[estell2010]

He got very close to decapitation, lucky man!

[Barton Farley]

Manfred Winklehock, Mosport 1985

[whodat666]

Thank you for posting all these very interesting and brutal

[The Dark]

Originally Posted by windowlicker ↗

A few pics of the aftermath of Patrick Depailler's fatal testing crash at the German Hockenheim track on the first of August 1980. When team members who where in the pits suddenly heard the loud scream of the Alfa V12 stop they were worried and word soon came back that Patrick had 'had a big one'.
It was probably a suspension which broke sending the driver into the barrier at high speed. He would have died instantly.

He won the Monaco GP in 1978 and Spanish GP 1979.

40 years ago today and still the rumor of this being captured on a private video haven't been answered.
I did read somewhere death wasn't instantaneous, though he did lose his helmet in the crash (chin strap can be seen in 1 pic). Still can't understand why the catch fencing was rolled up behind the guard rail but he's not the first or last to be killed by testing safety standards not up to scratch.
Having said that, if the story I heard has any accuracy, the catch fencing post played a part in his head injuries anyway.

[AlvinKarpis]

Originally Posted by The Dark ↗

40 years ago today and still the rumor of this being captured on a private video haven't been answered.
I did read somewhere death wasn't instantaneous, though he did lose his helmet in the crash (chin strap can be seen in 1 pic). Still can't understand why the catch fencing was rolled up behind the guard rail but he's not the first or last to be killed by testing safety standards not up to scratch.
Having said that, if the story I heard has any accuracy, the catch fencing post played a part in his head injuries anyway.

Depailler was a great driver taken way to early. I believe he would have started racking up wins in the early 80s

I agree with the Dark that footage of his wreck would be a holy grail type find for sure

[K53]

Powerful images and look back

[The Dark]

Originally Posted by AlvinKarpis ↗

Depailler was a great driver taken way to early. I believe he would have started racking up wins in the early 80s

I agree with the Dark that footage of his wreck would be a holy grail type find for sure

Disagree with you AK, Depailler was good, but he wasn't really set out for success in the 80s, he was 8 days short of 36 at the time of his death, and Alfas were shit buckets in 81, perhaps in 82 he might have snuck up with De Cesaris into contention a couple of times, but I'm not convinced his injuries (broken ankles, heels and more from a hang gliding crash in 79) would have given him the flexibility to excel. He would for sure though been spectacular in the turbo cars.

Less obviously than Villeneuve, I kinda feel he was never likely to make old age, he lived life on the edge for sure.

[AlvinKarpis]

Originally Posted by The Dark ↗

Disagree with you AK, Depailler was good, but he wasn't really set out for success in the 80s, he was 8 days short of 36 at the time of his death, and Alfas were shit buckets in 81, perhaps in 82 he might have snuck up with De Cesaris into contention a couple of times, but I'm not convinced his injuries (broken ankles, heels and more from a hang gliding crash in 79) would have given him the flexibility to excel. He would for sure though been spectacular in the turbo cars.

Less obviously than Villeneuve, I kinda feel he was never likely to make old age, he lived life on the edge for sure.

I can agree with you for the most part, but remember Gordon Johncock was 46 when he won Indy in 1982, and was very competitive in the early to mid 80s

I guess sometimes I would just like to "think" that a driver that died would have gone on to great things had they lived and kept on racing

Like Gordon Smiley for example, had he lived could he have won at the Indy 500? could he have pulled off a Danny Sullivan or Bobby Rahal type victory in the mid 80s? I think he could have

Of course we will never know, thats just my thought process

[Barton Farley]

Pedro Rodriguez Norisring 1971

[Eisenberg]

What an epic thread, browsing it since 2013