Massive Motorsport Crashes - It’s Not All About the Racing (Page 2)

OK, we know that we called this article “The Art of Tricking Death”, but we like to believe that Ayrton Senna isn't dead, he's probably racing in heaven. We can't help but wonder how would Formula 1 would have been if Senna had managed to avoid that terrible accident in 1994...

We won't tell you all the details about his crash because there are tons of these online, but it's worth mentioning that the Brazilian driver hit the concrete wall at about 135 mph (217 km/h). He was driving with a speed of approximately 205 mph (330 km/h) when entering the Tamburelly corner.

The same Imola track, officially know as Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, was the scene of another two terrible accidents in that weekend. First, it was Rubens Barrichello who lost control of his Jordan in the Variante Bassa chicane and slammed into the fence. Fortunately, the Brazilian was only injured, so he couldn't race that weekend, but there were no other major consequences for him.

One day before Ayrton Senna's crash, Roland Ratzenberger died during the qualifying session of the same Grand Prix after the damaged front wing of his car sent him right in the wall in the Villeneuve Corner at a speed of 195.68 mph (314.9 km/h).

Marco Simoncelli – MotoGP, Malaysian GP, 2011

Marco Simoncelli died on October 23rd, 2011 after a collision with Colin Edwards at the Sepang International Circuit. Riding in the fourth position, Simoncelli lost control of his bike in Turn 11 and was hit in the head and neck by Edwards.

After the crash, the Italian lost his helmet, while Edwards jumped off the bike. The stewards stopped the race while Simoncelli was lying on the ground. He was pronounced death in less than an hour after the accident due to head trauma.

Dan Wheldon – IndyCar, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 2011

Dan Wheldon, a 33-year old British driver, died on October 16, 2011 on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He was involved in a 15-car collision that took place on lap 11. His car became airborne and flew almost 100 meters before hitting the fence.

The car broke into pieces as the other vehicles around smashed the fence, in what can be easily considered one of the most severe accidents in the history of IndyCar. Wheldon died at a nearby hospital soon after the accident.

Pierre Levegh – 24 Hours of Le Mans, 1955

Not many people heard of the “1995 Le Mans Disaster”, but this is truly one of the most shocking accidents in the history of motorsports.

49-year old Pierre Levegh, driving a Mercedes, crashed into Lance Macklin's Austin-Healey 100 at no less than 125 mph (201 km/h) and became airborne immediately. The French racing driver died, but the car flew into the crowd, sending debris towards the spectators that leaned over the fence to see the crash.

While Levegh died because of the severe impact with the ground when he landed, no less than 83 people were killed either because or flying debris or from the fire. Some of them were instantly decapitated by the bonnet of the car. 120 people were injured in the crash. Curiously, the race wasn't stopped, although everybody was concerned about the victims of the accident.

Dale Earnhardt Sr. - Daytona 500, 2001

Running in third position and only a few laps to go, Dale Earnhardt Sr. in car #3 collided with #36 Pontiac driven by Ken Schrader. As they both lost control of the vehicles, Dale Earnhardt Sr. crashed into the wall at around 150 mph (242 km/h).

Although most of the people were already celebrating Michael Waltrip's win and considered Earnhardt's crash just a minor one, the American race driver was taken to a hospital due to a very severe skull fracture. A few hours later, NASCAR President Mike Helton officially announced the death of the 49-year old North Carolina born driver. It is generally believed that his crash led to the introduction of the HANS device now used in several auto racing events, including Formula 1.

Rubens Barrichello – Formula 1, Imola, 1994

Rubens Barrichello escaped death in 1994 after a terrible crash at Imola. The Brazilian driver didn't manage to brake hard enough and lost control of the car, becoming airborne and violently hitting the wall.

The race was red-flagged immediately and although some of the people were concerned that Barrichello lost his life, the car absorbed most of the shock and broke into pieces. There was no HANS device at that time but Ruben Barrichello escaped without a skull fracture that could most likely kill him.

Alexandre Premat – DTM, Adria, 2010

Audi driver Alexandre Premat escaped unhurt from a terrible crash in the first lap of the DTM race at Adria in Italy in 2010. The Frenchman collided with Maro Engel and the Audi was sent towards the safety wall outside the track. The car rolled over a few times, while breaking into pieces and making everyone believe that the driver is seriously hurt.

Fortunately, Premat walked away on his own feet, but was sent to the hospital for examination. The race was red-flagged until the track was cleaned of debris.

Tom Pryce – Formula 1, Kyalami, 1977

A shocking accident took place in South Africa in 1977 during that year's South African GP on the Kyalami track.

Due to engine failure, Italian driver Renzo Zorzo stopped outside the track, while the engine caught fire. Two race marshals holding fire extinguishers decided to cross the track, just in front of Hans-Joachim Stuck and Tom Pryce who were both quickly approaching.

Pryce hit the second marshal, who was instantly killed, while the fire extinguisher he was carrying smashed into his head and broke his protective helmet. The Welsh racing driver died a few moments later and his car crashed in the next turn Pryce wasn't able to react anymore.

Robert Kubica – Ronde di Andora, 2011

Polish driver Robert Kubica was injured during an Italian rally and suffered several fractures to his right arm, leg and hand. Kubica, who was driving a Skoda Fabia S2000 rally car, missed most of the 2011 Formula 1 season, as he recovered from the injury.

Still, this wasn't Kubica's first massive crash, although this time some people close to the matter even said that the Polish driver's racing driver career could come to an end. In 2007 in the Canadian F1 GP, Kubica survived a terrible crash and only missed one race. The second crash can be seen below, as there's no recording with the 2011 accident since it wasn't a professional competition.

GP Cup – Macau, China, 2011

Last year, spectators of the GT Cup race in Macau, China witnessed a very spectacular accident that apparently took place because of a blown Audi R8 engine that leaked oil.

Due to the oil on the track, the other drivers lost control of their cars and crashed into the wall during lap 3. No one was seriously hurt, but a Ferrari F430 driver was taken to the hospital due to broken vertebrae.

Jeff Krosnoff – Champ Car World Series, Toronto, 1996

Only three laps to go, but American driver Jeff Krosnoff was involved in a collision with Stefan Johansson and his car became airborne. Due to the high speed, the vehicle flew over a concrete barrier and smashed a light post that broke it into pieces.

The cockpit flew back on the track, but the marshals found the driver dead seconds after the accident. Another marshal, who was hit by one of the tires, was found dead.

Lorenzo Bandini – Formula 1, Monaco GP, 1967

A terrible accident took place in the otherwise often-boring Monaco GP in Formula 1. Lorenzo Bandini lost his life after his Ferrari crashed into a light pole and overturned. The car caught fire because of the leaking gas, while seconds after the race marshals got the driver out, it exploded.

Bandini suffered third degree burns on more than 70 percent of his body. He died three days later in a hospital in Monte Carlo. No less than 100,000 people attended his funerals on May 13.

Jeremy Foley – Pikes Peak, 2012

This year's Pikes Peak International Hill Climb was a pretty spectacular event, not only because of the race per se, but also following an accident involving Jeremy Foley.

His Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 jumped off the cliffs in the same place as Bobby Regester a year before. The car broke into pieces, but luckily, both Foley and his co-driver had only minor injuries. They were however taken to a hospital for further medical checks.

Allan McNish – 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2011

Audi dominates the 24 Hours of Le Mans race for quite some time now, but this doesn't necessarily mean that all their cars manage to see the chequered flag.

Allan McNish knows this very well as the Scottish racing driver was involved in a massive crash in the 2011 edition of the event. Trying to pass a Ferrari GT in a corner, McNish lost control of his Audi R18 and crashed into the safety barriers with a speed of 120 mph (193 km/h). Of course, the car was completely destroyed, but McNish was capable to walk away on his own feet.

Anthony Davidson – 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2012

While it does an amazing job in Formula 1, Ferrari offers some quite interesting moments in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, as its drivers are often involved in more or less severe crashes.

This year, Piergiuseppe Perazzini, driving the #81 AF Corse Ferrari, made contact with Anthony Davidson's #8 Toyota and sent the Englishman airborne. After losing some aerodynamic parts, the Toyota crashed into the safety barriers, while the Ferrari did the same thing less a second later.

Both drivers walked away unharmed, but Davidson was treated by medics for minor injuries.

With all these being said, we hope you've learned something from these clips, although some of them remind us of tragedies that many of you would like to forget. Again, we're inviting you to contribute to this article and use the comment box below to point us to some other crashes that deserve to be included in this story.