[windowlicker]

Some photo's of the wreck of Jochen Rindt's Lotus 72 at Monza during practice for the Italian GP 1970. The 1970 posthumous World Champion crashed into the guardrail after 'something broke' and the front of the car went under the guardrail, ripping off the front section and as Jochen did not wear his crutch-belt he was dragged down into the car and incured fatal injuries.

The first photo shows the belts done up but importantly the crutch-belt undone. The fifth photo shows the gap under guardrail that the Lotus's nose went under.

In 1972 the 'Grand Prix Accident Survey1966-72' was published and contained a lengthy report on Jochen's accident.

'The car hit the barrier on the left hand side of the track at an angle of about 20 degrees, and the barrier broke at a joint. These are the butt type, the section's of the barrier do not overlap.
The car carried on, hitting the next upright, which was bent backwards and prised upwards by the nose of the car, which then dug underneath the rail, while the rear of the car started to pivot outwards, i.e. to the right. The right front wheel hooked on to the barrier's upright, but the momentum of the rear of the car carried it on spinning. The entire front assembly, comprising the box fabrication carrying the front suspension, the brake discs, and driveshafts, steering, pedals, and the front bulkhead, was wrenched from the front part of the monocoque.'

'Thus far the driver was probably relatively safe, retained in the car by the cockpit sides, which were still intact, and the seat harness. But with no front of the car there was insufficient restraint on him from being thrown forwards and downwards, still within his harness when the momentum of the heavy engine and gearbox end of the car spun it round again. This was the movement that inflicted some of the worst chest, throat and body injuries. The buckle of the harness caught him under the chin, preventing him from being fully ejected by centrifugal force in the spin. It is likely that some of these injuries would have been prevented had Rindt worn crurch straps as well as the four-point fixed belts. Had the crutch been fixed, the terrible leg injuries Rindt suffered might also have been avoided, although it is not clear at what stage of the accident they occured.'

'The right front wheel was wedged under the barrier at the second impact point, i.e. where the front of the car broke off. The front sub-frame was also here, although largely disintegrated. The left front wheel was the one Denny Hulme (who was following close behind Jochen), saw coming out of the dust and it was picked up on the other side of the road.'

[eyoder55]

Originally Posted by The Dark ↗

Just to be sure everyone knows this, this is the brother of the legendary Gilles and the uncle of Gilles' son, Jacques (confused yet???)therefore not the one who became 1995 Indy 500 & Indycar Champion, 1997 Formula 1 World Champion, that was Jacques, Gilles son.

Got that?


PS: If our resident video suppliers have the 1994 Phoenix crash between Villeneuve (the younger) and Matsoshita, I think that'll prove a popular one.... it's BIG!

Thanks, for clearing that up, I was really confused.

[thissmallfish]

Originally Posted by jeremycrpntr ↗

Before switching the type of fuel ran, they actually added additives to maethanol with the only reason being so you could SEE the flames. My car runs on methanol, and even at my level the fuel has these same additives.

Methanol is weird. As you said, it doesn't float on water like petroleum based fuels like gas, diesel, etc., so it can be put out simply with water. It burns at a much higher temperature, yet actually keeps a motor cooler than gasoline. If you have ever felt methanol, the answer is right there. It is VERY cold, and you will find cuts on your hands u didn't even know u had! Once again, it's hotter, but not as combustible as gasoline. Also a car running on methanol uses about twice as much fuel as a car running on gasoline. Also, it is very corrosive. That is exactly why, every winter I have to make sure the fuel is drained out of my fuel cell, all lines and carbuerator. It will actually EAT the metal! Just a little useless knowledge!

Please correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that Methanol has a higher ignition point than typical gasoline, causing it to take longer in the compression stroke to reach ignition temperature and pressure, thus increasing the compression ratio. Diesel engines work on a similar principle of course.

[jeremycrpntr]

Originally Posted by thissmallfish ↗

Please correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that Methanol has a higher ignition point than typical gasoline, causing it to take longer in the compression stroke to reach ignition temperature and pressure, thus increasing the compression ratio. Diesel engines work on a similar principle of course.

Well, it doesn't really increase the compression ratio itself, but because of the higher ignition point and being less combustible, it can take higher compression ratios. So, you are correct in your thinking. Methanol engines run a higher compression ratio than a gas engine.

Methanol can be hard on engines though. If the fuel mixture is too rich it will actually wash the oil off of the piston rings, which can cause damage. It is also very hard on things if there is any fuel left in the cylinder (pressing the gas pedal with car not started), for the same reason. It will wash the oil from that cylinder.

The main advantages of using methanol for racing is it is high octane (about 99), you get more torque and it is MUCH easier to keep a methanol burning car cool. More useless knowledge! lol

[AlvinKarpis]

I still have tons of clips that dont have names

This crash looks to be during practice and is almost the exact same crash in the same place on the Toronto track as Jeff Krosnoff

[windowlicker]

Originally Posted by windowlicker ↗

When the F1 teams arrived at Montjuich Park street curcuit for the Spanish GP 1975 they soon discovered that much of the armo barrier surrounding the track was not secured properly.
In the end mechanics and team bosses were having to sort out these issues.

Rolf Stommelen was driving the Embassy Hill GH1, the team owned and managed by the twice World Champion Graham Hill.

Rolf was leading the race when he lost his rear wing and the car flew over the barrier and into the crowd, killing four spectators and breaking Stommelen's legs.

Rolf was a top Sportcar driving winning the Daytona 24 hours four times. He began in F1 in 1970 driving a Brabham and finished 3rd in Austria.

Rolf lost his life in a huge crash in a US sportcar event in 1983.

(page 49)

More pictures of the horrible aftermath of Rolf Stommelen's crash at the Spanish GP '75.

[windowlicker]

Originally Posted by windowlicker ↗

The photo for this post is small but this is the only one I've ever seen for Austrian driver Hans Klaus Reisch's fatal crash in the Imola 500 km race in 12th September 1971.

On the 22nd lap of the first heat, in very wet conditions, Hans lost control of his privately entered Alfa Romeo 33/3 spinning out of the final bend and crashing with a great impact backwards into the pitwall. The car erupted into flames and Reisch's body was thrown onto the track. He died soon afterwards of multiple injuries.

(page 79)

Some much better quality photo's of Hans Klaus Reisch's fatal crash in the Imola 500 km.

The first photo shows the drivers body that has been ejected onto the track. The second shows just how badly damaged the front end of the Alfa was, it's completely ripped open. Highly likely poor Hans was dead on impact...

[windowlicker]

Indy 500 in 1983 and Johnny Parson's accepted blame for this crash on lap 82 with Mario Andretti.

[windowlicker]

Originally Posted by windowlicker ↗

This is a rare photo of Eugenio Castellotti's fatal testing crash at the Modena curcuit in 1957, it shows his cars final resting place after leaving the race track landing in a spectator area, thankfully empty at the time.
The track was wet at the time, he was ejected from the car and killed instantly.

(page 23)

More of the fatal accident of Eugenio Castellotti in testing at the Modena curcuit in 1957.

[windowlicker]

Just when the rest of the racing world was creating smaller rear-engined racers, Mickey Thompson devised this strange beast, the Wynn Spitfire. It was front engined, front wheel drive (!) and he was working on four wheel steering. Sadly it was not a success on the track.