Paul Richardson wrote:
>
> Hi Gang
>
> The racing at the Goodwood Festival today was truly magnificent. We had two
> and three quarter hours of it on TV. The day was marred, however, by a very
> nasty accident involving Sir Jack Brabham at about 4pm this afternoon in
> the F1 race. The cameras caught the accident just as Sir Jack spun off the
> circuit on a fast section (in an F1 Mclaren BRM). He went off and hit a
> bank very hard backwards and spun violently several times back into the
> middle of the circuit on the penultimate lap. The car was a write off and
> the race was stopped. Although moving about in the car he was doubtless
> very badly shaken. The transmission ended there and after summing up the
> day the TV people said he had been taken by ambulance to the Medical unit
> for treatment. Two cars were involved and it looked like a coming together
> of some sort, but that was out of camera shot. Sir Jack, now 73, was
> driving quite brilliantly until the shunt and was in fifth place showing
> all the 'young uns' how it was done. There's been no bulletin on the early
> evening news here so lets hope that no news is the best news and he was not
> badly hurt.
>
> Paul
Unfortunately, this sort of accident has been waiting to happen for
months. It is great to have it "like it used to be", but as Brian
Redman will remind you, many drivers were killed in the "good old days".
Also, many of our idols of GP from the fifties and sixties still drive
like they did back then, but are now in their seventies. Additionally,
many of the older cars had magnesium up-rights and wheels which
deteriorate badly as the years progress. I prefer remembering the "good
o;d days" with a touch of respect for the ages of the drivers and the
cars. Enough soap boxing. Bill Warner
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