Dan Wheldon Indy Car Crash : Talented British Driver Perished at terrible accident

The world of Car Racing was in mourning after the death of Dan Wheldon, a British driver in the IndyCar series, who won the Indianapolis 500 twice, was killed in a racing accident in Las Vegas on Sunday.

LAS VEGAS/ NationalTurk — IndyCar has canceled its season-ending banquet following the death of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon at its season-ending race. British driver Dan Wheldon has been killed following a 15-car terrible accident at the Las Vegas 300 IndyCar series finale. Wheldon, 33, was involved in a multi-car accident in the IndyCar series finale at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 13 laps into the race. Several other drivers suffered minor injuries, but Dan Wheldon’s car, suffered serious damage to the top side, including the roll hoop as it flew into a wall.

American Indy Car Racing has lost one of its most prominent faces

Dan Wheldon, the 2005 IndyCar series champion, won the same year his first Indianapolis 500. In May he won the Indianapolis 500 for a second time but was not a regular driver in the series and was involved in a $5 million challenge for non-regular series drivers to win the final event. The British driver was killed Sunday when his car got caught up in a 15-car wreck, sailed over another vehicle and struck a catch fence 11 laps into the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With the speed — close to 225 mph during practice — and a crowded 34-car field, a big worry was aggressive driving early in the 200-lap race.

Chaos started when two cars touched tires and almost no one had time to react. Within seconds, several cars burst into flames and debris covered the track nearly halfway up the straightaway. Some points of impact were so devastating workers had to patch holes in the asphalt.Video replays showed Wheldon’s car turning over as it went airborne and sailed into what’s called the catch fence, which sits over a barrier designed to give a bit when cars make contact. Rescue workers were at Wheldon’s car quickly, some furiously waving for more help to get to the scene.

IndyCar had planned to hold a celebration for the 2011 season Monday night at Mandalay Bay Resort on the Las Vegas Strip.

One of the series’ most popular drivers, Dan Wheldon  has left behind a wife and two small children. IndyCar said information on a public memorial for Wheldon will be released at a later date.

Dan Wheldon Indy Car Crash : Talented British Driver Perished at terrible accident

Dan Wheldon was of the same generation as British drivers in Formula One, and in the lower series, he had a rivalry with Jenson Button, the driver for the McLaren Mercedes team who won the Japanese Grand Prix a week ago. He also raced against Anthony Davidson, who raced on and off in Formula One in recent years, and who works as a commentator on British television.

Lewis Hamilton, the British Formula One world champion who finished Korean Grand Prix in second place, paid tribute to Wheldon.

“This is an extremely sad day,” Hamilton said. “Dan was a racer I’d followed throughout my career, as I often followed in his footsteps as we climbed the motorsport ladder in the U.K.

“He was an extremely talented driver,” he added. “As a British guy, who not only went over to the States but who twice won the Indy 500, he was an inspirational guy, and someone that every racing driver looked up to with respect and admiration.”

Wheldon went to the United States to develop his career after it became too expensive to do so in Britain. In the United States, he raced in the lower series leading to IndyCar, such as the F2000 Championship Series, the Toyota Atlantic series and Indy Lights. He moved to IndyCar in 2002, and joined the Andretti Green Racing team in 2003. His victory in the Indianapolis 500 was the first by an Englishman since Graham Hill in 1966.

As the news of his death arrived, Formula One had just finished racing its 16th race of the season in Mokpo. Team people, friends, media who knew him, all spoke of Wheldon as they prepared to leave the Korean city.

The IndyCar series is similar to Formula One in its use of open wheel, single-seat cars, a kind of car most of the drivers raced from go-karts onwards. One difference between the two series is that Formula One races on no oval tracks, as do the IndyCars, and that in Formula One, each team designs and builds its own car according to a set of regulations, whereas the IndyCar teams buy chassis provided by chassis-building companies.

Indy Car & Formula Racing Crashes History

The last death in a Formula One car was that of Ayrton Senna, the triple world champion, at the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola in 1994. Another driver, Roland Ratzenberger, had died at the same event the previous day. Since then, Formula One has substantially improved safety in both car and track design. In the same period of time, the top level of U.S.-open -wheel racing has had several deaths and serious injuries, however, including Alex Zanardi’s amputation of both legs after an accident at a race in 2001, and the death of drivers like Jeff Krosnoff and Scott Brayton in 1996, Greg Moore in 1999 Tony Renna in testing in 2003, and Paul Dana in 2006.

At the Singapore Grand Prix last month, Jean Alesi, a former Formula One driver, announced that he would take part in the IndyCar series’ feature event, the Indianapolis 500 next year at the age of 47. When queried about the safety, he said it had improved vastly in the series, before he then added, “But whenever you are racing a car at more than 300 kilometers an hour it is dangerous.”

Dan Wheldon Car Crash Video

Video Spain Commentator going nuts in World Cup Final against Holland.

Camacho and his colleague are seen shouting and jumping into the air in excitement after Iniesta’s goal.

Spain celebrate as they win the World Cup.

Spain had reached the Final of the World Cup for the first time in their history and the occation was extra special for the Spanish.

Camacho’s reaction for Villa’s goal against Paraguay which led to Spain reaching the Semi Finals of the World Cup in their history had also gone viral in many video sharing sites.

Camacho was seen repeatedly hitting himself and his microphone.

Well there’s a reaction which shows how much the World Cup means to the nation.

Write your comments and thoughts below.

Video of Red Bull’s Mark Webber in F1 crash going 196mph

A huge crash in the Valencia arm of the Formula 1 season on Sunday marred the triumphant win of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel after his teammate, Mark Webber was involved in a 196mph crash.

Australian F1 driver Mark Webber survives horror crash in F1 Valencia

The Australian driver was in 19th position after an early pit stop on the 10th lap and was racing through the Spanish track in Valencia when his car was catapulted into the air after clipping the back of Lotus’ Heikki Kovalainen going 193mph.

Webber’s car was seen flying through the air, spinning before landing on the ground upside down. The F1 car was then seen flipping back to the upright position before smashing into the crash barriers made out of tires.

The 33-year-old Red Bull driver walked away from the sight of the crash reportedly with no injuries other than being a little shaken.

The Aussie was taken to have checkups to make sure there were no injuries where he was stormed by reporters.

Webber said “Going down the back straight he went a little bit to the left, so I thought maybe he’s going to let me go,”

“I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, whether he was going to release me, because sometimes it’s happened before that when you catch those guys they don’t put a fight up.”

“Then he went back to the right, so I thought okay, he’s going to fight. I was in the slipstream, I looked to the left, then he went back left, and then as soon as I looked right, he braked. It was so far before the braking point, it was 80 metres earlier than my previous lap – I couldn’t believe it.

“In a Formula One race if you have someone braking that early, things like that can happen.”

Webber continued “My car felt like it was airborne for a long time, I had time to worry about whether there were any bridges at that point on the track, which, luckily there weren’t. If there had been one, I would have hit it because I went pretty high. But the car stood up to the accident well.”

Sundays accident was the third major accident which the Australian driver experienced with the earlier two both happening in 1999 at the Le Mans, France F1 arm where his car, then the Mercedes FIA GT flew into the air in speeds reaching over 160 mph.

Red Bulls Sebastian Vettel, went on to win the Valencia arm of the F1 on Sunday with 1.40.29 hours on the clock. McLarens Lewis Hamilton followed in second position while teammate Jenson Button came in third.

Lewis Hamilton warned that Formula 1 drivers are flirting with disaster in Sunday’s biggest race of the year.

The combination of a larger grid, slower cars, new teams, ambitious rookie racers, a super-tight street circuit and the pressure cooker 20-minute qualifying system is a nightmare concoction that could explode in tragedy in the Monte Carlo Grand Prix.

There were some frightening near-misses in Spain on Sunday despite the wide open track. On the snaking Monaco street circuit there is not a millimetre of room for the slightest slip.

The race leaders will be travelling six seconds a lap faster than the back-markers, closing in on 180mph speeds with no run-off area.

“It could be a disaster. I lapped Di Grassi four times in Spain. That’s one of the biggest speed gaps I’ve had in Formula One,” said Hamilton.

“It’s very difficult with such a big difference. You catch them so quick, it’s just unreal. Monaco will be very tough.”

Lewis Hamilton and his McLaren team-mate Jenson Button have both won at Monaco – but they have had their spills too.

World champion Button was hospitalised in 2003 while Hamilton has hammered the barriers for the last two races, last year leaving his McLaren a crumpled mess.

Video Formula 2 driver Ricardo Teixeira airborne after crash

The incident which occurred in the Moroccan leg of the Formula 2 season saw Ricardo Teixeira, fly through the air after colliding with the rear of competitor Ivan Samarin, which flung Teixeira, into the air for almost 40-50 metres over three other vehicles.

Vehicle of Formula 2 driver Ricardo Teixeria, airborne before crashing to the ground 50 metres away.

The red and black coloured car of Teixeira fortunately landed the right way up and on to a strip of the lane which was not part of the race. The car then slid to the racing area with sparks from the rear and hit another driver before coming to a halt.

However, against all odds the Portugese-Angolan driver walked away from the wreckage with only a saw neck and shoulder.

One unnamed official said “He is very fortunate not to have landed upside down or to have landed on another car as that could have resulted in serious injuries”

Teixeira’s crash resulted in four other drivers crashing out of the race.

Teixeira who spoke to Autosport said “I had a good exit and boosted, so I was catching a lot. I went to the middle and he moved to block, and then slowed. I just hit the back of his gearbox and went straight up,

“At first all I was thinking was how I was angry at him, then I realised I was up in the air and turning and I looked down and thought I can see all the cars down there”

“I saw where I was going to land and just crossed my arms for the hit, but it wasn’t too bad.”

Teixeira continued “It’s a very strange feeling, I wasn’t scared, everything goes very slow and it feels like it’s not you, like you shouldn’t be part of it,”.

The race was eventually won by Austrian Philipp Eng, who is leading the new championship’s standings.

Leave your comments and thoughts bellow.

Schumacher will join countryman Nico Rosberg at Mercedes who took over Brawn GP team who won the constructors and drivers championship last season.

Rosberg, signed for Mercedes after the final grand prix of the season in Abu Dhabi, and said to the German newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung: “I have no idea if it (a comeback) is true or not, but if he did join that would be an absolutely fantastic move.”

Schumacher, who won five of his world titles with Ferrari, was almost going to drive for them in August after Felipe Massa was injured but this was not possible due to a neck injury that the German suffered in a motorcycle accident earlier this year.

Schumacher has now fully recovered from his neck injury and is very close to a much anticipated comeback to the Formula 1 which he dominated for such a long time.

Related News

Is Michael Schumacher returning to Formula 1 ?

Ferrari has announced that they will not prevent Michael Schumacher from going to a rival team in Formula 1 for the 2010 season.

The Formula 1 legend who won 7 championships and has set countless records has been a consultant to Ferrari since retiring in 2006 and recently has said that he would be in that role for the next 3 years.

40 year old Michael Schumacher has been linked with a move to Mercedes who have taken over world champions Brawn and signed driver Nico Rosberg for the 2010 season.

Schumacher was almost going to drive for Ferrari in August after Felipe Massa was injured but this was not possible due to a neck injury that the German suffered in a motorcycle accident earlier this year.

Schumacher has now fully recovered from his neck injury and is very close to a much anticipated comeback to the Formula 1 which he dominated for such a long time.

“If he takes another road, our agreement will no longer be valid. You can’t work with a competitor and with us at the same time,” said Ferrari president Montezemolo.

“I still haven’t spoken to him about it. He is only a dear friend, not a team member. He is a consultant for our road cars.”

Schumacher agreed a new role with Ferrari over the summer, cutting his links with the F1 team to become an ambassador, consultant and test driver for the company’s road cars.

Ross Brawn has admitted disappointment with Jenson Button’s decision to switch to Mercedes, but insists the move has nothing to do with money.

Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion after sticking with the Brawn team in the wake of Honda’s withdrawal, will be Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren teammate next year.

The 29-year-old Briton’s Brawn/Mercedes talks were rumoured to have failed due to disagreements about his 2010 salary.

“His decision is disappointing because we worked so well together,” team boss Ross Brawn told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

“But whatever is said, it was not about the money. In the end our offer was even more attractive than McLaren’s.

“But it doesn’t make sense to employ a driver who would not be happy and sees a bigger challenge somewhere else. Further negotiations would have been pointless.

“Jenson obviously wanted to be in the same car against Lewis Hamilton.

“That’s brave and I have to respect it,” added Brawn.

Brawn GP chief executive Nick Fry has revealed that the team will block Jenson Button from taking part in any activities with his new McLaren team before the end of the year.

Button confirmed earlier this week that he was to leave the team that carried him to the 2009 drivers’ title to partner Lewis Hamilton at McLaren next season, with the announcement coming just after news that Brawn is to be taken over by Mercedes next season.

With his former employers revealing they were disappointed by the way in which the deal had gone through and that the driver had ‘breached his contract’ by visiting McLaren’s Woking headquarters prior to the agreement being signed, Fry has now stated that Brawn would ‘rigorously enforce’ its constraints on the Briton and that he wouldn’t be doing anything with McLaren before the turn of the year.

“Jenson will not be doing anything at all for McLaren until the end of this calendar year,” he told the Guardian. “If he does, we will be looking on it very dimly. He didn’t have any obligations to us in 2010, but there are issues with regard to the [McLaren contract] signing process on which we are in discussion with him at the moment.

“There are other constraints on what Jenson can do between now and the end of the year which we will be rigorously enforcing.”

The Frenchman, who won the Euroseries crown with ART Grand Prix and will step up to GP2 next season, has been linked with the Scuderia for some time and was one of the names mentioned when the team was looking for a replacement for Felipe Massa earlier this year after his accident in Hungary.

Bianchi will spend two days at the wheel of the F60 during the Spanish test before the car is handed over the Italian F3 trio Daniel Zampieri, Marco Zioli and Pablo Sanchez Lopez for the final day and he admitted it was hard to believe that the test was going to take place.

“I can’t find the right words,” he said ahead of a test which will make him the first French driver since Jean Alesi to run in a Ferrari car. “I think I will believe it when I sit in the
cockpit of the Ferrari.

“Ferrari, it’s the team I dreamt of when I was a kid. I will keep cool and I know it is just another step and that the road to success is very long if we want to fulfil the goals we have set ourselves together with my manager, Nicolas Todt. In 2010, once the regular season has started, my priority will be GP2 with ART Grand Prix.”

Alesi, now the captain of the French Federation of Motorsport’s French team, said he was delighted to see Bianchi get the chance to show what he can do in F1 machinery.

“Until now I was the last French driver who drive a Ferrari Formula One car and I’m delighted to pass the baton to Jules’ hand,” he said. “It’s a nice story between the Captain of the Equipe de France FFSA and one of its top members.

Former Formula One team owner Eddie Jordan believes Michael Schumacher will replace Jenson Button at the newly-named Mercedes team for next season.

World champion Button joined Lewis Hamilton at McLaren earlier this week after the Brawn team with which he won the drivers’ title was renamed Mercedes.

Speculation has mounted that seven-time champion Schumacher, who could not replace the injured Felipe Massa on a short-term deal at Ferrari last season because of a back injury picked up racing motorcycles, could be drafted into the team run by former Benetton and Ferrari colleague Ross Brawn.

Jordan, who ran an F1 team under his own name, said: “I believe the Brawn team will have Michael Schumacher in it next year.

“And my reasons for believing that is that at Abu Dhabi, the grand prix, the last race Dr (Dieter) Zetsche – (chairman of the Daimler board) – Ross Brawn and Michael Schumacher were deep in conversation and I believe it was to do with possibly joining the team as driver for the 2010 championship,” Jordan revealed.

Jenson Button insists he’s not at all fazed about Sir Jackie Stewart’s fears that his move to McLaren will “be like walking into the lions’ den.”

Just a month after winning the Drivers’ Championship title with Brawn GP, Button confirmed he will be off to McLaren next season after signing a three-year contract with the Woking team.

The Brit’s decision has been questioned by some F1 personalities with Sir Jackie saying he fears Button is making a “mistake”, adding that it “will be difficult for him to take on Lewis Hamilton.”

Button, though, insists that while his values Stewart’s opinion, he believe he’s up to the challenge.

“Jackie is always outspoken,” Button told the Daily Mail. “I get on very well with him and it is always interesting to hear his comments.

“But, at the end of the day, I know the environment in both areas and I know what I want to do and I want a new challenge. If Jackie was racing I am sure he would feel the same.”

Seventy-five years after Juan Fangio drove the last full-factory Mercedes-Benz formula one car, the Silver Arrows are back to chase the world championship.

Brawn GP’s transformation to Mercedes Grand Prix has big implications for F1, with McLaren the obvious loser in the upheaval.

The close and successful partnership developed over 15 years is over, although Mercedes will continue as McLaren’s engine supplier for a few seasons. Mercedes is to sell back to McLaren its 40 per cent stake in the British squad.

Daimler AG, together with Aabar Investments PJSC, will take over 75.1 per cent of the Brawn GP team, with Daimler taking 45.1 per cent and Aabar 30 per cent. The rest of the 24.9 per cent will remain with the current stakeholders, including Ross Brawn and Nick Fry.

Ross Brawn has emerged as the winner, pocketing up to £30 million ($54m) for a big lump of Brawn GP and yet remaining as the team principal and part shareholder at Mercedes Grand Prix. Part of the appeal of the Brawn team is, of course, the man himself, who has a strategic mind and ability to attract the best people to his squad. These strengths, coupled with Mercedes’s financial and technological might, will make the reborn Silver Arrows a big threat as early as next year.

Toyota which is also the world’s largest car manufacturer has said that they will be concentrating on their core business

Toyota president Akio Toyoda said “The current severe economic crises has effected many of us so we had no option but to pull out. We apologise to our fans who have supported us through out our campaign.”

Toyota made it’s debut in the 2002 season and has raced in 139 races but failed to win any of them. Their biggest success was fifth in the 2009 constructors’ championship.

The companies withdrawal makes the tally go up to 3 in the past 11 months as Honda left F1 at the start of the 2009 season and BMW announced it was leaving in July.

In May Toyota revealed its worst set of figures for the last financial year – a £2.9bn loss in the year to 31 March, 2009.

37 year old Barrichello has been replaced by Brawn GP, for Nico Rosberg and Japanese pilot Kazuki Nakajima. Hulkenberg was the test and reserve driver this season for Williams. Williams believe pairing veteran Barichello with new comer Hulkenberg would take the team to new heights in the 2010 F1 season and in the future.

Barichello came third in the drivers championship title clash, as Britain’s, Jenson Button took the title who is also a Brawn driver. Williams have said they are very happy with a high class driver such as Barrichello on their side.

The clash between the drivers, for the drivers championship was ongoing until the Brazilian Grand Prix. Overall Barichello finished 3rd, 7 points behind Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and 18 points behind team mate Button.