Allan Simonsen Aston Martin Driver killed at Le Mans
#1
Sat, 06/22/2013 - 11:20
Allan Simonsen Aston Martin Driver killed at Le Mans
Given the treacherous conditions it was no surprise that the first safety car was out just ten minutes into the race. The cause was the #95 Aston Martin Vantage V8 GTE-Am front runner, after Allan Simonsen spun off at Tertre Rouge. He took a hard hit against the barrier, demolishing the car and forcing full safety extraction and medical response teams to scramble. Simonsen was reported to be awake and talking with medics, but was transported to the hospital for further evaluation.
Unfortunately he passed away from his injuries, it's always sad to see this happen and it shows no matter how safe the sport is today it can still be a killer.
http://www.streetfire.net/video/allan-simonsen-fatal-crash-onboard-2013-le-mans-24h_2429904.htm
I'm not trying to be morbid or anything but this is a view of the crash from the car just behind.
http://youtu.be/wXXqcQYkFGQ
Something malfunctioned on that car. I just don't see how it could respond that way and hit the barrier at full speed if everything was working correctly.
I highly doubt there was a malfunction. Wet track, very slick curb. Car twitched on throttle when he got on the paint, then regained all the grip suddenly while the car was pointed the wrong way. He was offline due to the spinning Ferrari.....who knows what kind of oil or gravel/dirt may have been toward the shoulder. Unfortunately, he was mostly along for the ride once it twitched.....those are high speed corners, even if he buried the brakes it wasn't going to stop very quickly on the wet track.
It was a very unfortunate set of circumstances.
Here is a good article about race car driver deaths, including the recent death of Allan Simonsen at Le Mans. The author, a physician and race car driver, opines that Simonsen died from a sudden deceleration injury to his body, caused by his car's impact at approximately 110 MPH with a tree.
blog.parathyroid.com/race-car-deaths-medical-causes-racing-deaths/
Read the article over at Jalopnik
Very interesting. But as they say at the end. Motorsport is inherently dangerous and will never be 100% safe.
TBH I don't think any drive would want the sport 100% safe as there would be no frill IMO
For Simonsen!
http://youtu.be/UotNe4FbkcQ