Dan Wheldon 1978 – 2011

[Josh Bullen]

In a Formula 1 crash, the cars wouldn't (shouldn't) have set on fire so quickly after being involved in an accident. I seriously hope IndyCar can learn from this accident, make their cars safer, and ensure something like this never happens again.

Rest In Peace Dan

 

[Daniel Triana]

RIP

 

[Jack Wall]

RIP Dan Wheldon

 

[Ado Pusina]

R.I.P. Dan. Sad news...

 

[Amblin]

RIP Dan.

I sat horrified watching last night. My son had come downstairs to watch with me when the entire incident unfolded in front of us. My son was visibly shaken and after 30 minutes or so excused himself, just saying that perhaps this would be Indy cars "Imola" moment. (Because he watched "Senna" with me last week and I explained how his death altered F1 for better or worse forever)

I've had a little look back as far as 1994 to check and I wonder how many "Imola" moments the US Open Wheelers need? I think they need to sort the series out, but hey, what do I know? I know it's part of the sport, but I'm sure more can and probably will be done.

Jeff Krosnoff[SUP][1][/SUP]	July 14, 1996	CART	Exhibition Place	Molson Indy Toronto	Arciero-Wells Racing	Race
Gonzalo Rodríguez	September 11, 1999	CART	Laguna Seca	Honda Grand Prix of Monterey	Team Penske	Practice
Greg Moore	October 31, 1999	CART	California Speedway	Marlboro 500	Forsythe Racing	Race
Scott Brayton	May 17, 1996	IRL	Indianapolis	1996 Indy 500	Team Menard	Practice
Tony Renna	October 22, 2003	IRL	Indianapolis	Private test	Chip Ganassi Racing	Testing
Paul Dana	March 26, 2006	IRL	Homestead	Toyota Indy 300	Rahal Letterman Racing	Morning warm-up practice
Dan Wheldon	October 16, 2011	IRL	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	IZOD IndyCar World Championships	Sam Schmidt Racing	Race

RIP Dan

 

[Ross Balfour]

Tragic news, was a great guy and a great racer.. R.I.P

 

[Juul Knoops]

Rest in peace Dan :frown:

 

[Ramon Alonso]

I was in shock when I saw the crash and more so when news of Wheldon's death. It's a part of the sport that will always be there. To blame the car or whatever else is just ridiculous, after all it's an open cockpit. At the speeds their travelling it's just a matter of time, and as a driver they know it every time they get in the car. I wonder if this will somehow affect the design of next years car, after all angles have been looked at.

 

[Sérgio Marques]

About blaming the car, why they drop a 2007 chassis, the Panoz DP01 for a 2003 one, when they join ChampCar World Series and the Indy Racing League?

http://www.nowpublic.com/sports/long-beach-2008-panoz-dp01-s-last-hurrah-edje

Seems like the Dallara was cheaper.

 

[Steve Sachse]

What a terrible crash, could have been even worse. RIP, Dan Wheldon.

 

[Danny Pattiwael]

RIP, Dan Wheldon .. what a terrible crash..

 

[Péter Bártfai]

Horrible crash!

RIP Dan Wheldon

 

[Christoffer Haugen Pettersen]

Rest in peace Dan Wheldon! tragic :/

 

[Berkem Ceylan]

I believe DP01 was not designed for oval racing.

About blaming the car, why they drop a 2007 chassis, the Panoz DP01 for a 2003 one, when they join ChampCar World Series and the Indy Racing League?

http://www.nowpublic.com/sports/long-beach-2008-panoz-dp01-s-last-hurrah-edje

Seems like the Dallara was cheaper.

 

[TheHemps]

So are we gonna get a Jackie Stewart-esque character on the scene to clean things up? Or just wait till someone else dies before this dangerous sport is regulated properly.

34 cars on an oval that tight is just damn stupidity, a ludicrous decision obviously from a thick pratt with $'s in his eyes. And now Dan's gone. Someone needs to pay for this. I'm so angry.

 

[Juen-Jen Wang]

Because the DP01 wasn't fit to go on ovals and in fact would actually go faster than the Dallara. Keep in mind guys the ancient Dallara could actually go faster... it was already capped

 

[Fredrik Arbegard]

Rest in Peace Dan, you will be missed

Seeing this remembers me when I was 13 and saw my big hero Kenny Bräck crash in Texas.
The accident and the news articles the following days after was terrible but luckily he survived thanks to the safety of the cars and a lot of luck.
I'm saddened that Dan didn't have the same luck, I haven't read up much on what injuries he sustained so I won't comment on Indycar's safety.
I only know it saved my hero once and Dario Franchitti twice, too bad it couldn't save Dan

 

[Ramon Alonso]

I just saw on the news that his roll bar or hoop bar whatever they call it, failed.

 

[Valerio Vinassa]

R.I.P. Dan:frown:

 

[Luke McVicar]

The fact is at 220mph no car is going to come out of a wall looking healthy, the track was the main issue not the car.