9 replies to this topic

[Northernpower]

I didn't know whether to comment on this or not?

 

A friend sent me a link to the Haydon Paddon crash on this years Monte. I have to say the death of the spectator was totally avoidable. I can't understand why spectators stand on the outside of bends; especially where there's almost no room for error. Haydon Paddon now has to live the rest of his life knowing the accident caused the death of a spectator. Its so sad for the spectators family and Haydon and made worse in the knowledge it could have been avoided,

 

I haven't put the link to the video on here because I don't feel the need to share a video where someone is killed.

 

I was heavily involved in rallying in the mid late 70,s early 80's in the North East and only stopped because of an incident on an event we were competing in on the Catterick military ranges . A car rolled on a hairpin bend and crushed some spectators on the outside of the bend causing death. We were a couple of cars behind and were stopped by the marshals when we arrived at the bend. We got out to see what all the fuss was about and just to say I don't want to see another incident like that.

 

For the vast majority of us who do watch motor sport I know we will be safe but there's always a small element who think they know better. Please make sure you're not one of them.

[CMXCVIII]

I have often told the tale that when I first spectated on an RAC Rally in 1975, I was shocked where people stood to watch in the [then open] forest stages, and how happily they'd walk on the road as competing cars went past. As a very young road-rally competitor, I watched from six feet up a tree. One of our party drove quicker than the rest of us. Trevor Reeves went on to be a British Rallycross Champion in his Mini. He watched from twelve foot up the tree, because he could imagine a crash going higher than we could! 

 

It's nothing more or less than a sad lack of imagination - or a lack of knowledge - on the part of spectators, that puts them into awful "Darwinian" risks.

 

Jon

[Cooperman]

I was competing back then, including the 1975 RAC Rally, and the places some spectators chose to stand was insane. Clearly they had never sat in a rally car on gravel at over 100 mph in between the trees or they would never have stood where they did.

Were we concerned? Yes, of course. Did we slow because of this? No, not noticeably. A fatal accident was inevitable sooner or later. There have now been several in the intervening years.

[Northernpower]

I was competing back then, including the 1975 RAC Rally, and the places some spectators chose to stand was insane. Clearly they had never sat in a rally car on gravel at over 100 mph in between the trees or they would never have stood where they did.
Were we concerned? Yes, of course. Did we slow because of this? No, not noticeably. A fatal accident was inevitable sooner or later. There have now been several in the intervening years.

I will have seen you; we spectated on the 75. We were in Clipstone forrest when Ari Vatenen came through, he took off on a forrest road intersection at over 100 mph and rolled his brand new Escort Mk2 into a ball small enough to make a car crusher proud. It ended up taking out trees that would have needed plenty of work with a chain saw to do the same damage. We were watching only just off the driving line (it was a perfectly straight bit of track, albeit with a rather high yump at the intersection). I also remember Terry Kaby coming through in BOO 911F. Yeh, those were the days.

Edited by Northernpower, 29 January 2017 - 08:22 PM.

[Cooperman]

In 1975 I was co-driving for the late Kevin Videan in a 'works'/Old Woking Service Station Datsun 240Z on the RAC. A very exciting car, but a bit out-dated by 1975. But with around 260 bhp it was still a very exciting car. We were at No.66 and finished a creditable 21st out of 180 starters.

Kev & I had a less powerful 240Z for the Motoring News Championship that year and that was a lot of fun too as we never finished in 1st place on any of the rounds, but were usually 2nd behind Mick Briant or Bill Gwynn. Great days.

 

I think the most dangerous spectators I encountered back then were in Belgium where you would be pulling 'big numbers' down a straight to a hairpin turn and the spectators would stand right across the road just beyond the hairpin, maybe 50 yards further on. But at, maybe, 120 mph approach speed, that 50 yards was nowhere near enough.

[Allrounder]

My simpathy goes out to all involved but I can't believe how silly people can be. A lack of education or maybe just the belief that I was ok to stand there last time.

Not long ago I remember the excitement of seeing a photo of our car on a half page spread the motorsport news, and then the low and disappointent of reading the heading about spectator safety as there was someone lying down on the inside of the corner. No way Jon would of seen them if there was a cut in the notes. Just madness.

After the Scotland and Health and Safety Executive investigations into the fatal crash on the Jim Clark rally there were recommendations put into place my the MSA to minimise the risk of it happening again. The hoops that organising clubs go through to put events on now is unbelievable and has led to events to be cancelled altogether. Not sure if the FIA has implemented these changes but watching it on tv makes you wonder.

Motorsport has always been dangerous and what have they done this year, given the cars more power with the aerodynamic package to enable them to go faster.

[Northernpower]

In 1975 I was co-driving for the late Kevin Videan in a 'works'/Old Woking Service Station Datsun 240Z on the RAC. A very exciting car, but a bit out-dated by 1975. But with around 260 bhp it was still a very exciting car. We were at No.66 and finished a creditable 21st out of 180 starters.

Kev & I had a less powerful 240Z for the Motoring News Championship that year and that was a lot of fun too as we never finished in 1st place on any of the rounds, but were usually 2nd behind Mick Briant or Bill Gwynn. Great days.

I can remember the Old Woking Service Station 240Z's. As strange as it seems now I think at the time they could only be brought into the country for a certain amount of time and then had to be shipped back out again. There was talk of swapping identities and plates; not that it would have been condoned I'm sure.

[Cooperman]

Indeed, they were Jap registered.

 

I was once asked to take a Jap registered car, TKS33SU4079 Yokohama plate, to Belgium to collect another one to be brought back and a new temp. import permit issued. These were issued for 12 months and allowed the car to be used for motorsport and preparation for motor-sport by UK resident drivers.

Anyway, unknown to me the car in question had been here for 13 months and I was stopped and arrested at Dover for attempting to illegally export a motor vehicle. The BigZ was impounded. Of course, since Datsun was the owner the whole matter was then realised to be an error and Datsun paid the full duty due plus a penalty and all charges were dropped! That car then became LPE66P and Kevin & I used it for a further 12 months.

 

The usual shell/identity changes were made to other 'works' cars from time to time, just as with the 'works' and privately owned Minis and other makes of rally car.

 

Our 1975 Motoring News Rally Championship contender was a yellow one owned by Kevin and prepped at Old Woking with Datsun funding. It was fairly standard apart from gearbox, diff and suspension as it was for road-rallying, but some improvements had been done to the engine. In 1973 we used a full 'works' car for Motoring News events and with that sort of power in the lanes it was sure exciting.

 

This is us with a 'works' car on UK plates at the start of the 1973 Rally of the Vales National/MN Championship event (which we won). Tyres are Avon Arctic Radials which were excellent. Engine was 2.6 litre with triple Weber twin-choke copies and it had about 260 bhp at the flywheel. Happy days   .

 

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Edited by Cooperman, 30 January 2017 - 08:34 PM.

[CMXCVIII]

We were in Clipstone forrest when Ari Vatenen came through, he took off on a forrest road intersection at over 100 mph and rolled his brand new Escort Mk2 into a ball small enough to make a car crusher proud. It ended up taking out trees that would have needed plenty of work with a chain saw to do the same damage. We were watching only just off the driving line (it was a perfectly straight bit of track, albeit with a rather high yump at the intersection).

 

It must have been at one or other end of that Clipstone stage when I first spoke to Ari Vatanen. He was walking out with Peter Briant in their matching rally jackets and when I asked him, didn't they have a car when they went into the forest, he answered me in two words. The second one was "off" 

 

Jon

[Northernpower]

 

We were in Clipstone forrest when Ari Vatenen came through, he took off on a forrest road intersection at over 100 mph and rolled his brand new Escort Mk2 into a ball small enough to make a car crusher proud. It ended up taking out trees that would have needed plenty of work with a chain saw to do the same damage. We were watching only just off the driving line (it was a perfectly straight bit of track, albeit with a rather high yump at the intersection).

 

It must have been at one or other end of that Clipstone stage when I first spoke to Ari Vatanen. He was walking out with Peter Briant in their matching rally jackets and when I asked him, didn't they have a car when they went into the forest, he answered me in two words. The second one was "off" 

 

Jon

 

We stayed there for some time after Ari came through, I cant recall now how many others came to grief but it was a very expensive salvage yard by the time the last car came through.

It had just been finished from a brand new shell in time for the rally, when we looked at the speedo it only had a couple of hundred miles on the odometer.

Edited by Northernpower, 31 January 2017 - 05:16 PM.