(no subject)
Allan Simonsen (Odense, Denmark, 5 July 1978 - 22 June 2013)
Died do to injuries incurred when his #95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE slammed into the ARMCO barrier at Tertre Rouge, the start of the Mulsanne Straight at the Circuit de la Sarthe. This happened 9 minutes into the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
This frustrates me heavily as a fan of motor racing. For all the crap the Motor-racing community often wants to give NASCAR, NASCAR tracks make use of one of the greatest safety developments created in the last twenty years: the SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) Barrier. The walls at Le Mans are still using those shitty old-style Armco barriers. While auto racing is inherently dangerous, and can be exciting, awe-inspiring, and scary because of it, there are things that can be done to mitigate the potential for life-ending crashes. There is no good damn reason NOT to use SAFER barriers at every track in the world, none. The walls can be shifted, moved, modified to accommodate the placement of these barriers and not effect the track-space.
Today I watched a crash that ended a man's life, and know in my heart that if they would have made something as simple as the SAFER barrier improvement, he would be racing again in the future.
16 years since a death at Le Mans, 27 years since a death during the actual 24 Hours of Le Mans. Shouldn't have been one today.
Time to stop being snooty assholes, Racing World. Time to follow the lead of the Americans and their redneck NASCAR on this one.
Died do to injuries incurred when his #95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE slammed into the ARMCO barrier at Tertre Rouge, the start of the Mulsanne Straight at the Circuit de la Sarthe. This happened 9 minutes into the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
This frustrates me heavily as a fan of motor racing. For all the crap the Motor-racing community often wants to give NASCAR, NASCAR tracks make use of one of the greatest safety developments created in the last twenty years: the SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) Barrier. The walls at Le Mans are still using those shitty old-style Armco barriers. While auto racing is inherently dangerous, and can be exciting, awe-inspiring, and scary because of it, there are things that can be done to mitigate the potential for life-ending crashes. There is no good damn reason NOT to use SAFER barriers at every track in the world, none. The walls can be shifted, moved, modified to accommodate the placement of these barriers and not effect the track-space.
Today I watched a crash that ended a man's life, and know in my heart that if they would have made something as simple as the SAFER barrier improvement, he would be racing again in the future.
16 years since a death at Le Mans, 27 years since a death during the actual 24 Hours of Le Mans. Shouldn't have been one today.
Time to stop being snooty assholes, Racing World. Time to follow the lead of the Americans and their redneck NASCAR on this one.