20 replies to this topic

[OceanExplorer47]

Does anyone know what happens to a racecar after it's been involved in a fatal incident? I was curious what happened to Senna's after his crash and I discovered that Williams had it dismantled.

 

So I wonder what happened to Roland Ratzenberger's? Is it known if it was dismantled, or crushed, or recycled? Or was it sold to a private collector - which personally I think is a little creepy...

 

Is it publicly known?

 

Cheers!

Edited by OceanExplorer47, 12 June 2017 - 15:17.

[superden]

I've always quite liked the Simtek S941, a lovely, if not successful car/livery. I have no idea what happened to the various chassis, though I think I recall seeing one at Brooklands. I think the damage to Ratzenberger's car was extensive though, cracking the monocoque. Given that, and the history of the car, I imagine it was disposed of by the team.

Edited by superden, 12 June 2017 - 14:18.

[johnmhinds]

Peter Windsor says Senna's car was cut up and burned by Frank Williams I assume similar things happen to other cars that involved in those kinds of crashes..

 

Edited by johnmhinds, 12 June 2017 - 14:37.

[EthanM]

presumably it was destroyed I mean Simtek was a tiny outfit but I doubt they 'd go around trying to sell the 'death car' to some macabre collector.

[OceanExplorer47]

Thanks guys, I appreciate your thoughts.

 

EthanM, you'd be surprised what's out there - James Dean's car... even the owner of the car that Princess Diana was killed in is trying to sell it.  

[William Hunt]

What was the cause of his accident?
It must have been a technical deffect

[SpaceHorseParty]

What was the cause of his accident?
It must have been a technical deffect

Front wing broke off and got lodged under the car. Similar to Fisichella's 2002 crash at Magny-Cours.

[DeKnyff]

I hope that Ratzenberger's car, as well as all the cars involved in fatal accidents, are destroyed, out of the market and not subject to commercial transactions.

[pacificquay]

There is a grim photo online of the aftermath of Ratzenberger's crash showing the monocoque has a huge hole on the left of the cockpit. I can't imagine anything other than the remains of it being destroyed.

[Fonzey]

Not an F1 Car, but along a similar theme - this is a spectacular read if you're into car restorations:

 

http://www.classican...fter-huge-resto

 

The summary: very rare e-type, horrific racing crash which killed the driver and eventually became a donor car for another shell. Years later the shell and body panels are reunited, all panels are rolled/flatted out and then reformed to bring it back to a completely original state.

[Kristian]

Wasn't Senna's car impounded for years whilst the trial went on? 

 

I assume the same thing might have happened to Roland's too. But I'm not sure his accident was under investigation for as long. 

 

But once released, I presume both were destroyed, as has been said.  

[B Squared]

I remember a thread from the early days in which the subject of the fate of some of these cars was discussed. I was unable to locate it in the search mode, maybe just as well.

[redreni]

Wasn't Senna's car impounded for years whilst the trial went on? 

 

I assume the same thing might have happened to Roland's too. But I'm not sure his accident was under investigation for as long. 

 

But once released, I presume both were destroyed, as has been said.  

 

Yeah the authorities in Italy are quite hands-on if there's a fatal accident. I'm sure the cars were impounded, but from memory the evidence in the Simtek case was pretty clear that there was nothing wrong with the car as such, other than damage sustained when it was driven over a kerb, and so no third party was to blame.

 

The way authorities react to fatalities, and the way F1 in turn reacts, is quite a thorny issue, actually. It's quite troubling, if you look into it. There were a lot of allegations at the time that both drivers who lost their lives during the Imola 1994 race weekend were subject to continued attempts at resuscitation for some time after the point where it was clinically futile, because a view was allegedly taken that if anyone was going to die, they shouldn't die at the track. It should be noted, though, that further attempts to save both men were made after they arrived at hospital, which suggests to me that medics at the track were right not to give up on them.

 

I never really took that kind of talk seriously until the 2001 Australian GP where a spectator marshal lost his life. A coroner's inquest was held and the findings were made public. The coroner in that case found that the poor chap had died within seconds of the crash, but that unnecessary resuscitation attempts continued trackside, in the ambulance, at the trackside medical centre and in the chopper, for around 20 minutes, until the marshal arrived at the local hospital. There was a subsequent professional misconduct hearing where the doctors who ordered the resuscitation to continue were cautioned, after it emerged they had been following a protocol which called for resuscitation to continue in all cases, and that one of them had ordered medical records to be changed so that the official time of death would come after the marshal arrived at the hospital, rather than when he was still at the track.

 

We can only speculate as to why that sort of thing went on, but concerns about authorities turning up and impounding stuff, sealing off parts of the track, and disrupting the event generally, are the only plausible explanations that come to my mind.

[Tsarwash]

I understood that there was/is a law in Italy ordering a halt to sporting events if competitors die at the venue, which was why they were still attempts to resuscitate them until they reached hospital.  

[ArrowsLivery]

Do teams usually recycle their unused/obsolete parts? 

[Jim Thurman]

Peter Windsor says Senna's car was cut up and burned by Frank Williams I assume similar things happen to other cars that involved in those kinds of crashes..

 

 

The stories of cars being cut up and burned (or buried) are many, and few have ever been proven.

[Peter0Scandlyn]

Does anyone know what happens to a racecar after it's been involved in a fatal incident? I was curious what happened to Senna's after his crash and I discovered that Williams had it dismantled.

 

So I wonder what happened to Roland Ratzenberger's? Is it known if it was dismantled, or crushed, or recycled? Or was it sold to a private collector - which personally I think is a little creepy...

 

Is it publicly known?

 

Cheers!

 

It would have been Wirthless.......

[Henri Greuter]

As for cars being destroyed after a fatal accident.....

 

Maybe some of our American experts can share a light on this but I have heard the story that the DW12 in whcih Justin Wilson lost his life was not damaegd beyond repairs enough to shelve it and that this car remained in use, at least for some time....

 

This is only for the modern age of course. In the `good old days` cars simply were repaired and went on wacing again. I know of a number of older Indycars that carried at least one dirver to his death. I suppose the same happened with F1 cars remaining in use after a fatality. But I can't recall I have heard about one particular chassis being fatal for more than one driver.

 

 

Henri

[GrumpyYoungMan]

It would have been Wirthless.......

I think you'll be surprised at how much someone would pay for a piece of F1 history like that... sadly...

[Kristian]

I think you'll be surprised at how much someone would pay for a piece of F1 history like that... sadly...

 

Yep, whatever the moral deficiencies of it all, even a piece of a car where one of the world's greatest sportsmen died is unique and therefore a lot of value. 

 

Not for me, but I can see why it would be sought after. 

[7MGTEsup]

I think you'll be surprised at how much someone would pay for a piece of F1 history like that... sadly...

 

I think that was joke as the team owner was Nick Wirth.