Dan Wheldon 1978-2011

I was saddened to hear this morning of the death of Dan Wheldon in the final IndyCar race of the season at Las Vegas yesterday. Wheldon was involved in a frightening 15 car pile-up in the early stages of the race, receiving fatal injuries when his car was launched into the air and hit protective catch-fencing. Wheldon leaves behind a wife and two infant children, and his tragic death has shocked the American and world motorsport fraternity.

Admittedly this is not a Formula 1 story per se – despite his achievements in the US, Wheldon only ever registered as a blip on Formula 1’s radar. He was reportedly offered a drive with BMW Sauber in 2006, and was also linked with a move to Honda, the engine supplier which powered him to his IndyCar victories. But Wheldon did race in the UK and Europe in his early career; indeed, Jenson Button was one of his closest rivals, and the 2009 World Champion has expressed his sadness at Wheldon’s death today.  

Despite early success, Wheldon suffered from the funding difficulties that blight many a talented driver’s career, and made the brave decision to move to the USA to live and race there at the age of 21. His rise to IndyCar racing was rapid, and his success there almost instant – he won three races in his first full season and finished runner-up in the championship, before taking the title in 2005 as well as the coveted win in the Indianapolis 500.

To call the Indy 500 America’s equivalent of the Monaco Grand Prix belittles the significance of the annual 500 mile race to American fans, which perhaps gives some indication of the level of Wheldon’s achievements. It also explains why Wheldon never openly sought a move to Formula 1, instead preferring to remain a big fish in the fairly large pond of American open-wheel racing, which has become significantly deeper recently after the merger of the Champ Car and IndyCar series which had split in the mid 1990s.

The quality of the field is such that Wheldon himself was unable to find a full-time drive this season, but he sensationally won the Indy 500 for the second time after rival JR Hildebrand crashed in the last corner. He also tested and developed the next generation of IndyCar, built by former HRT collaborator Dallara, which will make its debut next season. The significance of his death will hit home again next May, when 33 drivers will line up for the 96th running of the Indy 500 race in cars heavily influenced by Wheldon himself, but without the 2011 winner among them.

The tragic loss of such a talented driver serves to proof that no matter how much safety standards are improved, motor racing remains a dangerous sport. The dangers of IndyCar racing in particular have been discussed today by Jonathan Legard (suddenly ‘promoted’ to being a BBC motorsport expert after his removal as F1 commentator at the end of last year) and Mark “tyres what were on the car” Blundell, who predictably both claim that Indycar racing is far too dangerous. Certainly the speeds involved are extreme, with cars racing wheel-to-wheel at well over 200 miles an hour. But motor racing in general and Indycar racing in particular will never be truly safe activities.

Certainly lessons need to be learned from this tragic incident, but precisely what these lessons are should wait for another day. Suffice it to say that despite the danger, men and women will continue to race cars due to their inherent love of the sport, which we as fans all appreciate. Wheldon himself was only participating in Las Vegas as a one-off, in an attempt to win $5 million to be split between himself and a fan if he could come through the field from the back and triumph.

Dan Wheldon wrote in his last blog entry of putting on a show and providing the fans with “pure entertainment” in yesterday’s race, and it is the fantastic racing action that he provided in his career, as well as his success, which he will always be remembered for.