[AlvinKarpis]

Again im not a stock car fan, but I know a little bit about the old school stuff

Don McTavish has a thread on DR, but I have more video and more pics, so here is a good a place as any

McTavish is killed and had his legs sheered off, I would get into the details but the video and pics explain the horrorshow all on their own

Horrible, horrible, horrible crash

RIP

[AlvinKarpis]

And yes, those are his legs bouncing down the infield

As much as that makes me feel sick and dirty to type that out, it answers a question that will be asked for sure

[windowlicker]

Three time F1 World Champion Niki Lauda's near fatal crash at the Nurburgring in 1976.

Something broke at the rear of Ferrari 312T2 and the car speared to the right and instantly became a fireball engulfing Lauda who's crash helmet had been ripped from his head.

At least three cars hit the Ferrari that had come to rest in the middle of the narrow German track. These drivers and others stopped and dragged Niki from the wreck, saving his life.

Niki was badly injured and was given the last rites at hospital. He had bad burns to his head and his lungs were damaged from taking in the acrid smoke. But amazingly Lauda was back at the Italian GP three weeks later finishing 4th although his head was covered in blooded bandages.

He would miss out on the Championship in 1976 by a single point to James Hunt after pulling out during the very wet Japanesse GP, Lauda said, "My life is more important that any Championship."

[windowlicker]

The first photo is Niki Lauda bandaged in hospital the second show his injuries very clearly as he makes his comeback....

[windowlicker]

Harald Ertl was one of the drivers that hit Lauda's Ferrari and he tried to help his stricken countryman.

"For less than a second I just managed to see the yellow flags, braked hard and saw the whole mess in front of me. On the left side Niki Lauda’s already burning Ferrari and Brett Lunger’s Surtees, while the rest of the track was covered with debris. Instinctively I turned to the open gap on the right, but I didn’t have much luck. Niki’s Ferrari slowly slid across the road and I collided at approximately 140km/h with the right front wheel of the Ferrari. While my car spun left around itself, the Ferrari crashed into the Surtees for the second time. Opening the seatbelts and getting out of the car was almost one single move. I ran as fast as I could to the burning wreckage where Lunger and Edwards—he was the first driver behind Lauda and just managed to avoid an accident—were trying to save the Austrian from the flames. Niki sat there with his head bent forward and did not try to free himself from the heavily burning car. Was he unconcious? Another thing confused me and I had to take a second look to believe it:

Niki was not wearing a helmet any more. But there was no time for these kind of questions. A fire extinguisher was needed. I turned around and searched desperately for a marshall with an extinguisher. Near the place of the accident a man with the urgently needed device came running down the bank and ran towards me. After having waved helplessly with my arms a few times, I thought better and ran towards the marshall. Until I was back and started the extinguisher, another marshall had already arrived and tried to quench the flames. I sprayed into the flames as good as I could, but each time I thought they were quenched at least at one place, it started to burn again. After only a few seconds, which were like an eternity for me, the extinguisher was empty and the flames still nearly as big as at the beginning.

Meanwhile the drivers who were trying to save Niki had managed to undo his seatbelts, and Lunger and Merzario climbed onto the burning car in order to pull Niki out of the cockpit.

By that time the ONS rescue car, a Porsche Carrera with a doctor on board, had arrived. In the trunk of that car there was a 100 litre extinguisher, with which it was easy to finally put out the fire.

But what had happened with Niki? He lay on the grass next to the track, with the drivers moving around him. They removed his clothes, while the doctor prepared a head bandage. If you consider the time (approx. 45sec) in which he sat in the burning car, he didn’t look that bad.

Externally, burns in the face (no helmet, relativly thin balaclava with big cutaway) and on his hands as well as blood in his face were noticable. When I heard him talking to John Watson and asking him how his face looked like, I was relieved. It couldn’t be that bad.

Now I had the opportunity to take a closer look to the place of the accident, and to discuss the crash with the other drivers and marshalls. We came to the following result: for unknown reasons Lauda had lost control over his Ferrari on the fast left hander before Bergwerk, which is taken in 4th gear with a speed of around 200km/h (and which allows even higher speeds), slid off the track at the right side, struck the barrier fencing and was pushed back on the track after hitting the bank. There, the following car of Lunger crashed into him, then I hit the Ferrari.

The car had probably already started burning when it was thrown back on the track and the monocoque and fuel tanks got ripped open. Luckily only a small amount of fuel ran out, and that only ran to the ground. That was the reason that Niki Lauda’s burns were mainly caused by the heat of the fire. Anyway, even today I’m still shocked when I think about it."

[windowlicker]

Mark Donohue or 'Captain Nice' as he was known was perhaps the greatest American racer of his generation.

He won the Indy 500 in 1972, mulitple USAC races, sportcar races, Can-Am Champion in 1973, Nascar races, Trans-Am Championships and finished 3rd in his first F1 race at the Canadian GP driving for team Penske in 1971.

He went full time with Penske in 1975 and in the 12th round in Austria his car left the curcuit, vaulting a barrier and killing a marshal. It is believed that this was due to a punctured Goodyear tyre.

Initially Mark seemed dazed but fine, but he soon lapsed into unconsciousness, and despite brain surgery died three days later.

[AlvinKarpis]

With Niki, he had to have been at least knocked silly, not knocked out, because you can see him right after he is pulled out he is wide awake

Why he wouldnt try to get out himself first or even take his seat belts off if he was conscious I dont know, so im sure his bell was rung (I got hit so hard on a punt return in high school that I not only saw stars I saw galixies, nebulas, black holes and entire universes, and the ringing in my head started to turn into heavy metal music that lasted for a couple seconds before going back to the sound of 100 high tension electric wires an inch above your head) and he was out of it, as no human would just say oh well I think I will burn to death and not even attempt and escape

The only other possible reason would be that as soon as the fire started he thought right back to what he had said about Roger Williamson and wished so bad that he could take it back, so he sat there thinking about how in the world he was going to escape the ridicule and taunting

In all seriousness what a horrific crash and fire, he owes his life to his fellow drivers, who like himself did not see fire marshal/life saver in the job description while filling out his application to become an F-1 driver

The difference is that its not a job to save another persons life, its a human responsibility to do everything you can so that person can live

What do you think Gordon Smiley would choose if at the pearly gates was offered a multiple choice between

A. His F-1 Championship Trophy from Silverstone
B. His life

I like Niki, a lot, but that day he was humbled

I hope he at least calls all those guys at least once a year around the holidays or something just to say thank you

[windowlicker]

Ian Ashley was a British racing driver of the mid seventies who showed speed but often had trouble keeping car on the road.
He walked away with leg injuries, but looking at the state of the front of the car he was lucky...
Crash took place at the German GP, 1975 at the Nurburgring, he was driving a Williams FW03, his one and only drive for the team....

[AlvinKarpis]

Now this is crazy

I made that post and and after I hit reply it showed the thread but instead of showing my post, I saw a post by Windowlicker about Mark Donohue that he must have hit reply 1 second after I did

The crazy part?

The folder I just found and was open while I was replying about Niki was Mark Donohue

For like 2 seconds my mind thought "WTF? am I that tired this morning that I posted a bunch of the Donohue pictures while talking about Niki?"

Right before I was about to call myself an idiot I saw Windowlickers name

Thats crazy, it would have been crazier if I hadnt replied to the Niki post and we posted Donohue pics at the same time

Now that would have been insane crazy like driving Miss Daisy

[windowlicker]

This is grisly one....

Poor Helmuth Koinigg was taking place in only his second GP at the Watkins Glen track in the US on the sixth of October 1974 when early in the race his car left the track, with a possible pucture.

The car went over the gravel trap and hit the barrier hard, and the two tier armco split letting the Surtees TS16 underneath horrifically be-heading the young Austrian driver.

What seems even more terrible is that the race was not stopped and a cover was placed over the car with the drivers dead body still strapped in the cockpit, his head still in his helmet.

The photos are difficult to make out, but the circled one shows his helmet (with head inside) on the left, his body stapped in on the right.