[IndyCar] 2011 Season - RIP Dan Wheldon

Including the Indy 500 and all junior series leading up to IndyCar
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caneparo
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#436

Post by caneparo »

Bottom post of the previous page:

kals wrote:Is there a link between the name Stefan and being a fantasist? Seems so.
Stefan Jovetic, fantasist of Fiorentina
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#437

Post by DoubleFault »

New car will be the "DW12"
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#438

Post by kals »

That's cool :thumbsup:
kals wrote:As Dan has been an integral part of the development of the 2012 Dallara IR12 chassis, how about Indycar and Dallara renaming the chassis DW12? That would be a perfect tribute.
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#439

Post by caneparo »

:agreepost:
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#440

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Nice one. Indeed fitting and very appropriate in the circumstances. :thumbsup:

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#441

Post by PTfan54 »

I'm not sure if anyone has posted this yet, but Alex Zanardi has said some very interesting things about how oval racing has changed over the past 10-15 years.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/95688
Bernie Ecclestone's Glasses: The Greatest Spectacles in Racing
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#442

Post by kals »

A reader submission in today's Autosport magazine. I agree 100%.
Shocking story of media ignorance

I’m totally shocked and appalled at the way the mainstream British media has covered the Dan Wheldon story. There are many areas of the media getting their facts wrong. The way some of the stuff has been written makes it seem like Dan crashed because he was after the $5 million prize that was on offer, and don’t get me started on the Daily Mail.

The British media has never given serious consideration to the likes of Dan Wheldon or Dario Franchitti, British sportsmen who became huge stars across the Atlantic. I find that disgraceful.

Amit Mandalia, by email
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#443

Post by ReneLotus »

:agreepost:
It is quite weird that the British press are so ignorant about British drivers overseas. There are now more British drivers in Indycar than in any other category. Surely it is something worth following?
This year there were 9 British drivers that drove a race in the Indycar series. We would have to go back to 1977 to see a similar number of British drivers in Formula 1.
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#444

Post by DoubleFault »

ReneLotus wrote::agreepost:
It is quite weird that the British press are so ignorant about British drivers overseas. There are now more British drivers in Indycar than in any other category. Surely it is something worth following?
Not whilst it has so much oval racing. Brits just don't care for it.

Hell, the only oval races I watch are the Indy 500 and the championship deciders. Dan's last win and last race :(
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#445

Post by Ian-S »

Jackie Stewart wrote:F1 is very safe indeed compared to any other form of motorsport. But we can count ourselves very fortunate that we've been so many years without a fatality when you think that the drivers are millimetres apart at times.
Self righteous pompous git, stick him back in his old folks home where he belongs and gag him in future if anybody asks for his views.

I dunno about you guys but this level of arrogance really get's under my skin, and I dunno what racing he's been watching recently but the only time F1 cars have been millimeters apart is when they're parked up after the race.

I hope he doesn't live to regret that, as I keep saying, just because nobody's been hurt in an F1 car for a while, doesn't mean they cannot be.
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#446

Post by Sam »

Mario Andretti had similar comments in last sunday's Wind Tunnel; The tracks are not the problem, just give the cars more power and less grip.
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#447

Post by xavier28 »

Sorry if there is a simmilar thread but i am getting quite annoyed with this.

Why do all these people Ex-Racing Drivers have an opinion or do an interview once there is a terrible tragic accident?

Not unless i dont read enough news stories across the internet over the past decade i dont remember much being said after Kenny Brack and Ryan Briscoes crash and endless others about pack racing and the speeds the indycars travel and anything else they muster out of the sky that is the main cause of and accident that took place before the 16/10/2011.

I am not saying it is not a tragedy what happened Dan Wheldon and the IRL i am sure can learn from it and even though Jackie Stewart helped in F1 safety in the 60s and 70s i dont ever remember him saying before 16/10/2011 that indy cars have no need to do 230mph but since the 16/10/2011 he says it is a ridiculous speed to go racing at.

As in a thread today Alex Zanardi now goes on about wings! ( Autosport 27/10/2011 )

If i am wrong please tell me as it seems like these ex-racing drivers just want someone to interview them?

I am sure Dan Wheldons Family do not want hear these opions and just get on with there life

RIP DAN WHELDON
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#448

Post by kals »

Topics merged
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#449

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Clearly a lot of it is the fault of the media.... I am not sure that the drivers (ex and current) go out seeking an outlet for their words (other than Mark Webber and perhaps JYS), and I am of the opinion that the media is seeking out anyone with a credible name and involvement to say a few words which are in many cases then twisted, taken out of context and used to perhaps amplify any scandal or blame. To me the preferred option would not be for the media to always try and find blame for such tragedies that always come with such events and flood the media with what in their minds is an expert pov...... that is the job of the official enquiries undertaken by specialists who understand the problems intimately. Rather than reactive answers, I would prefer to see expert comment look to ways of ensuring such tragedies are minimised, and certainly not repeated, whilst still bearing in mind the very nature of any motor racing and the risks involved.

I am beginning to feel that perhaps the Indycar drivers need to speak out a bit more, and where Indycar does seem to fail is that the drivers all talk in the background (in this case of their fears to enter races such as Vegas where the risks were seemingly so well known.) I do believe that in such circumstances where drivers are complaining individually that F1 drivers perhaps do act in an effective manner. They are not shy when something has slipped through the net to act in an almost union manner and refuse to drive up to a point. (I am thinking historically here of events in the 1980's where not only did we have drivers taking action over the superlicences but more in my thoughts are situations such as refusing to drive at Spa when the track broke up, indeed that resulted in a meeting being postponed several months for the track problems to be remedied. At the 2005 Indy / USGP, the Michelin tyres were for whatever known to be unsafe with potential for injury and death..... the teams and drivers did not drive. A scandal yes, but one that ensured there was no tragedy.

If all the Indycar drivers are individually so anti the scenarios of Vegas with the cars they have , the downforce and reduced power encouraging pack racing and speaking of the tragic outcome as being something that was inevitably going to happen, then why the fuck did they not all get together as soon as the event was known of, and say 'We wont race under these circumstances.' Is it because of the threat of being sacked for having such an opinion?

I am not saying I know the answers, but it does seem that all the drivers at Vegas were concerned long before the event that a tragedy was possible, even likely. But they (the drivers) all lined up and started without a murmur of protest. They all later spoke of being uneasy in the first laps, sensing 'the inevitable'. But no one stood up as a group prior to the race and said "Oi this aint on". Until after the horse had bolted and we had a tragedy on our hands. Then all of a sudden the world and their dog have an opinion. Did they all choose to stay quiet because we had not had a death for a few years? The money involved? Or just a sense of immortality that comes with clicking a visor down at a race start?

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#450

Post by Cheeveer »

If all the Indycar drivers are individually so anti the scenarios of Vegas with the cars they have , the downforce and reduced power encouraging pack racing and speaking of the tragic outcome as being something that was inevitably going to happen, then why the fuck did they not all get together as soon as the event was known of, and say 'We wont race under these circumstances.' Is it because of the threat of being sacked for having such an opinion?
Mainly because there have been dozens and dozens of races on similar tracks in the last 15 years. What happened was, maybe not unexpected, but it was definitely a worst case scenario that few could even predict in their holocaust nightmares. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it live.
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#451

Post by sennadesillva »

Ian-S wrote:Those are just from rubber, oil, dirt etc. in the first 11 laps, if he'd been hit on the head by anything remotely resembling a wheel then there would have been more than one funeral. It amazes me people buy into this bullshit, especially from the guy who labelled the Dallara The Crap Wagon, I mean I like the guy cos he often tells it as it is, but more often than not he talks out his arse. You only have to cast your mind back a few years to see what happens when you get hit on the head by a wheel.
Image

"Tire mark right over the windshield from Vegas" Paul Tracy

that looks like a little more than just bits of oil rubber and dirt. thats a full tire mark lol
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