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Video: Davidson injured in airborne crash
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Shocked to see this dreadful crash for Anthony Davidson at Le Mans. He’s suffered back injuries:
@slr – I think that was entirely too harsh. Davidson was clearly in the Ferrari’s blind spot when the driver turned in. And with the Toyota being considerably faster than the Ferrari, Davidson would have been alongside the Ferrari before it even registered with the driver that the Toyota was no longer behind him.
If anything, Davidson shouldn’t have tried to pass him at the kink.
@prisoner-monkeys – I guess your right, I only looked at it once before posting the comment.
@necrodethmortem – Why? Because his spine is intact. The vertebrae is broken, but the actual spinal cord – the cluster of nerves that the vertebrae protect – has not been severed, so he would have a full range of movements. And given that he just flipped at three hundred kilometres an hour, his adrenal glands probably went into overdrive. Adrenaline is an anaesthetic, so he probably wasn’t even aware of any pain until the adrenaline wore off and he started going into shock.
@prisoner-monkeys That’s more an answer to how he got out, my question was why he did so quickly. I know he wasn’t exactly parked in a safe zone, but shouldn’t he have taken the time to check whether he was ok, or even wait for a medic or marshal, after a shunt like that?
@necrodethmortem Supposedly the reason he got out so quickly was because of the shock hazard from the Hybrid system. I vaguely heard something about him waving off the corner workers to make sure it was safe.
Absolutely, the Ferrari driver was pathetic. Doesn’t matter if he was in his blind spot, the Ferrari driver should have seen him to his left as he passed him and he should have been paying more attention. Later in an interview he said ‘he shouldn’t have tried to pass me there, thats what happens.’ No, I think he should have said ‘he shouldn’t have tried to pass me there, I’m incapable of being a real racing driver, and thats why I wrecked him’. This whole Amateur driver thing causes wrecks, just like last year, only this year we weren’t so lucky.
I think that’s just one of the hazards of this kind of racing. The closing speeds are so large any mistake from either driver will end badly. I think it’s the Ferrari driver’s fault, but it was a racing incident with a Le Mans special ending.
Let’s just be thankful no-one was seriously injured. If Davidson had flown much further he would have ended up on the roundabout where there are marshalls with potentially lethal results.
The ferrari driver said that he saw him in the mirrors but that he misjudged the distance, just an idiot!!
Anyone else worried that the shark fin didn’t help 1 bit in stopping Ants car getting airborne. Glad to hear he’s ok but it was scary to watch!
On whose at fault, yes there is some blame and more of it at the Ferrari driver but not 100% so. But it’s not the 1st time a prototype hit a GT car and it won’t be the last, accidents happen.
@necrodethmortem he’s said that although he knew he should stay in the car he felt panicked and claustrophobic and just wanted to get out
All the ex-drivers on Eurosport attributed blame to the Ferrari. He knew he was there (as he said himself, and even before that they said he should have known from checking his mirrors and the sound of its engine), it’s apparently a typical passing spot on slower cars, he left plenty of room up the inside inviting the pass, then pulled across without warning. If he couldn’t judge the distance in the daytime, it’s a relief he didn’t get a chance to compete at night- not that he could have caused any worse a crash anyway I suppose.
Regarding the fin, once the car has started tipping and air is underneath, surely all the fin does is resist the airflow in a way that would exacerbate the tipping. It way well be preventative up until then, but surely it acts as a sail and makes it pitch more once it already starts.
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