14 replies to this topic

[BorderReiver]

Hello everyone.

I apologise for the graphic intense nature of this post, but I was wondering if you good people could identify some of these incidents for me. These images have been kicking around on my HardDisk for a long while now, with generic number filenames that give no clue as to their nature. It's been so long that I can't remember where I got them either.

Some of these accidents look very nasty indeed. I was wondering if anyone could shed any light on to whom, in what, where and when these incidents occured, and of course any information on background and the results of the accidents would be greatly appreciated.

1. A sequence of three photographs depicting a very severe impact. Perhaps a Can-Am car?







2. A firey accident in what looks like a 70's/80's Single seater, background looks like an oval. Indy accident perhaps?



3. A horrible looking wreck, from what is most likely a 1950's Sports Car race I would think.



4. A very confusing photo I think. The car has evidently come down through the catch fence near the camera.



5. A terrifying firey accident, looks very much like an early 70's BRM but obviously isn't. THis may have taken some spectators with it .



Thanks very much for your patience. I thought if anyone could help identify these it would be you guys.

[bobbo]

#4: Is this Carel de Beaufort's fatal accident at the 'Ring in 1964? Or Ben Pon's accident that caused him to retire from F1?

It looks sadly familiar . . .

Bobbo

[theunions]

#2 is the conclusion of Tom Sneva's barrel-roll in Turn 2 at Indy in 1975.

[Catalina Park]

Number 1 is Alan Newton in an Elfin MS7 at Calder, Australia (in 1984 or 85 I think). His throttle stuck on the back straight and crashed at the esses, he was injured but survived and the car was rebuilt.

Number 4 is Carel De Beufort's Porsche after his fatal crash at the Ring in 1964.

Number 5 is Sam Posey and Ron Courtney at Riverside in 1969, Rons car spun and stopped in the middle of the track and Sam arrived his Eagle without brakes! Both survived.

[Ray Bell]

3 is at Le Mans, not as bad as it looks, IIRC...

The car was hit once again after it had come to rest... either broken down or in a crash. There's a pic in one of the Stirling Moss books that tells who it is. Again, IIRC.

[lanciaman]

Originally posted by Catalina Park

Number 5 is Sam Posey and Ron Courtney at Riverside in 1969, Rons car spun and stopped in the middle of the track and Sam arrived his Eagle without brakes! Both survived.

But Courtney was severely burned.

[normbeechey]

I was there when Alan Newton in the Elfin MS7 crashed and it was the most frightening accident I have ever seen.

The car was absolutely flat out with the jammed throttle (and no kill switch) at the end of the straight so must have hit the Armco at an amazing speed and made an enormous loud noise. I was not expecting him to live, but he was lucky the Armco gave way. I would hate to think what would have happened if he had of hit the concrete fence that is now there...

The car hit a ditch, so would have flown over any modern sand trap as it was in the air for 100's of metres.

K&A Engineering built a replacement chassis for it and handled the rebuild.

Chris.
www.MotorsportArchive.com

[Vitesse2]

I think #3 is the remains of the Meyrat/Tavano Ferrari 500TR at Le Mans in 1956. That looks very much like Hawthorn's hat in the Jaguar that's passing ... he appears to be looking at the wreck, not the road, too.

[jm70]

#5 Is the Posey incident. I was the observer on the corner that day. The man in the black sweater and straw hat is Dave Carlson. Now an attorney in the LA area. After that mess was over, the black sweater was gone, we thought burnt off. Cal Club replaced the sweater.
Note: I think it was less than an hour after this incident that Sam's Mom bought him a replacement car in the garage.

[BorderReiver]

Wow, only a few hours and youv'e nailed four out of five.

Just number 3 that remains a bit of a mystery. Vitesse is the only one to put a name to it, can anyone do a confirmation? Your also right about the Hawthorn thing Vitesse, I hadn't noticed the helmet before.

[Vitesse2]

Process of elimination really - it's a D-type in the background, which dates it to about 1953-58, especially if we assume it's Hawthorn. The number on the wrecked car appears to be 21, with that peculiarly French 2 with a joined top which makes it look vaguely like a 9. The only #21 which crashed in that period was Meyrat in 1956 and the Motor Sport report mentions that the car was left on the side of the road after spinning. Add Ray's info that something else hit it .... QED!

[Bumblyari]

Spot on

http://www.ferrarigu...html&lang=en-us

(See 'The car in our ads')

[Vitesse2]

"Merde alors", comme on dit en France!

[MattFoster]

I was there at Calder when the incident you list happened. It was frightening indeed. I would have been about 15 at the time.

[Ray Bell]

From what I saw on the television news that night, I'd say it was one of those crashes that would have given me nightmares...

Alan was very enthusiastic, but not a terribly crash hot driver.