How did he walk away from that? Le Mans 24-hour racing driver survives horror crash

dailymail.co.uk ^ | 6-11-11

[rawhide]

This is the terrifying moment that a racing driver's car flew through the air and smashed into a wall during the Le Mans 24 Hour race.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=p2Nb0Ienv6k

[buccaneer81]

I’ve seen way worse in NASCAR and Indy racing. The ones in real danger were the crowd behind the rail.

[smokingfrog]

Stuff flying everywhich way. That was a hairy situation.

[60Gunner]

For later perusal.

[perfect_rovian_storm]

The worst I’ve seen is the Geoff Bodine crash at Daytona:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRQveQUyMlo&feature=player_embedded

It’s funny that the ones that actually kill are the ones that don’t look as heinous.

[Michael.SF.]

Niki Lauda 1976.

I saw his return at Long Beach when he allowed John Watson to win. Awesome

[buccaneer81]

It’s funny that the ones that actually kill are the ones that don’t look as heinous.

Earnhardt's death proved that.

[Jack Hydrazine]

HANS device saved him.

[buccaneer81]

Ricky Craven...

He Was Never The Same After

[Proud_USA_Republican]

Nasty crash.

Some other recent ones that were brutal include:

Mark Webber at the European GP 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kNZzqqdhM0

Robert Kubica at the Canadian GP in 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WItGK4ZwlVc

[rawhide]

The second link is pretty bad. Did he survive?

Do you remember the crash video that occurred where a small part from a race car came flying from the racetrack, smashing into the head of a open-cockpit racer, causing him to have a horrific crash? I remember it was all caught on the driver's camera who crashed,

[Neidermeyer]

Danny “on the gas” Ongias at Indy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trTboUnwjls

[popdonnelly]

What amazes me is that none of the photographers behind the barrier were seriously hurt. They also came that close to having a car land on them.

[Yo-Yo]

Stuff flying everywhich way.

As designed. Parts breaking off absorbs energy.

[the crow]

I believe you are referring to Felipe Massa. he was hit in the helmet by a spring in the 2009 Hungarian Gran Prix, and almost killed.

he started racing again last year, and qualified 3rd for today’s Canadian GP.

[rawhide]

Thank you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjd5p8dDQdU

[ken5050]

Ever see “LeMans”, the Steve McQueen movie that is his tribute to auto racing...quite good, and there are two spectacular crash scenes..

[RayChuang88]

The reason why the driver survived was simple: all that flying debris from the crash actually dissipated the energy of the crash away from the driver--this is why modern passenger cars have "crumple zones" so the energy of the crash is dissipated to minimize the forces of the crash injuring the driver.