Motorsport: Tragedy at Vegas

Dan Wheldo. Photo / AP

The horror at Las Vegas this week has thrown up big questions over Indy Car safety. Michael Burgess examines the final moments leading to the death of Dan Wheldon.

When you analyse the nightmare that unfolded at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, several factors came together to create a tragedy. But even before the event some top drivers had major concerns about what was going to happen, and their words now seem almost eerily predictable.

In the wake of the tragic 15-car crash that resulted in the death of two-time Indy 500 champion Dan Wheldon on Monday morning (NZT), fellow drivers have largely stayed silent, essentially out of respect for Wheldon and his family.

But before the race many were candid on what was about to unfold on the lightning fast 1.5 mile (2.4km) circuit. While most circuits have a 'hot spot', where speeds are greatest and potential for collisions and bottlenecks is at its highest, the Nevada track seemed to almost be a continuous danger zone.

"The hot spot [here] is every inch of the 1.5 miles," James Hinchcliffe told American media a day before the race.

Hinchliffe was involved in the early stages of the chain of crashes, as his car was clipped by New Zealander Wade Cunningham. "It's such a grippy track," said Hinchliffe. "[At] a place like Kentucky (also a small 2.4km oval) there are bumps and the cars move around a little bit. Here, they aren't doing that and, as race car drivers, we will take every inch that we are given and you have just eliminated all the margin. The racing is so close and when something goes wrong, it can really go wrong."

"[The] hot spots here are [on] every corner, every lap, the whole time," agreed Ryan Hunter-Reay. "All it takes is one mistake by one driver and it could be huge consequences. This should be a nail-biter for the fans and it's going to be insane for the drivers."

"More than any track we go to this one is like an engine dyno," said Will Power, meaning that, with all the cars giving 100 per cent power, it was all about who had the least drag. "I'll have to have a mistake-free day. It's going to be a very tightly-packed race, more than anyone we've done over the years."

"It's friggin' fast here," added Danica Patrick. "Almost a 225 mph (360km/h) lap is like Indy [500] speeds. The track is nice and smooth and we'll be three-wide out there. The race is going to be crazy and the crashes will be spectacular."

Meanwhile, Indy Car series CEO Randy Bernard was trumpeting the action and pure speed that would be on display.

"We saw a practice session that had a 224 mph lap," said Bernard. "Next year we think our new car will be faster. This facility is unequalled to any that we visit."

There were 34 drivers in this season ?nale, compared with 33 at the bigger Indy 500 and 29 at Kentucky. A typical Indy Car race this year had around 26 drivers. However, according to an American report, Indy Car amended its rules in April so that the governing body could "determine the size and composition of the starting ?eld for each race." Before that the rules stated that the starting grid should be not more than 28 cars, with the exception of six tracks - and the LVMS was not one of those.

Some of the extras were part-time drivers, less accustomed to the extreme speeds. The Las Vegas circuit had not staged an Indy Car race in 11 years and during that time the banking - or camber of the oval - had been increased to 20 degrees. This allows extra grip on the corners, which allow drivers to hit the turns hard and slingshot out of them with a barely imperceptible change in speed, unlike tracks built with ?atter angles. It means cars race two or three wide around the entire track - known as 'pack racing'. It means it is almost impossible for the ?eld to spread out. Add in the open wheel design of Indy Car, where any contact can trigger a huge accident and it seems like a slow leaking gas tap beside a spark. Wheldon was also encouraged to push to the extreme, with a US$5 million (NZ$6.23 million) bounty available if he was able to navigate his way from the back of the ?eld to the chequered ?ag.

According to team, owner Sam Schmidt, the drivers ?nal words on the radio moments before the accident spoke of his belief: "I'm ready to go for this thing; we can win this thing." New Zealand motorsport legend Chris Amon is unequivocal that racing at Las Vegas was a terrible mistake, ultimately a fatal one. "They shouldn't have been there," says Amon, "and it was fortunate there were not two or three others seriously hurt."

While Amon is famed for his Formula One exploits, he also did plenty of racing on oval tracks throughout his long career. "On a track like that it is so easy to be involved in other people's accidents," says Amon. "They go ?at out the whole way round, three or four abreast and nobody is going to pull clear. It was inevitable there would be problems and I will be very surprised if they ever go back there." Amon believes they will begin to question other oval tracks, though they usually have longer straights and sharper corners which make pack racing less likely.

Another New Zealand motorsport identity, Bob McMurray, draws parallels with this incident and the deaths of Dale Earnhardt (2001) and Ayrton Senna (1994), which were catalysts for change in Nascar and F1 respectively.

"There were fairly innocuous elements in both events that led to major tragedy," says McMurray. "With Senna it was the steering control failure, with Earnhart his torn seat belt and now Wheldon hitting the catch fencing. With tragedies such as this, it is never a single reason. There is always ?ve or six factors. Like those two, Wheldon's death will be a catalyst to make the sport safer."

McMurray hopes there will be a rational, reasoned response to the tragedy, much like there was in 1994 after Senna's death. "We have to remember that a lot of drivers walked away [from this crash]", says McMurray.

"Nobody is to blame and if this had happened 15 years ago two or three more drivers would have died. I don't know if they need to take the ovals out completely - it is a very important part of Indy Car racing. We have to remember that it is high speed motorsport. You can make it safer but you can never legislate absolute safety into motorsport."

Wheldon had been without a full-time drive this year and ironically had been employed as the tester for the new 2012 Indy car, which has several new features designed to make it safer for the drivers and reduce the risk of major crashes and injuries.