News & Comments: Vitaly Petrov

Formula1 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Petrov Huge Airborne Crash [HD]

Just over two laps from home and with eighth place in his sights, Petrov ran wide at one point, striking a kerb that then launched his car into the air.

On thudding back onto the Sepang circuit, the impact jolted the steering column out of place, leaving Petrov with no means to control his car.

The Russian, however, superbly managed to slow his speed, although ran into a polystyrene advertising hoarding on the other side of the track before finally coming to rest.

Petrov played down the incident as he said: "To be honest I still don't understand what I did.
"The corner is a difficult one, and I knew Lewis (Hamilton) was behind me, but there were only two laps to go and I knew my tyres were good.

"But I picked up some rubber which resulted in understeer and I went wide, and it was a big bump there.

"When I took off and hit the ground, my first thought then was that my race was over.
"It wasn't scary for me. You know it's going to be a big shunt.

"It's actually more scary when you see a wall coming towards you when you crash.

Watching this incident of Vitaly Petrov in his Lotus Renault reminded me of an incident inf my second year of Formula Ford 1600 in my FF1969 Oscar at Silverstone. Going into Becketts on the Grand Prix Circuit the steering wheel came off and rested on my chest as I headed into the corner with no way to steer around it. I brought it to a halt in a more or less straight line and did not hit the banking. The bolts had sheared! Guess I knew how he felt this morning with no steering. If I remember I brought it to a halt in a straight line by applying the brakes, everytime it started to break away releasing them. I find that I have a six sense in incidents.

The penultimate race at Castle Combe the previous season I was involved in a crash at Tower - 2 cars were spinning in front of me and I went to avoid them but we collected one another on the grass. A Hawke following me crashed on top of me - I was in the cockpit semi dazed with the Hawke´s petrol pouring onto my running engine. Luckily one of the Marshalls switched it off

The photo hit the magazine Autosport! Heard afterwards that the Hawke driver had kidney problems as a result of the accident and the Hawke factory employee that stuck the STP on the underside of the Hawke owned up to this many years later. Obviously in this crash I had put so much pressure on my steering wheel that new nuts and bolts should have been put on this before the next season.
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For those that remember the Cooper Formula One car you may notice a resemblance between that and the Oscar FF1600 here - It was designed by the same person Frank Boyles
The aluminium bodywork was made by Maurice Gomm
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