Yeah for those who didn't see it, it was the sort of crash that gives drivers
nightmares. Alex was exiting the pit and lost control just as he was about to
enter the track. He ended up perpendicular to the track, nose towards the
infield, right down in the groove. He was rolling slowly backwards, up the track
and out of the groove but before his car could clear the groove a car hit him
just a few inches in front of the cockpit bulkhead and literally cut his car in
half. Anyone who has raced or follows racing has seen similar situations, but
most times the cars do not come together quite so "effectively" and the damage
ends up being less that we fear it might. In this instance it was everything we
feared and worse. It sounds wrong to say that a world class race driver who has
just lost both legs was lucky, but Alex was. The speed differential was nearly
200 MPH and there was nothing for his car to do but get cut in half. No amount
of bracing, or engineering, or safety devices was going to make a difference.
Thankfully it was only his legs that were in direct line of impact. Had he been
hit just a few inches further back on his car, he would most likely have died.
None the less it was a horrific accident and Alex once again has shown what a
tough guy he is by how well he is doing. Everyone say a prayer for him, in
amongst the prayers for the victims of the recent terrorist attacks.
datsunmike wrote:
>
> I just read that Alex Zanardi was in a serious crash this past weekend and
> doctors had to amputate both of his legs above the knee.
>
> In NY they don't cover motorsports even in "normal' times and when I was
> flipping through the channels I heard his name and heard he was hurt.
>
> I had no idea that his injuries were so bad until I did a web search.
>
> Motor racing has suffered a great loss.
Marc Sayer
///
/// datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net mailing list
///
|