[Cygnus]

I know this has nothing even remotely to do with science fiction or fantasy but I know there are racing fans that frequent this board. Also, this is a great place for moral support!

I'm a big fan of the CART racing series and it was an awful shock to hear that Alex Zanardi was involved in a crash this weekend that was so bad that both of his legs were amputated. He is a great race car driver (as two CART championships attest to) and though his time at F1 was not fruitful, it was always fun to see him race.

Add this tragedy to what we witnessed here in the US last week, and I've had about as much as I can take! Any fans out there, please join me in sending your thoughts, wishes, prayers to Alex for a speedy recovery.
Thanks everyone!

[Cadfael]

Well said Cygnus!!

I shall never forget the overtaking move he did to Bryan Herta's Team Rahal car at the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca. Alex has done some inspired drives, I have lost count of the number of times he won a race from the very back of the grid. As I am typing this, I can see my 1999 1:18 model of his Target Chip Ganassi race car. The only CART race car I have in my collection, I really love watching Zanardi race.

My thoughts and prayers go to him and his family, he has one hell of a mountain to climb. The latest news is that he is no longer in a life threatening condition, and I thank all that is sacred for that.

I also would like to applaud British Eurosport, they ran a recording of the race on Sunday (it was not broadcast live on Saturday), and although the accident was shown... it was just shown once, without distressing replays from different angles.

[Ntschotschi]

This took place near Berlin I think at least I saw the adverts before it took place.
A very bad accident but thanks God he's alive.
But I found the ads very spectacular, something like " The race where you never use the brakes".
It sounded like the people just w a i t e d for something like that to happen and didn't get disappointed.
Very bad style imo.

[Cadfael]

I do not believe that I read that... true... did you get that, TRUE!!!, race fans go to see a race... not to see an accident. I was practically in tears when I heard of this accident... and I did weep for Greg Moore.

[Cygnus]

I agree with you Dennizm. I've heard too many people say that they watch racing to see crashes, but they can't care about the drivers and say that. It makes my heart sick, because I follow these drivers through their racing careers and I feel like they are a part of my life in some way. My heart stops and my eyes tear up every time I see a bad crash.

Greg Moore was my favorite driver in CART. My husband and I had followed his progress closely through Indy Lights and CART. It's almost been two years since he died, but I still cry when I think about it. He had such talent and such a drive to be the best.

It's hard to be a race fan sometimes.

[Shehzad]

It was a sad thing indeed.

I'm not a great follower of CART, but could it be that their safety regulations are less stingent than those in F1?

[Cygnus]

I don't know how they compare to F1, but I know that CART is a racing series that takes safety very seriously. The incidents where drivers are seriously injured or killed tend to be freak occurences.. something that no amount of safety could've prevented. I have seen some horrific wrecks where the driver gets up and walks away (notably, Michael Andretti crashing a couple of years ago on a road course where the car must have flipped four or five times).

Does F1 run on oval tracks at all? That is where CART tends to see the worst injuries due to the high speed and lack of manuvering room for other cars to get out of the way. Even a tank will sustain some damage if something hits it going 200 mph! http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Cadfael]

No... no ovals in F1, the closest is The American Grand Prix... it is at the Brickyard in Indianapolis, but it uses the in-field and only part of the oval circuit. It is next week-end if you are intrested.

Another reason why CART is just a 'bit' more risky, is because the cars are more evenly matched and run together more. The F1 field can get fairly spaced out. You very rarely so three cars side by side going into a corner in F1. CART also uses steel brakes and therefore need to be braked a lot earlier, whereas carbon fibre brakes in F1 have tremendous stopping power.

And yes... the accident to Zanardi was a freak, I have never seen the like before... and hope never to see again http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/frown.gif