Robert Kubica Injured In Rally

[Grizzly]

I'm tempted to retract, or at least modify, my comments from the Desert Circuits thread but I would hope it was reasonably clear that punishing an 'off' doesn't have to mean an injury is involved. What this accident does highlight is the incredible differences between the hazards and risks an F1 driver faces and those in WRC. The call (Bernie's call) for more and more street circuits should be carefully considered.

I don't think you need to necessarily retract comments. This was a freak accident, just as the Massa accident last year was too. The accident itself I'm sure wasn't that bad, for the co-driver to walk away scot free, but the car floor is not going to be designed for steel beams connecting with them, perpendicular to the floor! and unless an investigation raises queries over the barrier prior to the crash, I'm sure this was very very circumstantial and very very unfortunate for Rob to have been injured like this. I'd be willing to bet you could have had that accident 100 times and walk away every time with nothing but a bruised ego.

Very very unfortunate for him and good to hear that the most worrying reports about him are now damping down a little...

 

[teabagyokel]

It seems that an unforseen danger of nausea for Kubica has cropped up.

How is Briatore so confident of recovery? Maybe he got Nelsinho Piquet to fix it for him...!

 

[gethinceri]

I'm surprised that anyone gives more credence to Mr Briatore than Dr Rossello.

 

[MCLS]

He probably threatend to show Kubica that 'swimming' picture which will therefore scare him into recovery

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Someone has posted a computer simulation of the crash. If it is accurate then Kubica and his Co-Driver are lucky still to be here.

 

[Brogan]

Woah!

Very nasty indeed.

 

[fat jez]

ouch, that is really nasty!

 

[Grizzly]

...and unless an investigation raises queries over the barrier prior to the crash...

I read this morning that, as kind of indicated in F1Ys video, there were two sections of barrier, where one ended, the other began, WITH AN EXPOSED END!?

Some homework for everyone - next time your on a dual carriageway or any road with barriers (extruded or high tension cable or otherwise), look at the junctions of one section ending and the next section beginning. Ive looked at these many times (for fun. I drive over 50k a year) and thought, if you happen to crash in the wrong place there are several scenarios.

High tension cable terminations are likely to launch your car in to the air like a ramp and..

Extruded barriers sometimes simply stop and where the new one starts is an exposed, solid, lump, that will have the same effect as in Roberts crash. Never mind Motorsport or rallying, i don't fancy meeting a barrier junction.

One of my own experiences...

I avoided a guaranteed rear-ender on the motorway two years ago, by diving to the outside of the mellay as it unfolded in front of me. I leant the car up against the barrier to give me stability and hopefully prevent me spinning (i had to swerve the crash onto a muddy/grassy central reservation to get round and decided colliding with and using the barrier would be the safest way. My car was mechanically fine, i drove the 65 miles home and the car was repaired. Every other vehicle in the 7 car pileup at 11:30 pm on the icy dual carriageway, caused by a grit truck of all things! were written off. I was quite pleased with myself, but if i were to meet a connection/junction in the barrier along that length, who knows what would have happened...?! (not a cue for a Grizzly free forum joke)

Hopefully this accident will be fully investigated and lessons leaned not just in motor sport, because these could be applied across the board...

 

[sobriety]

On UK motorways, the barriers are TCB (tensioned crash beam), they are bolted together in 3.2m sections, and they are terminated either into the ground or with a square plate termination piece to minimise the chance of exactly what happened to Kubica happening.

i'd guess that as he was on a small mountain road the barrier was not in a good state of repair, hence why the section came away.

I knew my uni summer job of QSing barrier repairs and retensioning work would come in handy one day!

 

[Grizzly]

Would you agree though that hitting one of the cable termination blocks would simply act as a ramp?

 

[sobriety]

Yup, i'd agree with that. Although you'd be pretty unlucky to hit a termination block as they're relatively rare compared to the distance of barrier. I'd be more worried by the fact that the common forms of crash barrier are a death sentence for motorcyclists.

 

[sportsman]

 

[Grizzly]

Yup, i'd agree with that. Although you'd be pretty unlucky to hit a termination block as they're relatively rare compared to the distance of barrier. I'd be more worried by the fact that the common forms of crash barrier are a death sentence for motorcyclists.

Yeah' there's what, 1, 2, 3 miles between termination/new length? but RK was unlucky..... Probably less than 1/1000 accidents involving the barrier would meet a junction, but.... I guess it just struck a chord....

I got off road bikes when i was 20, i miss them, but i don't miss A&E.

 

[Grizzly]

View attachment 1040 View attachment 1041

I wonder if there are any pictures/videos prior to the crash. Some reports now say that the barriers HAD been mentioned previously.

 

[FB]

That is a scary video and horribly pictures. The earlier ones didn't really show the full extent of the crash and both Kubica and his co-driver (as other have mentioned) are very lucky to be alive.

What has confused me over the last few days is the differing comments coming out from the doctors and Eric Bouiller. The doctors speaking of 6 months to a year, Bouiller 2 months. I know F1 drivers can be supermen when it comes to recovering from accidents (just look at Niki Lauda) but if nerves and tendons have to re-grow I cant imagine we will see Kubica this year somehow.

 

[sportsman]

Eric Bouiller is talking out of
Kubica has a broken leg.That will keep him out for three months by itself.He still needs two further operations on his arm.
I attach far more credence to the doctors than I do to his ridiculous statements.

 

[Pyrope]

I thoroughly second sportsman's comments, and I'll lump Briatore's guff in there as well.

Lauda, in his words, cooked himself; all the major damage was to the soft tissues which regrow much faster. Better analogies would be to Schumacher's leg breaking incident at Silverstone, that he took months to recover from, or the famous Brundle and Herbert lower leg injuries, which neither has every really recovered from. Even here, the Brits' injuries were to limbs that, in a reasonably modern F1 car, only have to operate binary switches, as both throttle and brake inputs these days tend to be full-on or full-off. Heel-and-toe refinement went out with the ark. Injuries to the hands are far more serious. Somebody already mentioned the name Nannini... I hope BobKub isn't affected that seriously, but I think it's a far more likely scenario than that which those with vested interests are putting about at present, unfortunately.

 

[teabagyokel]

I thoroughly second sportsman's comments, and I'll lump Briatore's guff in there as well.

Lauda, in his words, cooked himself; all the major damage was to the soft tissues which regrow much faster. Better analogies would be to Schumacher's leg breaking incident at Silverstone, that he took months to recover from, or the famous Brundle and Herbert lower leg injuries, which neither has every really recovered from. Even here, the Brits' injuries were to limbs that, in a reasonably modern F1 car, only have to operate binary switches, as both throttle and brake inputs these days tend to be full-on or full-off. Heel-and-toe refinement went out with the ark. Injuries to the hands are far more serious. Somebody already mentioned the name Nannini... I hope BobKub isn't affected that seriously, but I think it's a far more likely scenario than that which those with vested interests are putting about at present, unfortunately.

We'll never know how long it took Schu to recover, he was playing football when his daughter answered the phone to Luca di Montezemelo asking how he was! He did not fancy being Eddie Irvine's stooge.

It is a fallacy to say that because F1 drivers have recovered from stuff before then they'll recover this time. That argument is wishful thinking, as it would be as easy to cite Ronnie Peterson as Niki Lauda. This case must be taken on its own merits and it does not seem promising for a 2011 return, nor should Genii seek it if he is rushing back to the car before recovering sufficiently.

I would like it to be noted that I am in no way citing Ronnie Peterson.

 

[FB]

Indeed TBY, there are probably more drivers out there who haven't been the same post a major accident than have made a full recovery and been as good as they were before. Didier Pironi and Jean Pierre Jabouille are two examples which spring to my mind. Pironi never drove an F1 car again and Jabouille made a come back but wasn't the driver he was before. Jonny Herbert also never fulfilled the potential he showed in F3000 in an F1 car after his huge accident - didn't have a bad career though.

 

[Brogan]

The video and images are chilling.

Literally there must have been centimetres in it between life and death.