The son of former Formula One world champion John Surtees has been killed in a freak motor racing accident at Brands Hatch. Henry Surtees was struck on the head by the flying tyre of competitor Jack Clarke's car following a collision during the second of the weekend's Formula Two races at the Kent circuit on Sunday. The 18-year-old was knocked unconscious by the impact before his car ploughed into the barriers at the Sheene corner. He was airlifted to hospital following the incident but died shortly after. A spokesman for Kent Police said: "It appears it was a tragic accident." The race was red flagged while Surtees was removed from his car and taken to a medical centre where he was prepared for his transfer to hospital by helicopter. A spokeswoman for South East Coast Ambulance Service said it attended the incident at 1.30pm on Sunday and a man was airlifted to the Royal London Hospital with head injuries. Surtees claimed his first F2 podium finish on Saturday when he finished third in the weekend's opening race at Brands Hatch. He had secured a drive in F2 over the winter following a breakthrough year in 2008, which saw him make his debut in British Formula Three. His father John is famously the only man to have won world titles on both two and four wheels. He claimed multiple 500cc motorcycle world championships before winning the F1 crown with Ferrari in 1964. The 75-year-old also fielded his own Team Surtees cars in F1, F2 and Formula 5000 in the 1970s.
Oh wow... this remind me of the father that got killed on the highway by a piece of metal that flew into his windshield
Looks like the tethers hardly did anything on these cars, even at what looks like a relatively low speed section. =|
Formula Two cars are quite quick, Henry Surtees was going at a fairly quick speed, it seems as if he was only accelerating when approacing the wheel. It was really unfortunate. I thought he had a future in motorsport, and his F2 season was just starting to come good as he got a podium finished a day before this happened. BUt it just shows, that even the safety can't keep them safe. It was purely accidental, yet tragic :(. Last weekend saw some repeats of that with Massa getting hit by a 1KG spring in F1, but luckily he's out of a life-threatening condition but still severe. But as they said on TV, the racers should understand the risks when taking on the sport but it is such a shame that this had to happen. R.I.P Henry Surtees - 18.02.91-19.07.09
Massa's accident hit me a lot harder than this one. It's exponentially more coincidental that a spring just spontaneously pops off the back suspension when the car was never damaged to begin with. Then it manages to find the of the most well liked and hard working guy on the grid. I really hope Felipe will be able to get back on the grid and not have the scare of the accident affect him, because he's a great guy and has developed into a phenomenal driver. Best wishes to him!
im sure they are aware of the risks... but really motorsport is generally quite safe. whats the change of getting hit by a piece of debris really? how many races take place a day and how many people die? i think driving on the public roads are more dangerous lol... plenty more fatalities everyday!!!
