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Anthony Davidson breaks back

Started by Tonka , Jun 18 2012 08:03

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57 replies to this topic

#1 Tonka

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 08:03

Let's hope the little feller is back on his feet soon.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...rsport/18474792

I'm surprised no one has mention his accident already.

#2 mgs315

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 08:14

https://twitter.com/...610394512236544

https://twitter.com/...322453474840577

Good to see he's ok. Methinks he may be using a doc's note for the Sky coverage of the F1 for a race or two!

#3 Markn93

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 08:22

There's a good q&a here, hopefully back in a few months: http://www.autosport...t.php/id/100473

#4 Coops3

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 08:44

I thought "Oh no" when I read this, but I don't think it's as bad as it sounds. Get well soon Ant.

#5 PayasYouRace

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 08:48

It was a pretty spectacular flip. Hope he recovers swiftly.

#6 Nobody

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 09:09

He got out of the car under his own power, so nowhere as bad as one might assume when hearing 'broken back'

Get well soon Ant!

#7 csmeteora9

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 10:29

I thought "Oh no" when I read this, but I don't think it's as bad as it sounds. Get well soon Ant.

That's exactly what I thought but then of course the media has a habit of over-exaggerating these sort of incidents. Anthony himself has said it could have been a lot worse and that his injuries should be fully healed within a few weeks.

#8 Brandz07

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 13:11

It shows how lucky Mark Webber really was in Valencia.

The last two flips I've heard about (Ant and Richie Stanaway) both meant that the driver broke their back.

#9 Seanspeed

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 13:29

Sucks but it sounds like he'll be back very soon. :up:

#10 olliek88

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 13:56

Hope he gets back asap. Bit of an Ant fanboy if truth be told so gutted when the crash occurred but glad its not too serious. Hopefully him and Toyota will be back and in even better shape to challenge the Audi's in 2013.

#11 wingwalker

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 14:14

Oh crap, but title of the tread made me think something far worse has happened. Speedy recovery, Ant!

#12 David M. Kane

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 14:15

3-4 weeks, he's a very lucky young man. He needs to send the engineers some thank yous!

#13 InvertedLift

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 14:38

It shows how lucky Mark Webber really was in Valencia.

The last two flips I've heard about (Ant and Richie Stanaway) both meant that the driver broke their back.

Yep, I just watched the vid again, and the fact that the intial impact after the 'flight' was on the roll hoop probably was the saving grace for Mark.

Hope Ant can get back to entertaining us on Sky (and of course racing) soon. :up:

#14 wingwalker

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 15:23

http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

Video, holy crap. other driver had a bit of a brain fade I guess.

#15 RedWull

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 15:39

http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

Video, holy crap. other driver had a bit of a brain fade I guess.

That was even worse than brain fade. Ant was well alongside when the other guy turned in on him. In fact he hit Ant's left rear! I can understand that maybe he didn't know Ant was coming up, or even that he was there, as he started turning in but he didn't even make the slightest motion of straightening up when it became obvious there was another car right beside him. Either he was looking elsewhere or has the worst reflexes known on a racing driver.

Just a terrible crash. Thankfully Ant is ok.

#16 ViMaMo

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 15:53

Did Ant flash his lights on the straight? The Ferrari driver was on his usual racing line, turned into Ant. The pit crew should have informed him and he should have been watching his mirrors well.
Hope he gets well soon.

#17 Octavian

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 15:55

It's shocking to see crashes like this in modern motorsport. No wonder Schumacher said he'd never race at Le Mans - the series seems full of washed up has beens or very inexperienced rookies racing in cars which are too powerful and far too unstable.

#18 wingwalker

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 16:09

Did Ant flash his lights on the straight? The Ferrari driver was on his usual racing line, turned into Ant. The pit crew should have informed him and he should have been watching his mirrors well.
Hope he gets well soon.

Not sure what info exactly is at the disposal of guys in the pits, but how on earth did he miss Ant's car is beyond me.

#19 Spillage

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 18:15

Forgive me for being a total Le Mans noob, but shouldn't there be some concern about the behaviour of the car in the crash? The contact with the Ferrari wasn't that violent, so for the car to take off as it did strikes me as being extremely dangerous.

#20 Richard T

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 18:27

Forgive me for being a total Le Mans noob, but shouldn't there be some concern about the behaviour of the car in the crash? The contact with the Ferrari wasn't that violent, so for the car to take off as it did strikes me as being extremely dangerous.

The shark-fin was acctually mandated on prototypes to prevent this from happen.. Maybe the speed was to high for this to help the car stay on the ground

#21 Funkyskunk2

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 18:34

Forgive me for being a total Le Mans noob, but shouldn't there be some concern about the behaviour of the car in the crash? The contact with the Ferrari wasn't that violent, so for the car to take off as it did strikes me as being extremely dangerous.

They were at the end of a straight. Even though he turned only a few degrees that was a very powerful shunt at that speed. Sideways at 200 mph over the rumble strip makes it pretty hard to keep a car down.

I'm pretty sure the shark fin is there to prevent a car from sliding out under breaking, I doubt it can do anything against what was basically a pit maneuver at top speed.

Edited by Funkyskunk2, 18 June 2012 - 18:35.

#22 OfficeLinebacker

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 18:34

That was even worse than brain fade. Ant was well alongside when the other guy turned in on him. In fact he hit Ant's left rear! I can understand that maybe he didn't know Ant was coming up, or even that he was there, as he started turning in but he didn't even make the slightest motion of straightening up when it became obvious there was another car right beside him. Either he was looking elsewhere or has the worst reflexes known on a racing driver.

The guy is some 55 or 60 year old orthopedic surgeon from Italy. No business being in a professional sports race, much less LeMans.

#23 ayali

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 19:23

Did Ant flash his lights on the straight? The Ferrari driver was on his usual racing line, turned into Ant. The pit crew should have informed him and he should have been watching his mirrors well.
Hope he gets well soon.

The pit crew of a GT amateur team are hardly going to warn their drivers for every car that is about to pass them.
That would amount to constant chatter on the radio for half the lap
They need to check their mirrors but that said pro drivers need to ascertain they have been seen before passing

Unfortunate accident but that's racing happy Davidson will recover

The guy is some 55 or 60 year old orthopedic surgeon from Italy. No business being in a professional sports race, much less LeMans.

Gentlemen racers are part of Le Mans always have been
This particular one did over 100 races in GT and prototypes in GT1, LMS and ALMS
Probably spend more hours behind the wheel racing than the armchair experts here typing on the forum

People make mistakes simples
Last year it was the other way around with Audi drivers messing up while passing GT cars

:cool:

#24 Disgrace

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 19:28

The shark-fin was acctually mandated on prototypes to prevent this from happen.. Maybe the speed was to high for this to help the car stay on the ground

Also the fact that the rear-wheel had shed, so it was far easier for the car to get lift. In a normal spin, or perhaps contact without such damage, such an event wouldn't be replicated as easily. The sharkfin is hopefully much more effective then.

Edited by Disgrace, 18 June 2012 - 19:29.

#25 Afterburner

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 19:34

Was playing Forza Motorsport at the time while streaming Speed TV's coverage from my laptop, and I turned to check on the race literally a moment before it happened. I was quite disappointed for Toyota and especially worried about Ant--hopefully he'll make a speedy recovery and can be back in the car before long.

#26 OfficeLinebacker

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 19:39

Gentlemen racers are part of Le Mans always have been
This particular one did over 100 races in GT and prototypes in GT1, LMS and ALMS
Probably spend more hours behind the wheel racing than the armchair experts here typing on the forum

People make mistakes simples
Last year it was the other way around with Audi drivers messing up while passing GT cars

Damn you and your logic! *shakes fist*

#27 Longtimefan

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 21:05

Thats a great shame

I hope he gets better soon.

I think he should stay out of racing, the guy is a crash magnet. :/

#28 Lada Lover

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 21:08

The Ferrari driver saw Ant from Ant flashing the FTPs. The Ferrari driver did not expect Ant to get to the corner that fast. I thought the Ferrari hit the barrier harder than the Toyota. Probably the Ferrari is heavier so it hit harder.

#29 shonguiz

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 21:13

This might be a dumb question but doesn't back failure implies vertebrae failure and thus a paralyzd body ?

#30 Octavian

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 21:29

This might be a dumb question but doesn't back failure implies vertebrae failure and thus a paralyzd body ?

Nope! Like any injury it depends on the severity, he's fractured the bone itself but the spinal cord, the nerve bundle, that has remained relatively undamaged in Davidson's case, thankfully. I think the head lines of "Broken back" have made a lot of people think the worst (I did when I first read it).

#31 OfficeLinebacker

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Posted 19 June 2012 - 12:32

Isn't broken vertebrae a fairly common injury? Didn't Will Power from Indycar break his back a couple of years ago?

#32 wewantourdarbyback

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Posted 19 June 2012 - 12:41

Did Ant flash his lights on the straight? The Ferrari driver was on his usual racing line

Which is what GT drivers are told to do, hold their line.

It's shocking to see crashes like this in modern motorsport. No wonder Schumacher said he'd never race at Le Mans - the series seems full of washed up has beens or very inexperienced rookies racing in cars which are too powerful and far too unstable.

Show me a washed up has been in it, name one.

Forgive me for being a total Le Mans noob, but shouldn't there be some concern about the behaviour of the car in the crash? The contact with the Ferrari wasn't that violent, so for the car to take off as it did strikes me as being extremely dangerous.

At 200 mph when a car like that turns sideways it is only going one way, up. The BHHs and BHFs don't appear to do much good unfortunately.

The guy is some 55 or 60 year old orthopedic surgeon from Italy. No business being in a professional sports race, much less LeMans.

No gentlemen racers = very few cars at Le Mans.

No one is allowed in without the required licenses.

The name of GTE-AM needs changing, it does the drivers a disservice. They may not be pros, but they all do quite a lot of racing to get their licenses.

#33 undersquare

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Posted 19 June 2012 - 12:44

Isn't broken vertebrae a fairly common injury? Didn't Will Power from Indycar break his back a couple of years ago?

Yeah, most commonly it's the spine being bent forwards and compresssed, so the front of two vertebrae collide and chip a wedge off. Or they can crack.

The curved seats they use don't help. Nor the low upper belt mounts quite often, which compress the spine when they're loaded.

Anyway this isn't what most people think of as a "broken back" as others have said; pretty stupid way to title the thread really.

#34 Disgrace

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Posted 19 June 2012 - 12:45

Isn't broken vertebrae a fairly common injury? Didn't Will Power from Indycar break his back a couple of years ago?

If the car lifts off the ground then yes, very much so. Another recent example is Richie Stanaway of F3.5. It's a season ender.

#35 Victor_RO

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Posted 19 June 2012 - 12:46

At 200 mph when a car like that turns sideways it is only going one way, up. The BHHs and BHFs don't appear to do much good unfortunately.

According to Pascal Vasselon, the fin is able to stop the car from flipping if it's travelling slower than (approximately) 260-270 kph. http://86400.fr/arti...vasselon-toyota Unfortunately, in this case, the car was pretty much at terminal velocity.

#36 wewantourdarbyback

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Posted 19 June 2012 - 12:48

Justin Wilson is a good example, the car hitting the ground and breaking his back in an innocuous crash because of how close the drivers sit to the floor. Ant's crash was several times harder so he is lucky to have gotten away with nothing worse landing back on the car's wheels, and basically his arse.

Just ask Guillaume Moreau.

#37 OfficeLinebacker

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Posted 19 June 2012 - 13:00

No gentlemen racers = very few cars at Le Mans.

No one is allowed in without the required licenses.

The name of GTE-AM needs changing, it does the drivers a disservice. They may not be pros, but they all do quite a lot of racing to get their licenses.

Yeah I actually watched Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain last night and they explained it that these "gentlemen racers" bring loads of money into the sport and allow it to be somewhat more resistant to the whims of the manufacturers.

I wouldn't even call it a necessary evil.

However I do want to make it clear that we need to separate all gentleman racers from this one particular gentleman racer. I mean to criticize just the one, the driver of the Ferrari who crashed Ant Davidson, not all gentleman racers as a bunch. This one particular guy needs strong censure.

#38 Nobody

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Posted 19 June 2012 - 13:06

Anyway this isn't what most people think of as a "broken back" as others have said; pretty stupid way to title the thread really.

Thats the thing though, the BBC used exactly that phrasing as did many other news agencies

They should have said fractured vertebrae or something

#39 Disgrace

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Posted 19 June 2012 - 13:11

To be fair, it's the expression Davidson used himself on Twitter, which is how everyone heard of it.

#40 Funkyskunk2

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Posted 19 June 2012 - 13:13

The new 2014 regs are supposed to bring the driver position forward and up for better viability. They really ought to use the extra height to implement some sort of shock absorber that will compress if a car slams down in an accident.

The Ferrari driver saw Ant from Ant flashing the FTPs. The Ferrari driver did not expect Ant to get to the corner that fast. I thought the Ferrari hit the barrier harder than the Toyota. Probably the Ferrari is heavier so it hit harder.

The Ferrari hit half the tire barrier that the Toyota did.

#41 bub

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Posted 19 June 2012 - 13:49

So what do most people think of when they hear broken back?

#42 PayasYouRace

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Posted 19 June 2012 - 14:12

So what do most people think of when they hear broken back?

http://upload.wikime...same_planet.jpg

#43 undersquare

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Posted 19 June 2012 - 14:14

To be fair, it's the expression Davidson used himself on Twitter, which is how everyone heard of it.

So what do most people think of when they hear broken back?

Oh Ant used the term? I suppose that does legitimise it then. I think of it as including spinal cord damage. It is vague, to be fair, though cracked or chipped vertebrae would have told me, personally, much more clearly what Ant had suffered.

#44 Option1

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Posted 19 June 2012 - 14:56

The pit crew of a GT amateur team are hardly going to warn their drivers for every car that is about to pass them.
That would amount to constant chatter on the radio for half the lap
They need to check their mirrors but that said pro drivers need to ascertain they have been seen before passing

Unfortunate accident but that's racing happy Davidson will recover

Gentlemen racers are part of Le Mans always have been
This particular one did over 100 races in GT and prototypes in GT1, LMS and ALMS
Probably spend more hours behind the wheel racing than the armchair experts here typing on the forum

People make mistakes simples
Last year it was the other way around with Audi drivers messing up while passing GT cars