It's been a bad week

[bobdrummond]

First Joey Dunlop and now Kenny Irwin Jr. What a dreadful week it's been. I know neither of these two were indy drivers, but this forum is my favourite and if anyone appreciates how bad it is to lose a star, it's the Indy forum members.

I'm sorry for both their families

[Jay]

I do have a lot of empathy and sympathy for the fans and families of the two drivers killed. The past year, including this week has been a very black one for motosport, particularily in North America. It is a constant reminder that regardless of what you are driving at high speeds, it is very dangerous.

In the case of the NASCAR boys, they were both on the same corner. Investigation????

[bella]

much as i feel very sorry for both families involved in the nascar accidents, i think it would be wrong to jump into any safety changes. while the ones in 1994 in f1 were quite successful, they have paved the way for a bunch of regulations which do nothing but ruin the sport for drivers and viewers alike. we have to be really careful with what is done.
motorsport is dangerous, as our tickets say. it's a fact of taking part in these sports, and the drivers know that. i'm not denying it's a very sad event when a driver dies at such an early stage in his life. it's just that things do go wrong.

[Nuvolari]

In the post-accident coverage I read (New York Times), several drivers complained very directly about the sharpness of the corners at that track. Mark Martin said they're particularly unforgiving in the event of a stuck throttle, which apparently is what went wrong with Irwin's car.

[KC]

One of the particular bad things about Loudon is that it is a very flat track. The WC cars only started racing there in 1993. Before that it was home to Indy Cars and other open wheel cars designed for flat tracks. The much heavier and under braked WC cars do not perform as well on low banking as they do at high banked tracks. Handling becomes a premium. In the event of a stuck throttle, the driver only has about 1 sec to nail the brakes as hard as possible and try to kill the ignition. The brakes are not strong enough to stop a car under drive from the 750 horse engine and it will not slow down. The car will invariably drive straight into the outer wall and not disapate much force at the point of impact by turning down the track. Most Indy Car wrecks I have seen there either happen when the car spins and strikes the wall with the back of the car or ricochets down the wall, spreading the energy of the crash over a larger area. The WC cars are not designed to handle this much loading and can produce enough sheer g-loading to kill a driver without producing a visible injury.

It is indeed a dark time for motor racing. Unfortunately the popular press will use these deaths as a spring board in their campaigns to prove they have always been right about racing being too dangerous. They will never openly comment on the skill and daring of a driver who makes a spectacular save by willpower and skill, only the titillating crashes and how it should be stopped.