Spectators injured at Rally Portugal

[Milliethemutt]

http://www.eurosport.com/rally/portugal-rally/2007/sport_sto1132997.shtml

On the shakedown stage and they were stood in a designated no-go area. No one seriously it seems.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Rules are there for a reason, as are no-go areas. Bit silly really so in a way they kinda deserved it, in a, thats what you get for being ignorant kind of way.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Remember Portugal back in the 80s? Spectators used to get as close as possible to the cars; the likes of Alen used to say it was not uncommon to find a finger in the air intake of his Lancia 037 ...

 

[Milliethemutt]

On Eurosport last night they were saying how the rally lost it's WRC status due to spectator problems. It might not be long before it happens again.

 

[My_Sterious]

Yep. I personally don't get it why the idiots are standing so close to the road. Or going to the no-go areas. I've been watching these old B Group races from videos and my god the people are crazy/ stupid! If the driver did a single mistake it would be "sayonara" to many of the spectators. I never go to the outside of the corner to spectate, but there are people who go there even in Monaco, where the roads are icy and stuff, so the car can slip there any moment. But maybe people are looking for exitement and adrenaline rush when the cars go by at 150km/h like 5 cm away from you...

 

[Famine]

Remember Portugal back in the 80s? Spectators used to get as close as possible to the cars; the likes of Alen used to say it was not uncommon to find a finger in the air intake of his Lancia 037 ...

Or a head in the air dam of an RS200...

 

[Speedster502]

Seems really strange that as soon as their back here something goes wrong.... I mean I really wanted Portugal back as it looked really cool but for a accident to happen already, it is a bit....you know.
Hopefully nothing else happens. That should also teach them not to stand in the no go's altough shouldn't the marshalls checked if they were in a no-go before allowing cars out on the stage?

 

[MagpieRacer]

Spectators are the reason it lost WRC status last time, they have bought it back again now if this rally survives into next season I would be very suprised because it appears the Portugese rally fans dont want a rally as they seem to be trying everything to lose the status whenever they get a WRC round.

 

[tigermoth737]

Illustrates how mindless the spectators used to be, it's absolutely foolish.
I just wonder now how many spectators were killed in the 80's

 

[Sportscar_Rob]

Its a shame to see a good event beeing possibly dropped because of some irressponsible people. Like allways, a few idots are ruining the fun for everybody...

 

[V1P3R]

I have no sympathy for spectators especially if they are making a game out of it like in tigermoth737's video. They deserve whatever they get.

On another note... damn I wish I could watch those old WRC races. Those cars and those drivers were awesome.

 

[KAMKA-Z]

I worked spectator control for several U.S. ProRallys. There's always some knothead who wants to be in a special place or get that special shot or go drink his 6 pack somewhere else up the stage road. I doubt the US will ever see a WRC event because there's always lawyers to compensate for common sense. SCCA ended up dropping it's rally sanction partially because of legal backlash of a similar occurance.

I remember one event where this one particularly drunk spectator was trying to justify his lust to be in the restricted area by explaining that "they do that all over in Europe".


"Hey isn't that what you're suposed to do at rallies? They do it in GT4!"

It does miff me a bit that polyphony saw fit to add stupid daredevil photographers to their rally events. Irresponsible.

 

[V1P3R]

Well I like Famine's (I think it was him?) response to that... "Let's remove all the safety labels and let the problem work itself out."

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

Portugal fans are famous for their desire to get up close and personal with Rally cars.

I remember the old World Rally Chamionship game for the PS2 (just noticed it was made by the same developers as MotorStorm), and before each stage they would show video clips from the actual event. For the Portugal Rally, they not only showed video of fans hugging the road, but even showed a guy on horseback running full speed along the road in front of one of the cars...

 

[Christhedude]

Illustrates how mindless the spectators used to be, it's absolutely foolish.
I just wonder now how many spectators were killed in the 80's

youre right about that....but i wish i could have been there and watch these awesome groupe B cars!!

the audi was anyways my all time favorite. I think that austrian guy Walter rohrl drove it. He's awesome btw.

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

I found this clip from the 1986 Portugal Rally showing the terrible crash of Joaquim Santos in his RS200, which killed four spectators and injured over thirty more:




It was this incident in combination of several previous accidents involving spectators, and the tragic death of the championship leader, Henri Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto from their crash during the Tour de Corse (video clip of that is below) that pretty much put an end to Group B racing when the FIA banned them from the championship following the 1986 season.





In a tragic twist of fate, his fellow Lancia driver Attilio Bettega died in a crash in the same Rally the previous year.





Here are some nice tribute clips for both Toivonen and Bettega:

 

[stumpydino]

a case of loving the sport a little too much

 

[Hun200kmh]

No. A case of being idiots.

I am portuguese, I was there in 1986, back then I was a mad lover of rally racing (nowadays I don't care that much, all cars look the same), and the behaviour of the crowds (specially in the stages near Lisbon, like the one where the crash took place) was just ... idiot.

But we didn't lose the rally because of that. We lost it some 15 years later (1999 or 2000, I'm not sure).

 

[Eric.]

Remember Portugal back in the 80s? Spectators used to get as close as possible to the cars; the likes of Alen used to say it was not uncommon to find a finger in the air intake of his Lancia 037 ...

Where is that :barf: smiley when you need it?