The Chequered Flag

[maryportfuncity 10,639]

Lawrensen speaks the truth. Peterson's accident reflected badly on the performance of the Italian emergency services but it wasn't in the same grimly pathetic tradition of Tom Pryce, Roger Williamson or one or two others. The other one that caught the viewing public unawares was Jo Siffert. Killed on October 24th 1971 in that 'Victory' meeting for Jackie Stewart.

 

If I remember rightly Siffert - trapped like the others in a blazing car - had merely broken his ankle and would have survived if the fire had been extinguished. I'm sure I remember a track marshal weeping openly in the footage I saw because he'd tried like hell with poor equipment to save Jo Siffert.

 

The link below is an extract from an unpublished dissertation on the relationship between the death of racing drivers on television and improved safety in the sport. Recommended for anyone following this lively little thread.

 

 

http://www.ucc.ac.uk/sportscience/htm/Staf...process_pdf.pdf

[maryportfuncity 10,639]

Link to a discussion on whether racing drivers died from lung damage due to inhaling noxious hot gases or simply burned to death. Includes a picture of the wreckage of Siffert's car.

 

http://forums.atlasf1.com/showthread.php?s...y=&pagenumber=3

 

British Pathe News films taken on the day. If you follow the instructions there is a brief low quality black and white clip of the race downloadable for free. Basically tells the whole story, shows the start and then runs some footage of the accident. The race was called off at this point.

 

http://www.britishpathe.com/thumbnails.php...=brands%20hatch

[The Four Horsemen 26]

I'm glad someone brought up the Pathe news archive - there's also some footage of a motor racing crash in Penrith in Australia from 1935 which shows a car ploughing into a crowd an people being tossed all over the place - fascinatingly morbid!

[Tuber Mirum 125]

I wonder what is up with Niki Lauda?

 

He always commentates on the Grand Prix for the German Telly. Last time he was in a studio in Vienna, this time there was no sign of him at all.

[maryportfuncity 10,639]

Stress

 

He looks a bit frazzled to me.

 

Arf arf.

[Tuber Mirum 125]

Here is the answer to my question:

 

Lauda has emergency surgery.

 

He's only 56 but kidney failure is no laughing matter.

[Magere Hein 1,400]

He's only 56 but kidney failure is no laughing matter.

Indeed it isn't. I move we keep a close eye on 'im.

 

regards,

Hein

[maryportfuncity 10,639]

So someone should rush to his hospital bed and read him the last rites again!

 

The man is class: back in his car while his burns were still healing, competitive soon enough and back again after he had a panic attack at the end of that season. Three times world champion including once after he'd 'retired.'

 

Despite the sentiments that under-pin much of this site I don't want Niki Lauda dead anytime soon.

[Lady Die 63]

Despite the sentiments that under-pin much of this site I don't want Niki Lauda dead anytime soon.

I don't either ... cos he's not on the list

[Magere Hein 1,400]

Odd.  I always thought Lauda's lungs would have gone first, considering his years of smoking and his near-fatal accident at the Nurburgring in 1976.

Damaged lung tissues can regenerate quite a bit, much better than kidney tissues.

 

Oh, and welcome to DeathList forum. Your knowledge of motor racing is much appreciated.

 

regards,

Hein

[Tuber Mirum 125]

Although a kidney can be replaced, as with Lauda.

 

Survival rates for kidney recipients are getting better and better, and even if the kidney should fail, it is possible, (though not likely in Lauda's case) to keep going for up to 20 years on Dialysis.

 

With Niki it's hard to judge the comorbidity factor. He looks pretty fit, and has plenty of cash for first-class treatment, but who knows what other ailments he has, and how well he copes with all those pills he presumably has to take?

[M.Lawrenson 11]

Odd.  I always thought Lauda's lungs would have gone first, considering his years of smoking and his near-fatal accident at the Nurburgring in 1976.

Damaged lung tissues can regenerate quite a bit, much better than kidney tissues.

True. Lauda had his accident on the Sunday, was critically ill on Monday, had the last rites on Tuesday, was sitting up on Wednesday, was out of bed Thursday, and was walking around the hospital by Friday. Lungs heal quicker because the body realises they're vital for immediate survival.

 

Skin on the other hand, is another thing. Lauda raced in the Italian GP less than 6 weeks after his accident. He finished 4th. And after the race, he removed his helmet and his balaclava, and some of his skin grafts came off with it.

 

The season ending race in Japan was run in torrential rain. Despite only needing to finish higher than James Hunt in the race to take the champoinship, he pulled in after one lap. Lauda considered it stupid to race in conditions where you couldn't see a thing, especially when his eyelids still weren't working properly after being almost burned off. He was nearly crucified by the Italian press for admitting he was scared.

 

Niki Lauda may look short and scrawny, but he's a hard, hard man.

 

Oh and thanks for the plaudits everyone. Though I'm not sure I deserve them. Some people on the Atlas F1 forums have forgotten more than I'll ever know of motor racing

[Guest Shuffler]

Not a typical formula 1 death

 

Various reports on this story. Seems to be some confusion over whether he was a chef or a mechanic for the team. I suspect he was the former, and others just assumed the latter

[M.Lawrenson 11]

Bizarre stuff there. I remember Channel 4 News reporter Gaby Rado, and some actress from Holby City dying in very similar circumstances.

[maryportfuncity 10,639]

Rebecca - or was it Rachel? - Sadler from Holby City fell pissed from a balcony whilst her cocaine snorting boyfriend hung around enjoying the spectacle, allegedly.

 

Not sure the McLaren chef was quite in the same circumstances. Either way, we've gone from drivers, to marshals to bit part players making up the spectacular body count from F1. Any of the old timers still looking in must think it's a wimps game now.

[M.Lawrenson 11]

As mentioned in another thread, I'm working out a list of the oldest F1/GP drivers. I've done the raw data after trawling through grandprix.com and FORIX, just needs some cosmetic work :

 

http://www.planet-cutie.co.uk/seventy_five_plus.htm

[maryportfuncity 10,639]

Mister Lawrenson

 

I think your dedicated DL work has given more to the world than your assured performances at the heart of the Liverpool defence twenty years back. It is surely the duty of others hereabouts to peruse the list and consider how many are famous enough to qualify for the big run down next year.

[Death Watch Beatle 41]

I'm no petol-head, but I have heard of a few of these folks. I opened a thread for Carroll Shelby a while ago, more well known for building/designing cars than racing them perhaps, Brabham and Moss of course, but one other that caught my eye, Guy Ligier - I can only summise he was the brains behind the Ligier F1 team.

 

Just a thought, wasn't Peter Lovely in the Wacky Races rather than the F1 races?

 

DWB

[maryportfuncity 10,639]

I worked on a book with a guy who'd done advertising work for performance sports cars and photography for F1 in the sixties. He told me some great stories including one about finding Carroll Shelby in bed with two women - neither of them being Mrs Shelby. Maybe there's a lesson in longevity in there somewhere.

 

Re the Way to Dusty Death, I started it, thought it complete shite, ditched it and have clearly misrembered the title. I apologise for the error. If someone moderating this can change the subtitle at this late stage it would be welcomed.

[M.Lawrenson 11]

Mister Lawrenson

 

I think your dedicated DL work has given more to the world than your assured performances at the heart of the Liverpool defence twenty years back. It is surely the duty of others hereabouts to peruse the list and consider how many are famous enough to qualify for the big run down next year.

Surprisingly, I'm not actually the same M.Lawrenson who played for Liverpool in the 1980s . I'm his third cousin once removed (or something), and we were born in the same town. I thank him for being a respected professional footballer in the 1980s while I was at school ( I hate to think about the unfortunates at school today called L.Bowyer, R.Savage, C.Bellamy and what they must go through).

 

Some snippets of info about some of those on the 75+ list :

 

(9) John Fitch was the co-driver of the Mercedes that Pierre Levegh had his infamous accident in (though of course he never got to drive it).

 

(13) Hans Klenk co-drove a sports car in a long distance South American race, and hit a vulture with the windscreen. The windscreen was destroyed and replaced with welded iron bars, while Klenk had to drive the rest of the race blood-splattered and with a car full of vulture parts (with obvious consequences in a South American summer). He won.

 

(22) Al Pease, despite being in his late 40s, raced a thoroughly outdated car in the 1969 Canadian GP. He remains the only driver in F1 history to be disqualified during a race for being too slow.

 

(27) Froilan Gonzalez won the 1951 British GP in a Ferrari, despite looking like the unlikeliest ever racing driver.

 

(33) Pete Lovely was not in 'Wacky Races' - that was Peter Perfect. Lovely bought a Lotus 49 and proceeded to enter a few GPs in 1969-70, usually not qualifying or finishing so far behind that he was not classified. For 1971, he got a Lotus 69 and did just as well.

 

(35) Maria Teresa de Fillipis is one of only 4 women to ever qualify for an F1 GP.

 

(39) Phil Hill, of course, was the 1961 F1 champion, winning the title after Wolfgang von Trips crashed in the Italian GP killing himself and 14 spectators.

 

(43) Hans Hermann won Le Mans in 1970, and also, in crashing in the 1959 German GP, was the subject of one of the most spectacular racing photos ever taken :

 

 

He walked away. Honest, I've got a video clip that proves it...

[Typhoid Harry 23]

Can't believe I left Phil Hill off my list. Another intelligent driver who embodied what it's "really" about.

[maryportfuncity 10,639]

Niki Lauda - three times formula one world champion - has a new kidney.

[Tuber Mirum 125]

Niki Lauda - three times formula one world champion - has a new kidney.

Had he cooked the other one?

I think he has four kidneys in his body at the moment. His own two which hardly work at all, one which he got from his brother if I remember rightly, and another which he had put in a couple of months ago which came from his girlfriend.

 

Perhaps someone could ask her if she expects to get it back soon?

[maryportfuncity 10,639]

The prang prone F1 star who appeared on the first DL in 1987 is back behind the wheel. Ironically for a man who's claim to F1 immortality is the highest number of starts without a win he's competing in the new F1 'Masters' series. His appearance in the whole circus speaks volumes about the way others - like Damon Hill - said 'no thanks.' De Crasheris was beaten today by Nigel Mansell and Emerson Fittipaldi but still fought his way up to compete for a podium, finishing fourth in the end. There are more races but his ability to stay on the track today suggests he's mellowed. I DON'T think we should consider him for 2006.

[maryportfuncity 10,639]

We're getting on the start of a busy year of single seat racing. F1, that over-hyped masters series, the A1 circus of 1 car per country racing and the US KART stuff. In other words more very high profile racing chasing television coverage than ever before and - therefore - some very high powered cars in the hands of people who wouldn't normally get a look in at this level.

 

So, do the assembled mega-brains of the DL think we'll have us a fatality in 2006?

 

I have a hunch not although I wouldn't be surprised to see some serious injuries.