Motorsport: Wheldon tragedy was a wake-up call - Cunningham

Wade Cunningham says the recent death of IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon was a "wake-up" call for all drivers on the grid but especially him after he was involved in the accident that claimed Wheldon's life.

The two-time Indy 500 winner was killed when he was caught up in a spectacular 15-car pile-up during last month's Las Vegas Indy 300. Cunningham was fingered in some quarters for being a cause of the accident but he was merely reacting to what played out in front of him as one slip from a fellow racer at more than 350km/h started a massive chain reaction that ultimately claimed Wheldon's life.

Cunningham required medical treatment on his foot but the scars cut more deeply on an emotional level.

"I just came back to visit my family after the tragedy in Las Vegas," Cunningham told APNZ.

"The first week afterwards, people were dealing with it in their own way and I thought about my family and how they would have dealt with it if it had been me.

"I'll keep racing but if my family wants me to stop, I can see why. Car safety, though, is getting better and better and we're racing with other professionals alongside so the thought of a really bad crash is diminishing."

It diminished so much that Wheldon's death was the first since Paul Danna died while practising in 2006. Ayrton Senna was the last Formula One driver to die when he crashed in 1994.

It is in stark contrast to what happened in the sport 40 years ago when drivers were lucky to survive a season, let alone a career. Sir Jackie Stewart told the New Zealand Herald: "From 1968 to 1973, the statistics told me each time I raced I had a one out of three chance of living and a two out of three chance of dying. It was ridiculous how many funerals and memorial services we were attending."

The safety record more recently has created a sense of almost invincibility among many drivers. The cars are safer now, despite the extreme speeds they travel at, but Wheldon's death has brought the sport into sharp focus.

"The accident was a bit of a wake-up call for everyone," Cunningham said.

"We've all been involved in some big accident and almost now expect to walk away. The problem with pack racing isn't that you're racing side-by-side, it's how close people are running behind you.

"If something goes wrong, the people behind don't have any time to react. You saw a 15-car pile up and it's not like you can point the [finger] at any one person. This is what happens when you travel at 380km/h and you're literally six feet behind the car in front of you.

"Decisions are made in a split second and, although you may not have made the wrong decision, you still could be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I think that's what happened to Dan."

There is widespread fascination among fans at the speeds drivers achieve. It's also what attracts racers in the first place.

But only top drivers know what it's like to be in an open-top missile flying in close formation with as many as 30 other vehicles at top speed. To professional racers, however, it's not really the speed that's a factor.

"Everyone's moving that quickly at the same time the speed doesn't really seem that relevant," Cunningham said.

"You're in a stack of cars going 350km/h and you know you're going quickly because of the sensation of speed. You're aware of the cars beside you, and if they're only going a little bit slower they are your reference point, not the race track.

"All decisions you make depend on the track you're racing on, the level of grip, the car set up, how close you can get to the car in front.

"On some tracks, you can't get too close to the car in front so there's a gap in case something happens, but at Las Vegas everyone was so close to each other there is no planning, you're just reacting all the time."

Of course, Wheldon had no time to react. It's those left behind who now do all the reflecting.