FIA accident research: 100 deaths per year in motorsport

W you can see how many people die in motorsport every year ? There are significantly more than many imagine. But most deaths happen at club level, as safety expert Andy Mellor explains: 'Worldwide, 100 people die in motorsport every year, 50 percent each on two and four wheels. Of these 50 deaths, half are vehicle occupants and the other half are marshals or spectators. The majority of these accidents happen on a national level. We are trying to identify patterns here to bring these numbers down. '

The man who took on this task in September 2014 is Laurent Meckies. Formerly Chief Engineer at Toro Rosso. The 38-year-old Frenchman heads an eleven-person safety commission with four external consultants from the FIA ​​office in Geneva, who take care of all matters outside of Formula 1.

'Formula 1 is special. Andy Mellor and Charlie Whiting are a well-rehearsed team that works very well within the technical working group and has short decision-making paths. My job relates more to the other series. Our President wants us to transfer our experience from the top classes of motorsport to national racing series ', so Meckies.

3 deaths are of particular concern to FIA experts

Meckies knows: 'Safety is a moving goal. You never stop learning, you've never achieved the optimum. The further you go up the ladder the more injured and dead there are. Because the standards are lower there, and because there is less information about the individual accidents. That is where the big challenge lies for me. '

The aim of the association it is once to equip all racing cars with data recorders. They are compulsory at FIA events. 'We are currently developing an accident recorder that is also affordable for private drivers.'

Accident research has shown that each category has its own individual weak points. Formula cars the open cockpit and the freestanding wheels. Vehicles with a roof, the lateral support and the seating position.

Three recent deaths are worrying accident researchers. Allan Simonsen in 2013 at Le Mans, Ashley Cooper in a V8 supercar in 2008 in Adelaide and Phillip Yao in 2012 in Macau. 'All the same pattern. Looks like nothing, but in all 3 cases the drivers died from head and neck injuries. In comparison, Loic Duval ran away practically uninjured at Le Mans. And this accidentlooked terrible ', sums up Andy Mellor.

Seat position in WEC racers is a possible problem

The problem in the process: The body is nailed to its seat shell in closed cars. The head is not. In the case of unfavorable impact angles and abrupt decelerations, this can have fatal consequences.

'The problem was that the forces on the body were different every time were intercepted as the upside down. That is our big job in closed cars. To better protect your head because it can move more freely in a formula car. The seat can only be pulled around the head to a limited extent. 'The findings from this research should also benefit the many touring car drivers in the national championships.

The rear-end collision of Kazuki Nakajima in Spa with the WEC Toyota left another Recognize the weak point. The Japanese broke two vertebrae, although the deceleration was not dramatically high. Apparently, however, the crooked seating position in the WEC racers is not ideal. In a frontal collision, a certain part of the spine is extremely stressed. This leads to compression fractures. Safety coordinator Laurent Meckies promises: 'We won't run out of work.'

In the detailed interview on page 2 of this article, Laurent Meckies talks about the differences between the old job as an engineer for a Formula 1 team and his new one Tasks at the FIA.