[Buford61]

Originally Posted by fortythree ↗

We've definitely had the crash before, but not sure about this pic, Sam Posey in full technicolour. I read the other guy got burned bad?

Ron Courtney yes. Very bad though he did live. A guy where I worked knew him and was furious with Posey, though Courtney did spin at the bottom of a hill and a blind corner and Posey said there was no yellow flag. Posey was mostly criticized because his mommie bought him another car in the pit lane while Courtney was barely clinging to life.

[fortythree]

Final death throes of the Lotus turbines as Mario puts Art Pollard into the wall at Riverside in '68

[greyguitar]

Originally Posted by fortythree ↗

Here's another pic of Brian Redman taking out a parked Volvo (post p57) in his BRM.

I think actually it's a Vauxhall Cresta.

[windowlicker]

Originally Posted by windowlicker ↗

Giorgio Scarlatti leaping from the Ferrari Dino 246 S, as a fire brakes out during his pitstop at round 14 of the 1960 1000KM race at the Nurburgring.

Original post from page 113.


A couple of new colour photos of Scarlatti's inferno.

Giorgio took part in 15 GP, qualifying for 12, from 1956-61. He raced for the works Maserati team in 1957 with a best result of 5th at the Italian GP that year in a 250F.

[windowlicker]

Originally Posted by windowlicker ↗

Jean Behra's fatal Sportcar crash at the German Avus track in 1959.

Behra was a top Grand Prix and Sportcar driver of the '50's. He won a number of non-championship GP's but never managed to win a championship race. He took nine podium finishes in 52 starts. He won Sportcar races at Monza and Nurburgring.

Original post from page 130.


A photo of poor Jean Behra being thrown from his Porsche sports car that I think is new to the post...

Jean took part in 53 GP (52 starts) from 1952-59 initially for the French team Gordini winning the non-title 1952 Reims Grand Prix. He raced for the team to the end of the 1954 season also famously winning at Pau that year, which was also a non-championship race. His best championship result during this time was third at his first GP at Bremgarten.

For 1956 he signed for the mighty works Maserati team and 1955-57 were his most successful seasons although ultimate success still eluded him.
He won again at the non-championship Pau GP in 1956 and '57 as well as various other non-title GP's and sports car races. Jean would win 12 non championship races during his career.

Jean finished 4th in the 1956 title race with a best of 2nd at Argentina and four 3rd places.

At the end of '57 frustrated with Maserati he went to Porsche winning eight straight European races in 1958 in a Porsche Spyder and BRM in GP's with a best of 3rd at the Dutch race.

For 1959 Jean signed for Ferrari but after retiring for the French GP punched team manager Romolo Tavoni and was sacked from the team.

It was less that one month after this that Behra would lose control of his little Porsche at the Avus race in Germany, suffering a skull fracture after being ejected from his car, losing his life almost instantly.

[windowlicker]

Originally Posted by windowlicker ↗

The only photo's I've seen of the aftermath of Italian born rally, sportcar and F1 racer Lucien Bianchi's fatal crash in 1969 during practice at Le Mans in an Alfa T33. Lucien lost control on the Mulsanne straight at very high speed and hit a telegraph pole, the car disintegrated and burst into flames, leaving him with no chance of survival.

Lucien finished 3rd at the Monaco GP in a Cooper in '68 and 6th in Belgium the same year. He competed in 17 GP's. He won the 1968 Le Mans in a Gulf Ford GT40. Bianchi was leading the London-Sydney marathon in '68 when near to the end he had a crash with a non-competing vehicle and broke his ankle.

Original post from page 128.


The first photo is a new one to the thread, there are very few of Lucien Bianchi's fatal testing crash at Le Mans in '69.

[windowlicker]

Originally Posted by windowlicker ↗

Jo Schlesser crash is a particularly horrific one.

Jo was 40 years of age when he got his first chance in Grand Prix Racing. He was a well respected sportcar and F2 driver and when Honda France decided to debut their brand new air-cooled RA302 at the 1968 French GP at Rouen he was the obvious 'home' driver to hire.

Lead Honda driver John Surtees was unhappy about this as he felt the car was under developed and not ready for racing.

In the opening laps of the race in pouring rain the car crashed into an earth bank, and rode high up it rolling down and bursting into flames. The fire burnt uncontrollably and by the time he was pulled clear and laid onto the track by the wrecked car, Schlesser was a burnt husk.

There were also a number of spectators on top of the banking that were burnt. Eyewitness stated that they had heard Jo's engine cut out and this was the reason for his loss of control. Also I have read that spectators had seen Jo half out of the car (no belts in 1968) as the car went up the bank. It seems very likely that he was dead on impact and thankfully not burnt to death in the terrible inferno.

Schlesser's wife and young daughter were at the race and for some time did not know the fate of their loved one, wether he was alive or dead, or even what hospital he had been taken to....

Original post from page 46.


More of Jo Schlesser's horrible fatal crash...

[mtakala]

This is really one of the most interesting threads here. Lets hope for great 2015 too.

My wishlist for 2015 would be a single picture of the status of the left side of Jules Bianchi's Marussia after the Japanese GP crash. Is the cockpit side structure damaged....
.. and pictures of any side-on WRC accidents, including Markko Martin / Michael Park fatal crash and Francois Duval / Patrick Pivato crash in Japan a few years ago.

My wishlist is relevant these times, as the WRC Comission is drafting new regulations for 2017, with emphasis on improved side-impact protections. There have been talks of up-sizing the cars from the VW Polo / Ford Fiesta to VW Golf / Ford Focus, or even one class bigger than that. I just wonder if that improvement would prevent the fatalities / injuries.

[fortythree]

Didier Pironi and Ricardo Patrese have a huge shunt exiting Tarzan early in the 1978 Dutch GP

[fortythree]

Unknown hero clears the fence, late '60s Nascar. There's a good chance this has been posted before but as I don't know the unlucky bastards name I can't search the thread for it!