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Part time Nascar driver, Jason Leffler.
"Le Mans is spooky when it’s wet. A pall hangs over the circuit as it disappears out into the French
countryside and darkness. You can’t help but recognise the driver’s courage when it’s like this.
Allan Simonsen’s accident is a reminder of why we should admire and never become blasé about that courage too."
I have not felt as emotional at the end of a race in a long time, if ever. Last time I saw a fatal crash live was Henry Surtees in Brand Hatch F2. It bites every time, my heart sunk on that podium.
Congrats to everyone who finished, Vipers, OAK cars, Toyota, Aston, Audi, the GT Academy boys... everyone. It's been great covering the 90th Anniversary of Le Mans, great community here, thank you all, i'll be back next year, but i'll sign off with a tribute made by GTP's very own RACECAR.
RIP Allan Simonsen.
To show my respect, I made a tribute to our fallen driver.
May you R.I.P Allan Simonsen
FamineI've just been combing through my photos and I was a bit spooked by a shot I took. I don't know whether to be proud that I got it or... creeped out and depressed a bit by what it represents.
Allan Simonsen, leaving the Esses to the approach of Tertre Rouge on lap 3...
Darn.While a great tribute, that isn't really AUP-friendly...
I've just been combing through my photos and I was a bit spooked by a shot I took. I don't know whether to be proud that I got it or... creeped out and depressed a bit by what it represents.
Simonsen's crash is the reason I hate watching crashes live as it's not always the ultra-violent ones that prove fatal(it almost seems to be the opposite).
R.I.P.
I've just been combing through my photos and I was a bit spooked by a shot I took. I don't know whether to be proud that I got it or... creeped out and depressed a bit by what it represents.
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Allan Simonsen, leaving the Esses to the approach of Tertre Rouge on lap 3...
I'd be proud. While the image in context is very poignant and melancholic, it really is a beautiful image in itself. A very fitting tribute, I would say.
The reason drivers usually walk away from the crashes that appear spectacular, and yet sometimes, sadly, succumb to injuries sustained from relatively minor looking ones is that in general the things that make the crash look spectacular are things actually in the favour of the driver's safety.
Take Allan McNish's 2011 crash for example. The car left the track at high speed, spinning and somersaulting through the air, before eventually coming to a halt when it hit the tyre wall. The crash consisted of a series of smaller impacts, first with the Ferrari, then the ground, then the tyre wall.
Each of these smaller impacts took yet more energy away from the car, but in turn caused the outer parts of the car (as they are designed to in such occurrences, I might add) to break up, which made the extent of the accident and damage appear far greater than they really were. This breakup absorbed a lot of the impact energy, slowing the car down "gently"; while the final, largest impact, was with the tyre wall, which deformed and acted as a cushion for the car, meaning the severity of the accident, although race ending, was no where near as great as it might appear.
However the driver's cockpit was left intact, and none of the impacts were severe enough to do McNish any real damage. When I saw that crash on the TV I could tell McNish would probably be fine, and I was far more worried for the bank of photographers behind the barrier, in case they might have been hit by debris. Fortunately they weren't.
Simonsen had a heavy impact effectively with a tree, with the car coming to a very sudden stop from about 100MPH; and I could tell, I am afraid to say, that when I saw the crash I knew he wasn't going to be in a good way. Alas, he was far worse off than one would hope in this modern safety age.
RIP Allan