-Tifosi_dude- wrote:How many drivers have to die before IRL learns a lesson, reminds me of F1 in the 60s. A real shame, rest in peace Dan
Totally agree that it's a real shame and I hope that lessons are learned and safety is improved.
However IRL today is a lot safer than it was a few years ago, and ironically that Las Vegas circuit is actually one of the safer tracks with the SAFER walls system installed around the whole track. So whilst there is clearly a lot more that can be done, it is desperately unfair to say that safety lesson haven't been learned or that those in charge are holding back safety. You also have to remember that there isn't nearly as much money involved in the teams or for those running the series as there is in F1, and high tech safety costs money.
Having seen a fair few IRL accidents there are definitely some things that I'd like to see improved:
1) Absolute top priority must be improvement to the catch fences. Every time a car ends up in the fences they get absolutely shredded, and from the early reports coming out now it sounds like this was again the main problem in Dans horrific accident. There has to be something they can do to stop the cars getting tangled up in the fences, maybe polycarbonate screens in front of the fences to deflect and absorb the impact, with the fences being a precautionary backup to protect the crowd.
2) SAFER walls need to be installed everywhere on all circuits.
3) The cars seem to burst into flames a bit too easily. I'd guess this is more a function of the crash structures than the fuel tanks, but whatever the reason those cars need to contain fuel much more effectively.
4) When a car does get airborn it appears that the body of the car seems to give it lift rather than pushing it back down to the ground. In general in F1 when we see a car get airborn it *tends* to come back down relatively quickly even if the front wing is damaged. The only recent crash I can think of where an F1 car was airborn for a protracted period of time was Webber in Valencia last year. This could be a factor of design or the average speeds, I don't know with any certainty.
Next years IRL cars should help with stopping cars from getting thrown up in to the air so easily due to the partially covered / protected wheels.
These crash fences are in use in F1 as well, it's just that F1 is blessed with larger run off areas in most places, slower speeds, and cars that don't tend to get thrown up into the air. So F1 too should get involved and help both series come up with a safer solution.
