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Honestly, back to the issue at hand... These races were relatively entertaining from a purely racing perspective. I didn't see all of Race 1 but watched most of Race 2 and I liked what I saw from this track. Bourdais's boneheaded yet unbelievable double pass was really something.

Now, onto the more serious matter. The car held up immaculately. Granted, this was a lower speed crash then previous ones we've seen, but the tub itself (safety cell) was nearly perfect. Kudo's to Indycar and Dallara for that bit. The mechanics of the accident I will not debate since everyone I'm sure has an opinion but really, shit happens and it's not like it started sailing.

The fence did it's job. It's there to stop debris and/or the car. I use and/or because if a racecar gets into the fence than the fences #1 job is to keep that car on the racetrack side, which this fence did. It sucks that debris got into the stands but given the alternative I think everyone got pretty lucky with this one.

Viso did about as good a job as he could not to pile drive Dario's destroyed car first, then he hit a tire and bent the front end, and still he managed to jerk the car left and hit Sato more toward the engine then right in the side of the cockpit.

At the end of the day, this could have been A LOT worse than it wound up being. As was said, very, very much like Krosnoff's crash. They've come a long way in the design and safety of the cars along with the design and layout of the safety barriers on these temporary tracks in the last 17 years.

Considering that the track is on a football stadium parking lot, I'd say so.

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Ducks Angels Sounders Spurs

After thinking a bit about the accident: I am really surprised the accident was as big afterall.
Considering that the cars come right from the slowest corner on the circuit and had about 1/4 mile to accelerate from there (just guessed, it maybe was 1/3) they should be relativly slow on that point compared with accidents like Toronto '96 or all the similar crashes on ovals in the past years.
Maybe about 160kph?
The way Darios car took off really worries me. Imagine the crash with 200kph more. I wonder if the Dallara is really that safe how people tend to say after yesterday. I get the opposite feeling.

Well from that spectator Camera angle the cars did look quite fast at that place. The thing that worries me here is the fact that Dario's car took off...

I think many people (like you) have been lulled into a false sense of security over the years by the apparent overwhelmingly good safety record motor racing had managed to sustain for an unrealistically long period. If I were Dallara I'd be extremely satisfied in the way the car stood up to the impact, not worried. His injuries would have likely been sustained from the sudden change in directional force or perhaps the landing, not the car being safe or not.

Scotty's got it right. You are not going to stop cars being launched when you have a speed differential as was present last night. What the wheelguards do stop (and have stopped) is wheel-to-wheel contact leading to flight on the ovals when all the cars are at pretty much the same speed.

I would also suggest that had Dario had that accident in the old Dallara, they would still be peeling him off the fence. The tub held up outstandingly well.

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Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
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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.

This was side to side wheel contact from what I can see on the video. Sato was sliding against the front wheel of Franchitti and that's why he lifted off.

The footage from that fan's camera is absolutely chilling. It all happens so damn fast that you don't even have a chance to brace for it. Phew, very lucky this did not turn out worse.

Even full bodied stock cars catch air some times when there's a similar side impact with a major speed differential. Just that they're so much heavier in the front they usually come right back down.

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"The track's wet, that's what I think about it. Fucking shit gets wet when it rains."
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http://www.autosport.com/gallery/photo.php/id/13317053 The tub did its job, no apparent cracks in the pic. (Can be seen bigger if AutosportPlus subscriber...)

True, but the main impact into the fence was on the other side of the tub. I imagine that side is pretty much intact as well, given the fact that he "only" suffered a single ankle fracture. Usually the nose-in-the-fence does a hell of a lot more lower extremity damage than that.

I guess the ankle injury was sustained because of his legs being smashed around in the cockpit, and the spinal fractures due to the heavy landing on the ground. Considering the violence of the accident the injuries are very light. I'm so glad I'm able to write that previous sentence.

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Makes sense.

Generally speaking, if there's a sudden stop and not much damage, I worry a lot.

If there's a huge amount of flying debris and other stuff, then I don't worry as much, as all of that energy is going some place other than the driver.

Of course, when there's a lot of debris flying into a crowded stand, I worry a lot again.

And yes, it's almost certainly the way the car bounced around on landing that caused the injuries to Dario...obviously no suspension and sitting virtually on the floor mean that any kind of upwards or downwards movements go through the only bits that can compress and break, namely the driver.

Very lucky all around there...couldn't believe logging into Facebook this morning to be honest. I'd spent the entire day avoiding the Internet due to F1 and stuff, and then the entire evening due to being behind on the Nascrash race, so it was quite shocking to see that even though I'd watched all of Kansas, I'd actually seen one of the least eventful races of the day!

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RantingYoof

After rewatching this crash few times, I think that this crash could have been a lot smaller, if the wall was twice as tall or there was a little bit of runoff area in that corner. The car already started to fall down, but with lack of runoff it didn't have enough space to fall back lower. Maybe IndyCar should consider having some runoff areas in high speed corners?

Coulda, shoulda, woulda...

There are many variables to consider with these types of accident and I'm sure the authorities will do proper investigations. Certain things will change, etc... Now isn't the time for knee jerk reactions and suggestions.

For instance, if you push the wall back and this exact type of accident happens again then the result won't necessarily be better for driver or fans. Dario's car was contained by the fence, but had the fence not been at that point then the car would have got more air and had a different aerobatic type of accident.

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IndyCar is evaluating the wreck and will take action when appropriate.

Dario will need another surgery for his fractured ankle.

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Ducks Angels Sounders Spurs

I feel bad for Helio but glad karma came back to bite Penske in the arse after the stunt they pulled at Sonoma and Power's questionable move at Baltimore.

I can't agree with you less about those points. Helio shouldn't be punished for incidents that he has no involvement in. Karma would / should be affecting Power.

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BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk