What could be more horrific than seeing 15 race cars slam into one another in a monstrous ball of burning fire and rubber? This is what happened when Dan Wheldon, an Indianapolis 500 winner, died at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Despite being airlifted to a nearby medical center, the sport lost a driver many considered their friend and a family, their father and husband.http://www.tiptoptens.com/2011
What could be more horrific than seeing 15 race cars slam into one another in a monstrous ball of burning fire and rubber? This is what happened when Dan Wheldon, an Indianapolis 500 winner, died at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Despite being airlifted to a nearby medical center, the sport lost a driver many considered their friend and a family, their father and husband.http://www.tiptoptens.com/2011Ben Gautrey, 18, had almost all of his life ahead of him; it was to be a glamorous life too. Unfortunately, while racing his motorcycle during the British Superbikes Championships in Lincolnshire, Gautrey lost control coming down a steep section, fell and was hit by other riders. He sustained injuries to his head and chest and died shortly after.http://www.tiptoptens.com/2011Brazilian stock car driver, Gustavo Sondermann, died after a crash at the Interlagos circuit in Brazil, while racing in the Copa Chevrolet Montana. The race, which was being held in extremely wet conditions, saw Sondermann turn on to the pit straight, losing control and crashing hard. He was then hit by a fellow driver from behind, resulting in heavy head injuries and death.http://www.tiptoptens.com/2011Italian motorcycle racer, Marco Simoncelli, was killed in a crash that occurred on the second lap of the Malaysian MotoGP. His Honda swerved off the track and he himself was hit by Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi, causing severe damage and his helmet to fall off. He was attended to, quickly, by medical staff. Unfortunately, they could not save him.http://www.tiptoptens.com/2011Matthew Marker was known to the racing community as a friendly, generous and lovable driver, even among his fellow competitors. Tragically, he was killed this year, at the Olympus Rally, while participating in the Rally America National Championship. His death occurred while he was making a tough turn on a downhill and his car slid into a tree.http://www.tiptoptens.com/2011Robert Kubica, a Formula 1 racer, lost control of Skoda Fabia at the start of the Ronde de Andorra Rally, causing his vehicle to swerve off the road at high speeds and leading to a crash and injuries to his right hand. Fortunately, neither he nor his teammate, Jakub Gerber, were seriously injured.http://www.tiptoptens.com/2011A 24-hour race is no picnic; the Le Mans race has a reputation for being tough and demanding. The 2011 edition in June saw two separate crashes. In one of them, former Formula 1 driver, Allan McNish, crashed while trying to overtake a Ferrari. In a second incident, Mike Rockenfeller also crashed with a Ferrari, this time at 321 km/h. Fortunately, no fatalities were reported.http://www.tiptoptens.com/2011Electronic cars can be difficult and dangerous to race, particularly since there is little or no traction and no audio cues, such as engine noise, to help the racer. The Grand Prix Electrique 2011 was an indication of just how dangerous, following a six-car pile-up.http://www.tiptoptens.com/2011Karl Reindler’s vehicle was hit, very early on in the race, by the back of Steve Owen’s Commodore, which wound up bursting into flames.http://www.tiptoptens.com/2011
Motor racing is a sport that demands extreme skill, experience and complete command of your vehicle, whether one is racing stock cars, Formula 1 machines or motorbikes.
The truth is that while it may seem thrilling to see two cars or bikes racing each other, there are several unexpected dangers that are associated with the sport.
There were, tragically, several accidents, some fatal and some not so fatal, in the world of motorsport...
