[Buford61]

One I hadn't seen before of Floyd Roberts fatal crash at Indy in 1939. He won the 1938 Indianapolis 500. The following year, 1939, driving the same car, he was killed in a multi car crash on the backstretch. His car jumped the wall and after going through a wooden fence outside the track he hit a tree. Roberts was the first former winner and defending champion of the race to be killed while competing. According to reports, Roberts intended to retire following the race.

[Buford61]

And another one. I didn't know it had caught fire too.

[Buford61]

OK never mind. On further review those pictures are of Bob Swanson's car not Roberts. The car that started the accident. Video here.

[windowlicker]

A rare photo of Russell Phillip's hideous fatal crash at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1995 when the top of the car was ripped off after contact with the catch fence causing the driver to be both dismembered and decapitated.

[windowlicker]

Originally Posted by windowlicker ↗

Manfred Winkelhock's badly damaged Kremer Racing Porsche 962C after crashing into the wall at turn two during the Budweiser 1000km World Endurance Championship event at Mosport Park 1985.

Manfred was trapped under the steering wheel, unconscious with very serious head and leg injuries. Emergency surgery could not save him and sadly Wicklehock died the next day.

Manfred was a seriously fast driver but never had the cars to get the results he deserved. He took part in 47 F1 races with a best result of 5th, his best finish in F2 was 2nd, he won the Monza 1000km in 1985, a winner of multiple races in the German Sportscar Championship and the 1981 Macau touring car race.

Original post from p225.

Manfred being removed from his wrecked Porsche. Sadly he would not recover from his injuries.

[Jrad]

Originally Posted by Jerdipski ↗

On 8 September 2006, while driving in the Targa West '06 rally, Brock was 3 kilometres from the finish of the second stage of the race at Gidgegannup, about 40 km from Perth, Western Australia when he skidded off a downhill left-hand bend on Clenton Road for over 50 metres in his 2001 Daytona Sportscar and hit a tree. The 61-year-old Brock was killed instantly. His co-driver, Mick Hone, was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition. Video footage of the crash (provided by a fan and the in-car camera) was reviewed by Western Australian police to help determine the cause of the accident. Coroner Alastair Hope decided that his death was caused by high speed and that no coronial inquest would be performed. Due to the high regard in which Brock was held by the Australian community at large, the video has never been released to the public.

I remember that vividly. I was going to skip work to go get his autograph in the city before the race started. I was listening to it on the radio when that news came through. It was totally devastating.

[Barton Farley]

Marc Surer talks about Kremer Porsche teammate Manfred Winkelhock.....

For 1985, Winkelhock finally moved away from the BMW umbrella, joining John McDonald's RAM team, again with a chassis designed by Brunner. It was not a competitive package, so he sought relief in sportscar racing, teaming up with his old pal Surer.

"We were talking about doing something else," recalls Surer. "Because we both felt that in this bloody F1, if you're not in a top car, it's not very satisfying. The Porsche was winning all the races, so you had to drive a Porsche.

"I had some sponsorship with Barclay and he had a little sponsorship from Liqui Moly. We went from team to team to try to make the best deal and finally we decided to go with Kremer, because they offered us a brand new car.

"We had one lucky race. We decided on a different strategy for the fuel at Monza, and because of that we were leading the race and then a tree fell down. Because of that, we won. Otherwise it was really hopeless against the factory Porsche."

In August the sportscar teams travelled to Mosport Park, an undulating track that offered little margin for error, and which had been abandoned by F1 some eight years earlier.

"I did the start, and I had a coming together with a Corvette," says Surer. "He hit me on my left rear wheel, so I came in with a flat tyre. I think they had to fix the bodywork, and then Manfred went out. I went to the motorhome to get changed, and about two or three minutes later there was silence. The pace car was out.

"I had a bad feeling, and I immediately thought it was Manfred, and I thought it was because of the little accident I'd had - maybe something had broken in the suspension. I was changing, so I couldn't run out to find out. But I just felt it was him.

"Then a mechanic came to me and said, 'Manfred had an accident'. 'Where?' It was in the fastest corner you can imagine, a downhill left-hander, a really bad place to go off, with a wall at the bottom."

It was a huge impact and yet Winkelhock sustained just a minor leg injury. However, he was unconscious and it took a while to cut him out of the wreckage.

"I think the Porsche was built for Hans Stuck. As a smaller driver you had to move the seat forward. Manfred and I were more or less the same size, we could drive in the same position. We were both sitting very close to the roll cage, and he hit it with his helmet."

"In those days we knew the 962 wasn't the safest car," says Stuck himself. "We knew about the risks. For sure I've done the most miles in these cars, and I was very lucky."

In the aftermath of the accident, Surer found himself taking charge.

"I went to race control, I called his wife, I said, 'Manfred's had an accident, I'll call you again when it's okay.' Then Norbert Haug called me. I told him it didn't look very good, because since then I'd spoken to the doctor. The doctor said he was unconscious, and he didn't react.

"I followed to the hospital and my girlfriend arrived. I found the emergency room and he was being operated on. While I was waiting I called his wife again, and said: 'I'll call you when he comes out'. Of course, we didn't have mobile phones, and she had to wait a long time. The doctor came out once and I asked him 'what's the situation?', and he said it will be at least a three or four-hour operation."

Later, Surer learned from the surgeon just how serious it was: "He said: 'Get his family to come, and hurry up'. That's what he said to me.

"I went back to the hotel. The Kremer guys were hanging around and said: 'How is he?' I said: 'He's going to die'. They said: 'Don't joke, he'll be alright'. I said, 'You're not listening to me. He's going to die'. Nobody else went to the hospital, because they thought it was a little problem.

"I went to the room and called Martina. It was 2am or something in Europe. I think it was half a ring and she was on the phone. I told her come over to see him, because he needs support, he had an operation, he is unconscious, at the moment. You know, you cannot tell the whole truth. And I called Norbert Haug and I told him how bad it is. Norbert had already organised some flights, so they were coming on the next flight possible.

"I couldn't sleep all night, I went early in the morning to the hospital again and I realised he was just alive because of the machine. I saw the Kremers arriving and they started to realise how bad it is.

"Then I went to pick up Martina and Manfred's father and one of his brothers. I think it was about 11am when they arrived, and then we went to the hospital. We didn't speak too much."

There was nothing that could be done for Winkelhock and later the life support system was switched off.

"I lost my only true friend in racing," says Surer. "The next F1 race was at Zeltweg. I thought if I can't switch off, if I remember Manfred, I will stop racing. It went so deep. Also, it could have been me. But all racing drivers are the same. While I was driving in practice, I forgot about it.

"But even with my own accident in rallying, because I don't remember a thing about that, this was the worst experience of my motor sport career."

His biggest frustration was finding out what had caused the crash.

"The Kremers wouldn't tell me what happened on the car. I was worried about the rear suspension, but even after the crash you could see the side I hit the other car with was okay, so it was not my fault, which was very important for me.

"Then the race after at Spa, Jonathan Palmer had an accident in this double left-hander, downhill. He went off there, the same thing. And he had a bad one too, I think the gear lever hit his helmet. He was also on Goodyears. It was his first flying lap, he didn't have enough pressure, and the right front tyre came off the rim."

[fortythree]

[QUOTE=windowlicker;3182041]Nelson Piquet's massive practice crash at Imola in 1987. This was the same place that his countryman Ayrton Senna would fatally crash in 1994, the Tamburello. The thing that saved Nelson may have been that he went in backwards.

Alboreto same corner '91. His head came so close to hitting the wall.

[spurtabulous]

Just as an aside: I was a friend of Gordon Smiley's and a nicer guy you couldn't meet.

His downfall was that of being a road racer, where you actually correct slides. At Indy, to do so is to immediately collect the wall. It is a VERY rare instance that, at Indy, you will make it through a collected slide. Gordon's instinct is what killed him. On top of that, back in that day, cars were FAR more unsafe, with no carbon fiber survival cells.

RIP, Gordy.....

[fortythree]

Not just the roadies. The half assed hook up save caught Danny OTG in '81.