From Speed Channel:Cristiano da Matta was airlifted to a Wisconsin hospital Thursday afternoon after striking a deer during Champ Car testing at Elkhart Lake, Wis.
The 32-year-old Brazilian was knocked unconscious by the impact but his vital signs were good and he was stable.
According to an eyewitness, da Matta was heading for Turn 6 at Road America when the deer ran out in front of him and struck the right front of his RuSPORT Lola. The deer caromed into the cockpit and tore off the roll hoop as da Matta smashed into the tire barrier with his foot still planted on the throttle.
Safety crews extracted him on a backboard and applied an oxygen mask as he was taken to a helicopter.
The 2002 CART champion is coming off his first podium of the season, a second place last Sunday at San Jose.
Turn 6 at Road America is at the end of a short uphill straightaway. The cars usually enter the braking zone in the 110-115 mph range.
I have had the pleasure of knowing Cristiano for almost nine years, all the way back to his days in Indy Lights. Race car drivers are known for their egos, but he is one of the nicest, most down-to-Earth guys you could ever meet.
UPDATE: The Speed Channel story has been updated to say that da Matta was "critically injured" and is undergoing surgery. :-(
30 comments:
Where does car racing rank on the list of dangerous sports?
Seems much more dangerous to me than boxing. People talk about banning boxing but it seems like more people get seroiusly hurt or killed racing.
Where does car racing rank on the list of dangerous sports?
Seems much more dangerous to me than boxing. People talk about banning boxing but it seems like more people get seroiusly hurt or killed racing.
More people were killed playing high school football in 2005 than were killed driving a race car. If you ask most professional drivers, they will tell you they feel safer on the track than they do on the road because they know they can trust the guys around them. Racing is a dangerous sport and those guys are taking a risk every time they get behind the wheel. But each of us takes a risk when we get out of bed in the morning.
The latest update from British mag Autosport:
"Da Matta remains in critical condition
Cristiano da Matta continues to recover from the serious head injury he incurred following a high speed shunt at Road America yesterday.
He remains in the critical care unit of Theda Clark Memorial Hospital in Neenah, Wisconsin, and is being constantly monitored.
Da Matta suffered a subdural hematoma - bleeding between the brain and the skull - to the right side of his head.
The 32-year-old Brazilian struck a deer at a 130mph part of the 4.048-mile course. Skidmarks on the track indicate da Matta saw the deer as he came over the crest of the hill approaching Turn 6, and RuSPORT engineers have revealed he had got down to 90mph but could not avoid the animal, which struck his crash helmet.
The RuSPORT car swerved right and had a side-on impact with the concrete wall just after the bridge, and slid along it, crossing the gravel trap at Turn 6 before relatively gently hitting the tyre wall.
The Champ Car Safety Team were on the scene within 40 seconds and found da Matta unconscious.
Da Matta was not taken to the Champ Car Medical Center but was instead airlifted straight from the scene and taken to Theda Clark.
Close friends and colleagues Bruno Junqueira and Oriol Servia are reported to be at his bedside in intensive care and are expected to be joined by Tony Kanaan and Christian Fittipaldi."
Statistically though I would guess the chances of death are much higher in auto racing.
How many kids play football, half a million? a million?
The racing fraternity has to be much smaller than that.
I bet you deer kill more people on the roads than high school football.
When I get out of bed in the morning, the ground isn't going hundreds of miles an hour either.
(accounting for the rotation of the earth)
Am I Right?
300 people killed in Europe alone. (Don't know about the U.S.)
How many high school football fatalities?)
It is clear in all instances that deer-related road traffic accidents [RTAs] represent a significant problem in relation to damage to persons and property, as well as in the number of deer killed or injured each year. From the studies considered it seems that between 2% and 5% of RTAs involving deer would be expected to result in human injury or death. In continental Europe as a whole, it is estimated that close to 300 people are killed and 30,000 people injured each year in collisions with hoofed game; the costs associated with damage to property are estimated at around 1bn US dollars.
This is from a 2002 article.
Last year, there were 23 deaths among the 1.8-million football players in the country -- 1.5-million on high school, junior high and non-federation school teams. Eight were from direct causes such as head and neck injuries and 15 from indirect causes, such as heart attacks, heat stroke and asthma.
Some recent driver deaths in major auto racing events:
NASCAR
Dale Earnhardt, 2001, Daytona Beach, Fla.
Tony Roper, 2000, Fort Worth, Texas
Kenny Irwin, 2000, Loudon, N.H.
Adam Petty, 2000, Loudon, N.H.
John Nemechek, 1997, Homestead, Fla.
Rodney Orr, 1994, Daytona Beach, Fla.
Neil Bonnett, 1994, Daytona Beach, Fla.
Clifford Allison, 1992, Brooklyn, Mich.
J.D. McDuffie, 1991, Watkins Glen, N.Y.
Grant Adcox, 1989, Hampton, Ga.
CART
Greg Moore, 1999, Fontana, Calif.
Gonzalo Rodriguez, 1999, Monterey, Calif.
Jeff Krosnoff, 1996, Toronto.
Jovy Marcelo, 1992, Indianapolis.
Gordon Smiley, 1982, Indianapolis.
Formula One
Ayrton Senna, 1994, Imola, Italy.
Roland Ratzenberger, 1994, Imola, Italy.
Ricardo Paletti, 1982, Montreal.
Gilles Villeneuve, 1982, Spa Francorchamps, Belgium.
IRL
Scott Brayton, 1996, Indianapolis.
Deaths at Daytona
Racing-related deaths at Daytona International Speedway since the track opened in 1959:
1. Marshall Teague, NASCAR stock car practice, Feb. 11, 1959.
2. George Amick, USAC 100-mile race, April 4, 1959.
3. Dr. Bernie Taylor, powerboat race in infield lake, June 14, 1959.
4. Harold Haberling, NASCAR stock car practice, Feb. 21, 1964.
5. Billy Drew Wade, NASCAR stock car tire test, Jan. 5, 1965.
6. Don MacTavish, Sportsman 300 race, Feb. 21, 1969.
7. Wayne Harris Bartz, lightweight motorcycle race, March 12, 1969.
8. Talmadge "Tab" Prince, Twin 125-mile qualifying race, Feb. 19, 1970.
9. Joe "Rusty" Bradley, Daytona 200 race, March 14, 1971.
10. Davd Pearl, Paul Whiteman Trophy Race, July 30, 1971.
11. Friday Hassler, Twin 125-mile NASCAR qualifying race, Feb. 17, 1972.
12. Ricky Knotts, Twin 125-mile NASCAR qualifying race, Feb. 14, 1980.
13. Francis Affleck, ARCA stock car practice, Feb. 7, 1985.
14. Dr. Charles Ogle, stock car testing, injured Dec. 15,
1985, died Dec. 26, 1985.
15. Bruce Jacobi, Twin 125-mile NASCAR qualifying race,
injured Feb. 1983, died Feb. 4, 1987.
16. Joe Young, Charlotte-Daytona Dash race, Feb. 13, 1987.
17. James Kolman, kart testing, Dec. 27, 1987.
18. Randy Glenn, motorcycle practice, Feb. 26, 1988.
19. Don Williams, Sportsman 300 race, injured Feb. 1979, died May 21, 1989.
20. Dale Robertson, kart race, Dec. 27, 1989.
21. Julius Johnson, ARCA 200 stock car race, injured Feb. 11, 1990, died Feb. 14, 1990.
22. Joe Booher, Florida 200 Dash race, Feb. 12, 1993.
23. James Adamo, motorcyle race, March 7, 1993.
24. Neil Bonnett, NASCAR stock car practice, Feb. 11, 1994.
25. Rodney Orr, NASCAR stock car practice, Feb. 14, 1994.
26. Michael Himes, IMSA Two-Hour endurance race, Jan. 31, 1997.
27. Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR Daytona 500, Feb. 18, 2001.
Worldwide Boxing Fatalities seem to average about 10 a year in the 2000's.
953 deaths listed from 1920 to the present. That works out to 11.2 deaths per year (953 deaths/85.33 years).
But for pure casualties, even the Baja can't match the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, a series of high-speed motorcycle races on the small British island that has claimed about 180 lives since its inception in 1907, or about two per year. Meanwhile, the Dakar Rally, a car, truck and motorcycle race that covers 700 miles from Portugal to Senegal, has resulted in 45 casualties in the past 27 years.
Jerry Kunzman, executive director of the National Autosport Association, says that auto racing is safer than it was, particularly since the 2001 death of racing legend Dale Earnhardt resulted in more cars being fitted with improved head and neck restraints. But the sport still takes about three lives per year.
"Oval [track] racing has big groups of cars together, so a mistake by one driver could mean 20 getting into an accident," Kunzman says. He adds that open road racing, while more spread out, has more configurations and angles that could cause a crash and typically carries a higher risk of rollovers.
The Indianapolis 500 has produced 41 deaths since 1909, according to the race's Web site, while the NASCAR circuit has suffered ten fatalities since 1989, though none have occurred since Earnhardt's death.
Year 2000
America's Most Dangerous Jobs
Job Number Of Fatalities Fatality Rate*
Timber Cutters 105 122.1
Fishermen 52 108.3
Pilots 230 100.8
Structural Metal Workers 47 59.5
Extractive Occupations 69 53.9
Roofers 65 30.2
Construction Workers 288 28.3
Truck Drivers 852 27.6
All Occupations 5,915 4.3
I don't know the per capita numbers on football vs. auto racing. One thing you also have to consider is that in addition to the major professional racing series, there are more than 800 regional tracks in the United States alone, and many more in Canada. If you combine all of those and the major professional series, the rate of death is much lower than one might imagine.
But as I said, racing is a dangerous sport. I don't discount that at all. But there are numbers of safety measures in place. When you get out of bed in the morning, no, the Earth is not moving at 100 mph (minus the rotation). But when you get out of bed, you aren't wearing a fireproof suit and a helmet.
Nor are you sitting in a cocoon made out of 3-inch thick Kevlar. Nor do you have an automatic fire extinguisher strapped to the floor between your legs. Nor are you wearing a five-point safety harness. And you certainly don't have a team of the best paramedics and neurosurgeons waiting on standby in case you stub your toe on the dresser.
I think it's ridiculous when people talk about banning boxing or auto racing. The people that do it, do it because they choose to. They know the dangers when they get started.
Deer are definitely a major problem on the highways. But liberals have made it harder and harder to hunt and the population is just out of control. The animal rights kooks have succeeded in getting so many restrictions placed on hunting.
For instance, here in Allen County I am only allowed to harvest one deer per year. I would love to be able to take two of them (we eat everything I hunt), but I am not allowed.
Also, they have succeeded in stereotyping hunters as nothing more than a bunch of backwoods rednecks. I know countless hunters who do not fall into that category. But I also know guys who won't take up hunting because they are afraid of what people might think of them.
Personally, I'd rather have a bunch of tree huggers think I'm a redneck than have the real men that I know think I'm a sissy.
I guess you're right...
Racing isn't that dangerous.
The Internet is amazing...
I have studied fatalities in racing quite a bit and have watched men that I've met die. It's not fun. But it is the nature of the sport. As I said, these guys all know the risks.
(BTW, the Isle of Man TT is insane!)
How do you know how I'm dressed and what precautions I take when I get out of the bed in the morning?
As clumsy as I am I probably should take those precautions.
I wonder how many people die getting out of bed in the morning?
Most people who die suddenly do so shortly lafter waking up in the morning (I've heard)
Wow!!
But you need a disclaimer cuz those lyrics are pretty insane too.
The soundtrach sounded like Rammstein. They said "Mother" and "Messiah" a lot, but I don't think your M-I-L would approve.
John, maybe more people were killed in HS football, but ALOT more people PLAY HS football. Per Capita racing is probably much more deadly.
His m-i-l is right here. What do you have to say for yourself young man?
sorry about redundantly saying the same thing over and over again post that was already said. I tried to delete and destroy and get rid of it, but I just wasn't able to do it, cause I couldn't.
Sorry about that, I apologize.
I knew there were killer deer somewhere! Sharla warned me about it when I first moved to deer filled country.
Sorry, didn't know there were any lyrics involved. I had the sound turned down on my 'puter.
Zion, I wasn't trying to say HSF was more dangerous, just that everything we do has an element of danger to it. Part of living is knowing that we can die at any moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HY5aVXNxrI
Here john, redeem yourself!
I already did. I deleted the link.
You racing people are so "whirley!!"
So Lumberjack is the most dangerous profession in the U.S. Who'd a thunk?
"I'm a lumberjack and I'm Okay, I work all AAAAHHHHH!!!" Ka-thump!! (silence..._)
Zion's reading comprehension skills... not great, I personally think it runs in the family. =)
LOL at the Lumberjack song. :D
Post a Comment