Scary incident at Brands Hatch today....

Redracer77 · 22 Jul 2005, 22:26 (Ref:1361092)

I have just got back from the test day on brands hatch grand prix circuit and I think I have seen the most outrageous incident at a racetrack for some time…..

In the first session after lunch a F5000 driver stopped in the pits opposite our garage and had a chat with his team. The feed back must have been that they had had enough for that session and one of the mechanics claimed on the rear of the car to get a lift back to the bottom paddock…he sat on the rear wing with his feet on the gearbox and held onto the rear support bars.

The car set off at quite high speed down the pit lane and that itself made people watch. When they got to the end of the pit lane the marshals pointed the car down towards the tunnel and the lower paddock……

But for some reason the driver did not realise that the mechanic was still on the back and must have decided to go back out on the circuit………he accelerated out of the pits on to the start finish straight towards paddock with the mechanic hanging on for dear life!!! Before they got to paddock bend he dived off the single seater. Fearing the worst the pit lane could not believe what they had just seen.

I heard as I left the circuit that the mechanic managed to only have cuts and bruises as well as a broken ankle…..

A lucky man indeed.

I wish the mechanic in question a speedy recovery (no pun intended).

jase · 22 Jul 2005, 22:36 (Ref:1361095)

Frell! Hope the mech is ok, he sounds very lucky.

I would like to know Why the marshal at the end of the pit lane allowed somone to ride on the rear wing past him/her though.

pitcrew · 22 Jul 2005, 22:46 (Ref:1361097)

Lucky man, wont do that again in a hurry! but on a serious note why was the car able to travel that far with a mech attached!!

Redracer77 · 22 Jul 2005, 22:50 (Ref:1361100)

god only knows. It was mega busy and noisy so it could have just been missed. The marshal did not know the driver would go on the circuit but he should have stopped the driver and requested the mechanic to get off. But it is common at brands for people to get lifts from the pits to the outer paddock......

Maybe this is a good reason to stop.....

diz · 22 Jul 2005, 22:52 (Ref:1361102)

I've just sat here for ten minutes deciding what to type and - for the only time in my life - I am lost for words

Fiorentina 1 · 23 Jul 2005, 01:31 (Ref:1361147)

I can't believe this! I'm glad the guy is OK.

Something like this happened years ago at Monza during a F3 test. Victorio Brambilla's yournger brother (Tino, maybe), stopped on the track out of fuel, right past the pits. A mechanic ran out with a fuel can and filled him up. Then Brambilla told him to climb on the rollbar and get a lift back to the pits. Well after 2 corners, Brambilla forgot homeboy was there and got on it. When he got back to the pits, the other mechanics asked where the guy was? Well, they found the guy, a live and well, face down in the dirt on the outside of the Parabolica.

ascarmarshal · 23 Jul 2005, 08:08 (Ref:1361253)

I was one of the marshals yesterday at Brands. I was on Post 10 ( and had great entertainment watching cars with to much power and not enough grip going through Surtees) but I heard what happened from one of the pitlane marshals. They tried to stop the car to tell the mechanic to get off, ( we always, if we can, tell passengers on single seaters to get off for safety reasons) but the driver ignored the marshals calls and signals to stop and went out on track. There is only so much marshals can do if a driver chooses to ignore their instructions. At first I thought we had a marshal down. I have never heard Race Control sound so angry as I did after yesterdays incident.

All the Brands marshals wish the mechanic a speedy recovery

Kicking-back · 23 Jul 2005, 09:23 (Ref:1361295)

Ban the driver for life, surely.

maximus · 23 Jul 2005, 09:25 (Ref:1361296)

Bit extreme don't you think k-b? But he should recieve some form of punishment, maybe a shorter term ban.

Ian Sowman · 23 Jul 2005, 09:29 (Ref:1361299)

The driver wasn't the only one that was irresponsible here. Even if just being taken for a low-speed ride back to the paddock it is dangerous: the mechanic should not have climbed onto the car in the first place.

ascarmarshal · 23 Jul 2005, 09:30 (Ref:1361301)

The trouble is that as we were not under a MSA or FIA permit as it was a test day the driver can't be banned expect from MSV circuit test and track days. I think his name was passed onto the organisers.

diz · 23 Jul 2005, 09:42 (Ref:1361310)

Quote:

Originally Posted by maximus

Bit extreme don't you think k-b? But he should recieve some form of punishment, maybe a shorter term ban.

He is obviously deserving of some kind of punishment, but as it was on a general test day MSV could ban him, but the MSA couldn't take any action.
If he does something this stupid, what other kind of poor driving, awareness etc does he exhibit?
Does anybody know if he is experienced, or novice, or been playing at being a racing driver for a long time and never likely to get any better?

Maybe a life ban would be extreme, but a large dose of tuition from an ARDS Instructor wouldn't go amiss.

FilW · 23 Jul 2005, 09:53 (Ref:1361320)

Are we sure the driver even new the mechanic was there? I'm sure it's possible he was unaware he had a passenger. With helmet on and the engine running it's sometimes possible to misshear what people say and he may have missinterpreted what was said to him.

ascarmarshal · 23 Jul 2005, 10:26 (Ref:1361341)

The driver didn't know what had happened, but he should have obeyed the marshals instructions to stop. We were very lucky not to have had a fatal accident. The whole incident could have be avoided if the driver had obeyed the marshals, but he ignored them.

Redracer77 · 23 Jul 2005, 11:43 (Ref:1361388)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ascarmarshal

The driver didn't know what had happened, but he should have obeyed the marshals instructions to stop. We were very lucky not to have had a fatal accident. The whole incident could have be avoided if the driver had obeyed the marshals, but he ignored them.

I watched the car go down the pits with the mechanic on board and also watched the marshal point towards the tunnel road. He didn't seem to mind that there was a person on the back.

It did take the guy a while to get settled on the back of the car as he even brought the battery trolley with him!!! But I am not sure the driver did see him as the car in question had a massive tall engine cover.

Judging by his clutch control on leaving the pits I am not sure how long he has been racing

Eddy V · 23 Jul 2005, 12:15 (Ref:1361414)

Very bad news about the mechanic, but:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redracer77

Judging by his clutch control on leaving the pits I am not sure how long he has been racing

why is said driver allowed to race such a powerful car, if he can't even leave the pit properly?

Maybe all (driver, mechanic, team, marshals) will learn from this.
People sitting on a car = no go!

ascarmarshal · 23 Jul 2005, 13:33 (Ref:1361476)

The mechanic would have been told to get off the car when the car reached the control tower if the driver had stopped as requested ( so that his wristband could be checked) and going at a slow speed. Marshals are at the startline post at all times to try and stop these sort of thing, but if a driver doesn't obey instructions what can a marshal do?

Mekola · 23 Jul 2005, 14:17 (Ref:1361494)

Quote:

Originally Posted by maximus

Bit extreme don't you think k-b? But he should recieve some form of punishment, maybe a shorter term ban.

Yes, like marshals did with Pastor Maldonado in World Series...
Meanwhile Pastor races in the F3000 Italia waiting for the end of his exclusion.

runshaw · 23 Jul 2005, 15:00 (Ref:1361508)

Wow pretty scary. But you can't say ban the driver for life without knowing all of the facts from the incident. If the driver exited the pits its pretty likely that he did not know that there was a mechanic on his car. And also no person should climb onto a single seater. If they sit on the rear wing even at low speed they could fall off the back of the car, and if they sit on the side pod and happen to slip, the only place they are going to fall is right under the rear wheels. So in fact it sounds more like the mechanic was being irresponsible. However it would be better to know all of the facts from the incident.

Mr Jinxx · 23 Jul 2005, 15:34 (Ref:1361520)

It sounds like something out of a Brain Rix comedy. But something that was a combination of some foolishness on several parts, which could have had dreadful consequences. You could point the finger of blame all over the place, but I don't think you'd need to punish anyone there, even if you could. They'll all be shaken by it more than enough, and I bet it never happens again to any of them.

Eddy V · 23 Jul 2005, 17:58 (Ref:1361575)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ascarmarshal

Marshals are at the startline post at all times to try and stop these sort of thing, but if a driver doesn't obey instructions what can a marshal do?

I know Ascarmarshal, nothing much to do for marshals if something like this happens; you can't throw yourself in front of a car, can you?
Like Jinkxx says: it will not happen again to them. I hope.

Dr Venom · 23 Jul 2005, 22:28 (Ref:1361726)

if this happened they are both clowns.

Suze · 24 Jul 2005, 15:59 (Ref:1362081)

Well the mechanic won't be getting on the back of a car again any time soon, I'm pretty sure of that...

Agree with Jinxxy on this one though, you can wave the finger of blame around but they'll all be shaken by it.

FilW · 24 Jul 2005, 16:18 (Ref:1362101)

Did the driver or team get spoken to by the clerk at the time?

ascarmarshal · 24 Jul 2005, 16:21 (Ref:1362107)

Quote:

Originally Posted by FilW

Did the driver or team get spoken to by the clerk at the time?

The driver was spoken to by the Control Tower Supervisor ( there was no CofC as we were not under permit)

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