Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyin Ryan
So he died of the same thing Earnhardt died of? Wasn't the HANS device or similar neck restraints that were its predecessors required in open wheel at the time?
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CART mandated the use of the HANS device starting with the 2000 season, as a result of the fatalities the year before.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyin Ryan
The only death I can think of where the roll hoop maybe played a role was the Budweiser exec that flipped over and died in a Grand-Am event at Homestead. Supposedly this was one of the reasons why Grand-Am went to having a closed cockpit for DPs.
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That was Jeff Clinton during practice for the Nextel 250 back in 2002. He lost control of his Lola entering turn one, hit the wall and was launched into a series of flips during which the roll hoop gave way and decapitated him.
A failed roll hoop also played a part in the death of Michele Alboreto during testing of the Audi R8 at Lausitzring in 2001, when he blew a tire and was launched into a violent series of rolls.