Dario Franchitti lucky to walk away from massive crash

[MartinD]

Dario walked away from this massive crash in yesterdays IRL Firestone Indy 400 unhurt !

http://www.indycar.com/multimedia/videos/player.ph...

[Hammer Zeit]

Was that Dixon that took him out?

[Mr_Thyroid]

That guy just drove into him didn't he? Seemed like a completely avoidable accident to me.

[Hammer Zeit]

Yup, completely! Actually it was Wheldon, taking out his own countryman, what a dick!

[MartinD]

Hammer Zeit said:

Was that Dixon that took him out?

No, it was Dan Wheldon according to the info NEXT to the video

[groomi]

Sheeeeesh! There are three drivers very lucky to be alive after that!

[FourWheelDrift]

Hammer Zeit said:

Yup, completely! Actually it was Wheldon, taking out his own countryman, what a dick!

Not really, they both moved together.

[Mr_Thyroid]

FourWheelDrift said:

Hammer Zeit said:

Yup, completely! Actually it was Wheldon, taking out his own countryman, what a dick!

Not really, they both moved together.

If they both moved together, why was Weldon moving towards him when they were so close anyway?

In F1 he'd probably get a penalty in the next race or a suspension. Do they take action in the US or just let them race?

[freedman]

Hammer Zeit said:

Yup, completely! Actually it was Wheldon, taking out his own countryman, what a dick!

Wheldon is English, Franchitti Scots, they are not countryman

[FourWheelDrift]

Mr_Thyroid said:

In F1 he'd probably get a penalty in the next race or a suspension. Do they take action in the US or just let them race?

They don't do it on purpose so no, they won't give them a penalty, they aren't stupid. The air flow around those cars at that speed make it very easy for them to be sucked together, you see it a lot on the corners where the racing groove is narrower. At that speed a slight deflection by either crosswind or even buffeted air from the other car and you have milliseconds to react.

[Hammer Zeit]

freedman said:

Hammer Zeit said:

Yup, completely! Actually it was Wheldon, taking out his own countryman, what a dick!

Wheldon is English, Franchitti Scots, they are not countryman

They are both Brits abroad. Admittedly, they both race with their separate national flags on their cars.

I refer you to this image: Dan with the union flag

[Mojocvh]

Hmm, Dario has had some good times and great victories but also some terrible accidents/injuries and experiences racing. Perhaps it is time to walk away after this one??

MoJo.

[deevlash]

Mojocvh said:

Hmm, Dario has had some good times and great victories but also some terrible accidents/injuries and experiences racing. Perhaps it is time to walk away after this one??

MoJo.

Hes leading the championship and having his best season since tieing on points with montoya for the championship though.

[Hammer Zeit]

deevlash said:

Mojocvh said:

Hmm, Dario has had some good times and great victories but also some terrible accidents/injuries and experiences racing. Perhaps it is time to walk away after this one??

MoJo.

Hes leading the championship and having his best season since tieing on points with montoya for the championship though.

And he won the biggy this year..the Indy 500.

[deevlash]

Hammer Zeit said:

deevlash said:

Mojocvh said:

Hmm, Dario has had some good times and great victories but also some terrible accidents/injuries and experiences racing. Perhaps it is time to walk away after this one??

MoJo.

Hes leading the championship and having his best season since tieing on points with montoya for the championship though.

And he won the biggy this year..the Indy 500.

I wish hed got a chance at F1, hes always been great on road courses.

[Mojocvh]

deevlash said:

Mojocvh said:

Hmm, Dario has had some good times and great victories but also some terrible accidents/injuries and experiences racing. Perhaps it is time to walk away after this one??

MoJo.

Hes leading the championship and having his best season since tieing on points with montoya for the championship though.

Yes, I doubt the racer in him will allow for a sudden cesation before seasons end but I have watched Dario race in the States for many years and enjoyed it but you know all things come to an end, it would be great to see him bow out on top and WALK away.

rgds

MoJo.

[Nicol@]

The race is on Sky today (might be 10.30am) for those of us that recorded nothing on Sunday night.

[telecat]

Don't forget as an oval race the drivers have "spotters" indicating when they can move on the track. Looks like a failure on both drivers spotters to me.

[FourWheelDrift]

Shame about the car.

Crash.net said:

Dario Franchitti's accident at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday was more costly than first imagined - at least on an emotional scale - for the Andretti Green team and its driver. Despite the AGR operation having several chassis to work with during the season, it opted not to retire the car that the Scot took to victory in May's Indianapolis 500 and, yes you guessed it, that was the machine that he took flight in during Sunday's incident-filled Firestone Indy 400. Team co-owner Michael Andretti showed quick wit - and surprising sang-froid - following the accident, which also accounted for several other drivers, including race leader Dan Wheldon.

"You can have it now," Andretti told Franchitti with reference to the Scot's request to have the #27 Dallara as a centrepiece for the trophy room in his recently Scottish farmhouse.

Franchitti was uninjured in the lap 143 accident, but was upset that his prize possession had been heavily damaged.

"I'm devastated to see my 500 car torn up like that," he said, "I have to say though that it did it's job - it really saved me. I guess I owe that car a lot. Hopefully, now Michael will drop the price on it for me, and I hope we can eventually get it repaired and to Scotland sometime."

[hornet]

As much as I like the racing in the IRL, it's this sort of accident which makes me wish they'd leave the big ovals and pack racing to NASCAR and concentrate on street and road courses. I know that's not why the IRL was started, but it's now so far from the original blueprint that it doesn't matter in my opinion. Seeing the car take off was bad enough, but seeing it hit repeatedly whilst upside down was sickening.

Edited by hornet on Tuesday 7th August 13:40