RIP Dan Wheldon

PostRIP Dan Wheldon by **Rubix** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:04 am

IndyCar champion Dan Wheldon dies in ball of flames after horrific 15-car pile-up during 225mph Las Vegas race

Struggling father-of-two, 33, was pushed to drive harder in chase for $5million bonus race winnings
'I could see within five laps people were starting to do crazy stuff,' says fellow driver Dario Franchitti
Former rival of F1 champion Jenson Button had left UK in search of lucrative IndyCar career
Shocked Lewis Hamilton says Wheldon was an 'inspirational guy and talented driver'
Former racing driver Mark Blundell brands Las Vegas track as a 'recipe for disaster'
Too many cars may have been crammed onto the 1.5mile long oval course

A British IndyCar champion has been killed after his vehicle burst into flames following a high-speed 15-car pile-up.

Dan Wheldon, 33, died while competing in the Las Vegas Indy 300 where drivers reach speeds of up to 225mph in the race for bumper winnings of more than $5million.

The married father-of-two's Dallara-Honda had weaved his way through the field of cars after starting at the back but became tangled in a pile-up. His car was catapulted over another racer and hurled into fencing, where it went up in flames.

Mr Wheldon, a former private school pupil originally from Buckinghamshire, was rushed to hospital in a helicopter but diedas a result of his severe 'unsurvivable' injuries.

As the racing world today came to terms with the death, their were safety questions being asked of the course and speculation that Mr Wheldon was pushing himself to the limits for the massive $5m bonus given to drivers who had started at the back of the grid.

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PostRe: RIP Dan Wheldon by **Thujopsis** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:06 am

Give the guy a cremation, could probably get half off.

PostRe: RIP Dan Wheldon by **Beans** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:06 am

Sad news indeed.

I may as well be the first to say, but all those cars going at 200mph+ is incredibly dangerous, so its not that shocking news tbh, despite being very sad.

PostRe: RIP Dan Wheldon by **bear** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:18 am

Why use the Daily Mails story about this Rubix? Decent news sites like the BBC have covered it much better.

Lock request.

PostRe: RIP Dan Wheldon by **Beans** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:21 am

bear wrote:Why use the Daily Mails story about this Rubix? Decent news sites like the BBC have covered it much better.

Lock request.

Using a news source which isn't your favourite is hardly a reason for the thread to be locked :roll:

If you prefer the Beeb's coverage why don't you post some links in here?

PostRe: RIP Dan Wheldon by **bear** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:24 am

The lock request wasn't exactly serious.

PostRe: RIP Dan Wheldon by **Beans** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:25 am

Fair do

PostRe: RIP Dan Wheldon by **Fatal Exception** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:25 am

The photos look like the first corner from every online Forza 4 race I've been in.

PostRe: RIP Dan Wheldon by **abcd** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:26 am

Big shame. :cry:

PostRe: RIP Dan Wheldon by **Qikz** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:38 am

My condolences go to his family. I wonder how his children have taken the news.

PostRe: RIP Dan Wheldon by **Beans** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:40 am

StayDead wrote:My condolences go to his family. I wonder how his children have taken the news.

Thats who I really feel sorry for. He knew the risks he was taking, but his poor family and kids are the ones who suffer.

PostRe: RIP Dan Wheldon by **captain red dog** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:44 am

Such a shame, followed him loosely since his early days. Remember seing him win his first Indy on Sky Sports and was amazed. As successful (if not more so) as Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button but sadly not as well known in this country as we seem to have a snobbery towards US racing.

Wonder if he will get a posthumous Sports Personality award.

PostRe: RIP Dan Wheldon by **PCCD** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:55 am

Couldn't even get through the five lap procession they had for him without tearing up.

PostRe: RIP Dan Wheldon by **Preezy** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:10 am

Some people just can't handle Vegas.

PostRe: RIP Dan Wheldon by **Steve** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:14 am

Thujopsis wrote:Give the guy a cremation, could probably get half off.

Mate...

PostRe: RIP Dan Wheldon by **Beans** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:16 am

Preezy wrote:Some people just can't handle Vegas.

So how strawberry floated up did you get in Vegas Preezy?

PostRe: RIP Dan Wheldon by **Preezy** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:18 am

Beans wrote:
Preezy wrote:Some people just can't handle Vegas.

So how strawberry floated up did you get in Vegas Preezy?

Jumped-off-a-building-fucked-up, that's how much 8-)

Also won $10 at the slots yeah 8-)

#highroller

PostRe: RIP Dan Wheldon by **SugarCubes** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:22 am

R.I.P

Dan Wheldon rolling the dice in Vegas:

"Thank you for the opportunity," Wheldon responded. "But please don't expect any flips like Travis Pastrana does because I'm not into that.

"I'm going to keep it on all four."

http://espn.go.com/racing/indycar/story ... -las-vegas

PostRe: RIP Dan Wheldon by **qupe** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:28 am

This clip was in Wheldon car right before the incident. He had no chance to avoid it

R.I.P

PostRe: RIP Dan Wheldon by KK » Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:29 am

Live HD footage from ESPN/ABC:

A lot of people have been complaining about ABC's poor coverage ever since they took it over.

RIP Dan Wheldon

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