A SPECTATOR died and three others were injured, two seriously, after Scotsman Allan McNish's Lola racing car vaulted a barrier after colliding with another competitor at the Donington race track, near Derby in a Formula 3000 international race.
Allan McNish escaped from the wreckage of his 180mph Formula 3000 car after it hit the marshal's post, rolled down an embankment and landed near the mouth of a spectator's subway access, scattering onlookers. He was unconscious for two minutes and later treated for shock in hospital where he was reunited with his father Bert, who had been watching his son's first race of the season. He was detained overnight for observation.
Witnesses said McNish, driving a the 450hp Marlboro Lola-Mugen, hit the trackside wall after colliding with Italian driver Emanuele Naspeti's Reynard as the two men fought for a midfield place in the opening round of the European F3000 championship. One witness added that the man died after being hit by McNish's engine which was detached when the car disintegrated.
McNish had stalled on the starting grid and decided apparently to try to take advantage of the drying surface by going into the pits for slick, treadless tyres. It was during his fight back up the field that the collision happened. Herald motorsport reporter Bob Constanduros said the two cars touched as they raced under the Dunlop bridge into the Esses bends, the red and white Lola launching into a series of end over end rolls, before hitting the retaining wall and breaking up as it went. The force ripped the car's engine and gearbox from the car which both landed in a pedestrian walkway.
A female marshal, Vicki Trumper of Willoughby, and a Mr Joyce of Lincolnshire suffered serious spinal injuries. Mr Robert Mitchell, of Rugeley, Staffordshire, injured his elbow.
The incident happened on the fastest stretch of the two-and-a-half-mile Leicestershire circuit during the fourth lap when the track surface was damp and drying. Circuit official David Fearn said: "I can only describe it as a racing accident." The track's owner Mr Tom Wheatcroft has always taken pride in the safety arrangements at his circuit and pointed out that the accident happened where there was a greater "run-off" area than anywhere else round the track.
McNish escaped serious injury due to the immensely strong carbon-fibre shell of the Lola which cocoons the driver and a safety roll over hoop designed to withstand massive impact forces. Last year McNish emerged with concussion when his Formula Three car overturned at Brands Hatch and the roll bar broke. But at five feet five inches tall McNish was able to crouch down in the cockpit limiting his injuries.
Allan McNish escaped from the wreckage of his 180mph Formula 3000 car after it hit the marshal's post, rolled down an embankment and landed near the mouth of a spectator's subway access, scattering onlookers. He was unconscious for two minutes and later treated for shock in hospital where he was reunited with his father Bert, who had been watching his son's first race of the season. He was detained overnight for observation.
Witnesses said McNish, driving a the 450hp Marlboro Lola-Mugen, hit the trackside wall after colliding with Italian driver Emanuele Naspeti's Reynard as the two men fought for a midfield place in the opening round of the European F3000 championship. One witness added that the man died after being hit by McNish's engine which was detached when the car disintegrated.
McNish had stalled on the starting grid and decided apparently to try to take advantage of the drying surface by going into the pits for slick, treadless tyres. It was during his fight back up the field that the collision happened. Herald motorsport reporter Bob Constanduros said the two cars touched as they raced under the Dunlop bridge into the Esses bends, the red and white Lola launching into a series of end over end rolls, before hitting the retaining wall and breaking up as it went. The force ripped the car's engine and gearbox from the car which both landed in a pedestrian walkway.
A female marshal, Vicki Trumper of Willoughby, and a Mr Joyce of Lincolnshire suffered serious spinal injuries. Mr Robert Mitchell, of Rugeley, Staffordshire, injured his elbow.
The incident happened on the fastest stretch of the two-and-a-half-mile Leicestershire circuit during the fourth lap when the track surface was damp and drying. Circuit official David Fearn said: "I can only describe it as a racing accident." The track's owner Mr Tom Wheatcroft has always taken pride in the safety arrangements at his circuit and pointed out that the accident happened where there was a greater "run-off" area than anywhere else round the track.
McNish escaped serious injury due to the immensely strong carbon-fibre shell of the Lola which cocoons the driver and a safety roll over hoop designed to withstand massive impact forces. Last year McNish emerged with concussion when his Formula Three car overturned at Brands Hatch and the roll bar broke. But at five feet five inches tall McNish was able to crouch down in the cockpit limiting his injuries.
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