THE CRASH

[marcus]

Round 9 of the Australian V8 supercar series has witnessed one of the most horendous accidents seen in this country for quite some time..at the start of heat 3 Larry Perkins stalled his Castrol Commodore and was hit from behind by Paul Morris in his Big Kev racing Commodore completely destroying the front end...he was then collected by the Mitre 10 Falcon of Mark Larkham who was at full pace..Larkham's car burst into flames just after the impact but he was able to clamber out of the car in time..the drama wasnt over then though ..because Larkham hit morris so hard it ripped open Morris's fuel tank and sent him spinning off the track leaving a trail of feul across the circuit..of course the flames from Larkham's car managed to get to the fuel leak and the fire raced across the track and Morris's car then burst into flames..Morris was hurt in the crash and seemed unable to get out of the car but just through sheer will to survive he pulled himself out and stumbled 10 metres or so before collapsing on the track...Both the cars are completely destroyed but the main thing is both drivers are OK but have been taken to hospital with injuries of which Morris seems to be worst off suffering internal injuries and Larkham with brusing and memory loss...

this was a frightning crash and left me feeling ill when I saw it and I hope that both drivers are Ok and wish them well in their recovery.

[Buckshot]

I was there - that was the most frightening incident I have ever personally witnessed. We were sitting across the track from the start/finish line on the O’Brien Aluminum dogleg. We just stood there in awe as we saw these flames racing across the track to engulf the two cars. I jumped on the binoculars straight away but by the time I got a close look both cars were up in smoke.

I also just watched the incident on video as I taped the races as well (as you do) and I really felt crook in the guts when I saw Morris stumble out of the car. It really breaks me up seeing incidents like that.

According to the latest reports on the 6 O’clock news was that Larkham is suffering from abdominal pain & memory loss. They didn’t say much about Morris.

I really hope they’re both ok but I guess we’ll find out as more news comes to hand.

[marcus]

here are some pics of this horrible crash



not much too see in this one but you can tell there is a heck of a fire going on.



the aftermath of the Paul Morris commodore



and here is Larkham's car with Morris's in the background.

as Buckshot has said there hasnt been alot of news released so far and from what I heard on an update was Morris does have some form of spinal injuries..so I wish him well.

I carnt imagine what it was like being there buckshot ..it must have been awfull..I only saw it on TV and it scared the heck out of me and I hope I dont see anything like that again.

all pics from http://www.v8supercar.com.au

[kmchow]

I hope Morris is okay and can continue to race. It would be sad to see his career cut short like this.

[Liz]

The pix didn't come through on my server and the site is over-burdened apparently.

Nevrtheless I am praying for the pilots and thank God they are both alive and will recover... at least we will pray that they do.

Motorsport is dangerous. How terrible when we have to be reminded yet again.

[Crash Test]

I guess it has taken a while for me to gather my thoughts on this one.

Out at the local round of the truck meeting we heard that something terrible had happened. About 20 people gathered in a very small area where there was a TV tuned to the news, we saw the accident, but we couldn't hear anything, so we had no idea...

It looked very bad, really bad. The footage was simply horrifying. The fire spread over the track...well...and the footage from the camera on the exit of pit lane...scary stuff.

It was funny how all of the fire a medical people went straight to Larkham, even the fireys on Morris's side of the track...

Apparently the fire extinguisher in Morris's car came loose and went through the back of the seat, hitting him in the back...

I think Larkham will be fine, i think the abdomin injury is just from a very tight crouch strap...but i hope Paul gets out there quickly.

At least Morris has a spare VS in the truck, even if he doesnt get a HRT VT. I'm not sure what Larkham is going to do...i think they might be building a car, but it would be a long way off.

I guess if Paul doesn't come bak in a hurry, the ASTC will be thrown wide open...

[elephino]

I was down where that long distance pic was taken from. I'll post a pic or two I took soon. It was just an amazing scene to watch. Larkham started from down where I was (most of the way around last turn) and all seemed fine from back there till a huge fire ball.

The scene when I got down to the crash site was just...hard to describe really. A big big mess.

I'll post more later (including a close call of my own).