Formula 1 Accident ?!

This may be a little off-topic, but I happened to catch an MPEG of Joe Verstappen in the pits, gas gets sprayed over the entire car, 2 seconds later it's completely engulfed in flames...Very scary. Did he survive ? Have serious burns or what ? ------ August Branchesi Systems Programmer / Apex Mrsketing Group http://members.visi.net/~muja

Quoted text (10 lines)

> This may be a little off-topic, but I happened to catch an MPEG of Joe > Verstappen in the pits, gas gets sprayed over the entire car, 2 seconds > later it's completely engulfed in flames...Very scary. > Did he survive ? Have serious burns or what ? > ------ > August Branchesi > Systems Programmer / Apex Mrsketing Group > http://members.visi.net/~muja

yes, he survived. In '96 he raced for Arrows. In '97 he is racing for Tyrrell

It was the German grand prix at hochenheim. That was only a couple of litres of fuel imagine what a whole tank would do..... Jos was fine as one of the mechanics sprayed a fire extingwisher right onto him. However the refueller was badly burned and about 6 of the benetton crew were taken to hochenheim hospital. As someone else mentioned jos was grand {apart from inhaling loads of "dust" of the extingwisher} but had a bad cough for a while. :)) Gauntlet "It was something i didn't expect to go like ten seconds away from him, in Brazil at his home Grand Prix, where he tried everything."

Quoted text (12 lines)

>> This may be a little off-topic, but I happened to catch an MPEG of Joe >> Verstappen in the pits, gas gets sprayed over the entire car, 2 seconds >> later it's completely engulfed in flames...Very scary. >> Did he survive ? Have serious burns or what ? >> ------ >> August Branchesi >> Systems Programmer / Apex Mrsketing Group >> http://members.visi.net/~muja >yes, he survived. >In '96 he raced for Arrows. In '97 he is racing for Tyrrell

More off topic and a bit sarcastic but here goes, Do you really think "racing" for Tyrrell is the appropriate expression, I thought he was the Drivers' Council "Crash Test Dummy" to test the new safety features through-out the year !! I'll grant he can be fast but....as the old addage goes "To finish first you must first finish" (No pun intended). I'll go back to lurking in rec.autos.sport.f1 now..... Anthony

: More off topic and a bit sarcastic but here goes, Do you really think : "racing" for Tyrrell is the appropriate expression, I thought he was : the Drivers' Council "Crash Test Dummy" to test the new safety : features through-out the year !! I'll grant he can be fast but....as : the old addage goes "To finish first you must first finish" (No pun : intended). I'll go back to lurking in rec.autos.sport.f1 now..... : Anthony Oh great, I guess we can expect an invasion of the Dutchies now.

Quoted text (10 lines)

> This may be a little off-topic, but I happened to catch an MPEG of Joe > Verstappen in the pits, gas gets sprayed over the entire car, 2 seconds > later it's completely engulfed in flames...Very scary. > Did he survive ? Have serious burns or what ? > ------ > August Branchesi > Systems Programmer / Apex Mrsketing Group > http://members.visi.net/~muja

I watched that race you are talking about and he wasnt hurt at all, one mech had slight burns though. Trev

Hi Willam, :-) Cheers, Remco >Oh great, I guess we can expect an invasion of the Dutchies now.

: > : > This may be a little off-topic, but I happened to catch an MPEG of Joe : > Verstappen in the pits, gas gets sprayed over the entire car, 2 seconds : > later it's completely engulfed in flames...Very scary. : > : > Did he survive ? Have serious burns or what ? : > : > ------ : > August Branchesi : > Systems Programmer / Apex Mrsketing Group : > http://members.visi.net/~muja : I watched that race you are talking about and he wasnt hurt at all, one : mech had slight burns though. Only because he had his visor open while sat in the pits! This is a big No No, he should know better. Neil

> : I watched that race you are talking about and he wasnt hurt at all, one > : mech had slight burns though. > Only because he had his visor open while sat in the pits! This > is a big No No, he should know better. Sure, but I have to understand it, as I've had to crack my visor open everytime I came off racing speeds in the little Skip Barber Formula Dodge cars. (Seems my respiratory rate is just a tad too high while driving the car... But that's why it's worth it...) Anyway, when the car is at speed, you get plenty of air through the helmet to keep the visor from fogging. Under yellow and especially while stopped in the pits, it's very difficult to keep the visor clear, so I can understand cracking it open. Of course, I might think twice about that if I was about to be hooked up to the refueling rig... ---Jim Sokoloff

Quoted text (10 lines)

> This may be a little off-topic, but I happened to catch an MPEG of Joe > Verstappen in the pits, gas gets sprayed over the entire car, 2 seconds > later it's completely engulfed in flames...Very scary. > Did he survive ? Have serious burns or what ? > ------ > August Branchesi > Systems Programmer / Apex Mrsketing Group > http://members.visi.net/~mujaThis happenned to Jos in 1994 - can't remember the actual race. As far

as I remember, though, what burns he ended up with were minor.

>> This may be a little off-topic, but I happened to catch an MPEG of Joe >> Verstappen in the pits, gas gets sprayed over the entire car, 2 seconds >> later it's completely engulfed in flames...Very scary. >> Did he survive ? Have serious burns or what ? He survived,Only minor burns and a pit crew member got minor burns too. The reason why the fuel spilt was because that team(i forgot)had taken a filter or somtehing out to speed up the flow rate. But the valve thingy couldnt handle it and it came away from the car. Another thing...only two litres was spilt:)

: >> : >> This may be a little off-topic, but I happened to catch an MPEG of Joe : >> Verstappen in the pits, gas gets sprayed over the entire car, 2 seconds : >> later it's completely engulfed in flames...Very scary. : >> : >> Did he survive ? Have serious burns or what ? : He survived,Only minor burns and a pit crew member got minor burns : too. The reason why the fuel spilt was because that team(i forgot)had : taken a filter or somtehing out to speed up the flow rate. But the : valve thingy couldnt handle it and it came away from the car. : Another thing...only two litres was spilt:) I saw this in TV news before. From my observation, it is the valve get stuck. The fuel comes out even when the hose is disconnected from the car. At that moment, no one knows the happening of fuel spilt except the refuelling man himself. After about 1.5 second, the gas caught fire and the driver is still in the car. Luckily, the flame was put out after just a few seconds. It is just a minor accident but it makes the FIA caution about the refuelling. This case was also mentioned in the GP2 manual. Bernard Shum

If I remember correctly, Beneton were fined for tampering with the refuelling mechanism. Apparently they removed something from the fuelling equipment to try and make the refuelling quicker, possibly causing the spill. I taped the race and watched it the next day and when I saw the fire, I was suprised that it wasn't mentioned on the news, but the day after that, it was shown. Some exec must have watched the tape too.!! regards Scott