To be a racer in any form of motorsport, you must have very quick reactions because you never know what could happen from one second to the next. For 17-year-old Billy Monger, even the quickest reactions couldn’t prevent him from this.
Monger was racing in the Formula 4 British Championship at Donnington Park where a car ahead of him broke down. While there were no yellow flags present, Monger had a good run coming off a turn, passing a couple cars. Then all of a sudden, the car ahead turned, leaving Monger with no time to react to the stopped car of Patrik Pasma.
On board footage of the crash really shows you how little time Monger had to avoid a collision. It looks like something we may react to on the highway. Someone going the same speed suddenly swerves, leaving you needing to slam on the brakes so you don’t slam into the stopped car ahead of you. It’s like that but at 120 mph and probably at half the distance we would be used to.
Medics on site took a couple hours to extract Monger from the car. Monger was airlifted to a hospital where he suffered serious leg injuries.
Fans at the track were afraid things were much more serious and tragic after doctors put up white sheets around the car when they extracted Monger. That usually is a sign of a fatal crash and is meant to shield from anyone to take pics of the scene but reports said that Monger was conscious throughout and was trapped in the car. Pasma was also sent to the hospital fully conscious but his condition hasn’t been updated.
One very notable safety enhancement that very well saved Monger’s life and possibly his legs is that open wheel cars now have a wall separating their legs from the nose of the car. It used to be all one piece so when someone crashed and the nose became damaged, the racer’s legs were sometimes exposed and could easily result in broken legs and feet.
Cars today are designed for the nose to crush but stop before it gets to a driver’s feet and legs. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt when a crash like this happens and it still resulted in serious injuries but it very well may have saved Billy Monger’s life.
[BBC]
