[IndyCar] 2011 Season - RIP Dan Wheldon

[DoubleFault]

Bottom post of the previous page:

**Rolls eyes, shakes head**

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sp ... rnage.html

[kals]

But he's absolutely right with this...

In an interview three months ago, Bernard promised IndyCar fans that "danger will be an important element of the sport".

[kals]

The Formula 1 star that never was



The world of motorsport never got the chance to see Dan Wheldon racing in Formula 1. But he would have been a star, reckons Jonathan Noble 


"Oh Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling. From glen to glen, and down the mountain side The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying 'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide."

Danny Boy song lyrics

***



It's part of Formula 1 folklore that the breakthrough in Robert Kubica's Formula 1 career came at the Macau Grand Prix at the end of 2005, when BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen was left mighty impressed with the fiery performance of the Pole as he battled hard for the victory.

Convinced about the potential that he saw in front of him, Theissen went on to sign up Kubica to become BMW Sauber's third driver for the 2006 campaign – where he would learn the ropes alongside Nick Heidfeld and Jacques Villeneuve.

When Villeneuve was dropped after the German GP, Kubica got his big chance – grabbing it with both hands. He was a podium finisher at the Italian GP and the rest is history – pushing on to that maiden victory in 2008, a glimmer of a title challenge that year and then the switch to Renault.

Yet in a week in which motorsport has been in mourning for another fallen hero after the tragic events at the Las Vegas Speedway, it's worth bearing in mind that Theissen had only been on the look-out for a third driver at Macau because he had failed to agree terms with Dan Wheldon to take the job.

At the time, Wheldon was hot property and at one of those career crossroads at which sportsmen often find themselves as they tread their path to the top. He had just won the IndyCar championship and, en route, become the first Englishman since Graham Hill to win the Indy 500.

Life was sweet in the States. So why throw away the chance to keep the success rolling, and stand atop the podium some more, for a test-driver role with BMW Sauber?



There was no guarantee of racing – something Wheldon loved with a passion – and there was no way he was going to take a test role simply so he could be 'seen' in the Formula 1 paddock.

So Wheldon stayed in the States, further strengthening his unique Anglo-American twang, and delivering success on the track to prove himself as one of the very best out there. He duly achieved more triumphs, as well as disappointments, but through it all he never lost his speed, his strong work attitude or his smile.

A young Robert Kubica at the Macau GP in 2005 © LAT

He had to work damn hard to get himself back in the cockpit this year after finding himself without a full-time ride, but any doubts he was not one of the most talented men in IndyCar were wiped away at Indianapolis this year when he triumphed on a one-off return to the cockpit.

So it was particularly cruel that, on the very day his career appeared to be 100 per cent back on track in the States after signing a 2012 contract to join Andretti Autosport on race morning at the Las Vegas IndyCar season finale, he should be taken from us.

But what could he have done in F1 if, instead of pursuing his American dream, he had actually taken up the BMW Sauber offer?

There is every reason to believe that he would have acquitted himself well. Wheldon's impressive record in karting, allied to strong performances in the junior categories – including Formula Ford against Jenson Button – pointed to a man with plenty of talent to be successful in F1.



It says something too that I only ever interviewed two young karters during my previous job at The Telegraph – two guys making such mega impressions that national newspaper sports desks were interested in them.

I visited both of these boys at their homes, slotting in the chats after they had got home from school. One was Lewis Hamilton from Stevenage in Hertfordshire, the other Dan Wheldon from Emberton in Buckinghamshire. They were in that same talent bracket.

F1 misses the chance to see Wheldon race © LAT

BMW Sauber would have nurtured Wheldon well, built him up to speed as it saw fit, and perhaps events would have unfolded in a similar manner to what actually happened with Kubica, with the team losing faith in Villeneuve mid-season and then promoting Wheldon to the race seat in the latter stages of 2006.

From then we can only guess what the outcome would have been, but judging by the level of skill and commitment he showed in IndyCar, there is no reason to believe that given the right equipment he was good enough to win races.

One thing we can say for sure, though, is that the F1 paddock would have loved him. Just as Sebastian Vettel has shown that winning in grand prix racing does not mean you have to turn into a robotic PR machine, or be aloof from the rest of the world, so Wheldon would have bought some infectious enthusiasm for racing and life to the grand prix world.

He would have loved getting another opportunity to race against his early adversary Jenson Button, and you can imagine the pair would have got on brilliantly. The media would have revelled in him too – for Wheldon was a man at ease with himself, who would have been more than happy to deliver the emotions, enthusiasm, hard talking and soundbites to turn himself into a bit of a star.

Formula 1 was never going to get that chance to know Wheldon though, from the moment that he committed himself to the States.



But you could sense something about what he would have meant for the sport by the outpouring of sadness from Korea in the early hours of Monday morning when we woke up to the horrendous news from Las Vegas.

From drivers, team members and journalists, there was nothing but shock and sadness.

Wheldon enjoyed a fairy tale one-off at Indy this year © LAT

While the grief will go on for a while, and we can only imagine the pain his family is feeling right now, we should also remember how lucky we all were to have had the chance to be thrilled by Dan Wheldon. And, for those of us lucky enough to have met him, to have seen that beaming smile, those intense eyes, and felt that mega-firm handshake.

F1 may have missed its opportunity, but his star shone bright in America. And while that light has now gone out, we will never forget.

Goodbye Danny Boy.

[Ian-S]

But he's absolutely right with this...

In an interview three months ago, Bernard promised IndyCar fans that "danger will be an important element of the sport".

Taken out of context as usual, I watched that press conference and that's not what happened, I believe that was in answer to a question about safety measures in the new car, and he replied something to the effect of (paraphrasing here) "the new car is designed with many new safety features, but danger is an important element of the sport and we can never fully eliminate it".

As usual a hack has cherry picked words from a sentence and constructed them into another to suite the sensational nature of the story.

[kals]

I agree Ian, sensationalist dross as we expect. Although the point I was trying to make is that Bernhard recognizes that motorsport needs to be dangerous. Like Stirling Moss says.

[Ian-S]

Yup.

[Matt]

I agree that danger has to play a part, but if that danger is the rev-limited aero-heavy pack racing they seem to encourage then I won't be watching. Oval racing in open wheel cars has been and can be fine again (even perhaps on circuits like Vegas) - they just need to sort the cars out so they draft past each other rather than sit around in clusters. It's amazing that an accident the magnitude Sunday's crash hadn't happened before now at Texas or Chicago - pure luck and nothing else. There's a fine line between maintaining the aspect of danger in the sport and subjecting drivers to unnecessary risk, and it's a line that IndyCar have been the wrong side of for years on high-banked 1.5 mile speedways. And it's not something said in hindsight either; plenty of us have been saying for years that it was awfully dangerous.

Tribute to Dan Wheldon tonight at 10pm on Sky Sports. Will probably sound silly but I am going to have to Sky+ it I think. Having gotten used to watching him zoom around on my TV for the better part of a decade and with him being someone I actually supported and was keen to see do well, I don't think I can watch it just yet.

[Antonov]

I hope someone will record it

[DoubleFault]

I have it on record, want to watch it but don't know if I can yet.

[ReneLotus]

Still a weird feeling to have already moved 4 days on.

[Cheeveer]

Still a weird feeling to have already moved 4 days on.

I hear you.

I am, however, very eager to get on with the 2012 season. It feels horrible to have that race as the latest IndyCar, it would feel much better to move on from that. I am very eager to see progress, to see what IndyCar will do to prevent another worst case scenario (which Las Vegas was).

Devastation has turned into restlessness for me.

[DoubleFault]

I think that whilst the people involved with the sport will want to move on quickly, it is probably best that everything is investigated thoroughly and with an indefinite amount of time. The sport can only benefit from a long period of self examination instead of knee jerk rushed changes.

Look at the bollocks up the FIA made of 1994 - random alterations to the cars, the fucked up chicane at the Spanish GP...

[kals]

I agree with your point but don't agree with your assessment of what the FIA did in 1994. The steps they took were carefully considered and reasonably well executed. The chicane at Barcelona I believe was something the drivers requested because they weren't happy with the protection offered between the fast right hander and the quick right-left chicane.

[DoubleFault]

But it was a reaction to 3 accidents - AS, RR and KW's.

Had they not happened, there wouldn't have been any change - why?

Senna restarted the GPDA on the day of/day before the Imola race due to RB and RR crashing. Then the GPDA reforms, leader Senna gets killed. GPDA becomes united and stronger. Then KW crashes, united further. They, along with the media, then pressured the FIA into changes.


The media have the potential to destroy IndyCar but there isn't a race for months. No pack racing = no crashes = no bad coverage.

[Everso Biggyballies]

The chicane at Barcelona I believe was something the drivers requested because they weren't happy with the protection offered between the fast right hander and the quick right-left chicane.

for some reason I thought it was a compromise by the Teams and FIA, necessitated by the FIM with the need for the new chicane and changes being more for the MotoGP rather than the F1 cars. But I say it is a 'feeling' more than dead set knowledge.

[kals]

But it was a reaction to 3 accidents - AS, RR and KW's.

Had they not happened, there wouldn't have been any change - why?

You've missed the accident for Barrichello as well. But you've pretty much answered your own question. Safety concerns don't get highlighted until something happens. The accident's highlighted the fact that the speed of the cars and the overall amount of downforce generated were not in line with the overall amount of protection of offer for the drivers. The accidents were pure bad luck but it showed F1 needed to invest more time into safety. It wasn't just the individual accidents but the overall number of incidents across the pre-1994 build up plus those early season and the amount of injuries to drivers that caused the FIA to quickly look into remedial actions.