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Well, F1's about the safest thing in the world and Webber managed to flip it last year. I'm not sure you can call the 2012 Dallara open-wheel, though...

Single Seater cars will always flip. But the point is making them flip less. These current (well now ex) cars flip way, way too much.

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

It was one of the most touching and heart-breaking tributes I've ever seen in motorsport. Massive respect to the 19 drivers who were able to take part in it.

I do suspect that if the machinery had been available, every single one of the drivers who were uninjured would have taken part.

This. Hard to hold back the tears.

Little picture gallery from Autosport
http://www.autosport.com/gallery/index.php/id/2635

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

I gotta say I am shocked with the news.

As I have been working overtime last night because I had a school inspection today so no chance of catching up any motorsport news apart from watching the Grand Prix.

When I was on the bus home from work. There was the Metro newspaper (a freebie paper you get on buses) next to me and I want to read it but I assumed it was the guy's (sitting next to him) paper. So I decided to surf on my iPhone and got into the Autosport app. You can guess what happened next.

Then when the guy next to me left the bus and I picked up the paper and there was a big headline spread of the accident. I was shocked with the tremendous nature of the accident and the sad outcome of it especially Dan Wheldon achieving a lot of things in Indycar especially with winning the Indy 500 this year.

Godspeed Dan Wheldon.

The music being played did add to the effect of course, but just the sheer sound of those engines. All running the same low revs, in harmony. Sounded so calm and quiet. Very surreal.

I feel exactly the same.
Very heart-breaking moment.

Dan would've been in a car $5 million or no.

It's very disingenuous for the media to claim that he was only there for the money. He didn't need the money. He just wanted to race.

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Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

Same here. I was a bit zoned out at work today because I still cant beleive what actually happened. Its easily the worst experience Ive ever had whilst watching any form of motorsport. Just the horror of the accident and the unbearable wait for 2 hours for an update on Dan's condition, which resulted in the heartbreaking news that we all feared. I think its going to take a while for everyone to get over this one, I know I will

While that's true, you must remember that the race was promoted that way. It's only natural that the media would run with the story that sells the best but also that goes right along with the party line coming from Indycar before the race.



This crash shook me up pretty bad. Not just the fact that Dan was lost, but the unbelievable violence of the crash. It was like a bad sprint car wreck at Eldora... Just at 220mph. I've never seen anything like that one. Even Atlanta '01 pales in comparison. Watching the live version... Eddie Cheever didn't even say any actual word, but his gasps spoke volumes for what was happening.

Couldn't agree more with you guys about the 5 lap salute. It was like a funeral cortège and a least bit that could have been done for the memory of Wheldon. It will probably help all of those 19 drivers to make up their minds what to do next year.

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"Indy doesn't give you a second chance. You have to earn it."

Fuck me, watching the 5-lap salute, you can hear one of the commentators sobbing when Jamie Little is reporting. Shows how much it affected everyone.

Think that was Eddie Cheever.

This.

I feel exactly the same!

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"Indy doesn't give you a second chance. You have to earn it."

I didn't actually realise he'd signed with Andretti for next year. Somehow that just made it worse for me

I think this is the first time I've really "dealt" with a racing death as I'm too young to remember Senna and Earnhardt. He was just one of my favourite racers, I'd always check where he'd finished the race

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Regarding safety maybe its time to close the cockpits up with a fighter jet style 'roof'. There's a few illustrations out there.

Though most of the ABC telecast was a blizzard of shame, I have to give Marty Reid credit. I did like how he closed the broadcast.

The 5 lap salute was very nice. Bravo to Indycar for that.

The fact Dan signed a full time drive for next year just makes this all the harder... And keeps reminding me of '99. Oct. 31 1999 and Oct. 16 2011... Two dates I won't be forgetting.

I think, despite all the sadness that the sport in general should continue, and that they should continue to race on ovals. It is not because a driver died that everything has to be changed. A lot of drivers died on many different racetracks (take Indianapolis for example, as we are talking about Indycar). They never stopped racing there, and the track hasn't changed at all.

I know it is difficult to accept, death is always difficult to accept and nobody is prepared to that, but life goes on. Drivers have now the whole winter season to think about this, to accept it, and to prepare themselves for the new season. After Ayrton Senna's death, which was probably the biggest loss in motorsport History for the past 30 years (at least the most "covered" one), the drivers continued to race on the same circuits, with the same cars (except minor urgent modifications), and everything went on and on.

So eventho the death of Dan Wheldon is sad, things have to go on. At least he died while doing what he loved the most. Motorsport is an egoist sport, they all know it, because when they leave it the hard way, they cannot see the pain within their families, friends and fans.

I sincerely hope they will continue racing like they did this season, despite the new cars and that we will see great action in the future !

Sure, but with the pack-style racing they have on these ovals there is a greater chance of wheel lock type crashes, in my mind. I don't think there's much you can do in open racing to prevent them completely. Before the IRL, there were some bad catch fence crashes caused by wheel lock (eg Krosnoff, Stan Fox)

But when you are running side by side at huge speeds for a long time, you have a greater chance of a mistake. And it seems like we've seen more of in the decade of the IRL style car. Ryan Briscoe, Kenny Brack, Mario Andretti, Mike Conway, Pablo Perez, and now this. Plus all of the blowovers that could've gone wrong (such as Franchitti) and a couple of big multi-car accidents ala Atlanta.

So part of me feels like after Surfer's Paradise 2002 (a big wreck caused by poor officiating). Tragedy happens in motorsport but the IRL pack racing was a ticking time bomb (not to mention the car's tendency to fly that seems much worse than the faster CART cars). A 15 car wreck where 3 cars are flying up the track is not a normal tragic wreck.

To be fair, it seems like Indy is heading in the right direction. People may think that the 2012 car is ugly, but it will probably help both the wheel lock and the lack of passing due to turbulence. There was a step in the direction towards non-spec too, albeit a timid one. The adjustable engine power concept that I heard was part of next year's spec might also do a lot of good. Is that enough? I dunno. But it doesn't make the series look good when many drivers are calling the 1.5 mile show a "spectacle", not racing.

I think Max Mosley just said that 'American tradition' means it's hard for 'the American's' to change their ways?

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