljahzs13]

It looked like it barely touched him! Talk about freak accidents! That is too much :(

Very sad.

im sure those are heavy ass wheels and they're goin pretty fast

I'm sure my stock SE wheels are heavier then those, but anything flying off at the speed can mess anyone up. (i.e. Quarter flying off the Empire State Building)

[sideways7]

it was a direct hit to teh head, i wonder if that would have helped. Those are to prevent the head from snapping forward right?


No, they are to keep the wheels from flying off in case of a crash. Crazy, i would've figured all open wheel racing organizations would have some kind of tether.

[!Zar!]

A wheel falling and moving at speed going right into your neck will cause anyone to die.

And no, a quarter off a empire state building won't, "mess" anyone up.

As said earlier, f2 car's doing use wheel tethers.

But after this incident I'm sure they will start looking into the possibility of it.

Something like that could've possibly prevented this from happening.

[HyperTek]

ahh my bad, i was confusing wheel teithers with those neck braces lol

[Bubbles]

im sure those are heavy ass wheels and they're goin pretty fast



Surely you're not that sure.

[HyperTek]

its kinda simular to the Tom Pryce accident.. except track marshal *some young dumbass* runs accross the track and tom's car hits him, and the marshal's fire extinguisher hits Tom in the head.

*WARNING GRAPHIC VIDEO*
YouTube - incidente auto f1 mortale astenersi deboli di cuore (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73jmsTtMgjQ)

[HyperTek]

similar accident happened during f1 qualifying yesterday
Part broke off another car, Felipe Massa comes flying around and gets struck in the head by a spring.. which knocked him out with a concussion, and a fractured skull, he crashed straight into the tire wall. you can see in the video telemetry after he got struck, he applies the brakes, i wonder if its a safety feature in the car or something to do that or he had enough sense to do it.
ZXBxJpbOauE

graphic pic, you can see his damaged helmet and
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00050/mass2_516x350_50445a.jpg

He went into surgery already, but all media sources say it was a positive outcome. There should be updates tomarrow.

[!Zar!]

Massa was the one to hit the brakes.

He had enough ability to place his foot on the brake.

Though too hard and he ended up locking them up, but he did try to slow down.

[upsdude]

from what i saw on the video...looks like the wheel probably snapped his neck on impact. maybe a similar type of trauma that killed dale earnhardt sr. the video's kinda grainy but it looks like the wheel landed right on top of him and (i'm speculating) since it was probably spinning torqued his neck which killed him.

[Fries]

Imagine head butting a wall at 120 mph. This is what happened. Spining or not it would have been trouble.