SLIDESHOW
Great motorsport safety cars – after one to forget
Safety cars on race tracks are vital. They are piloted by a pro driver and often carry a doctor aboard, plus the medical, fire-fighting and communications kit to cope with any incident. They are also used to control the pace of the pack during any period run under warning flags.
Here’s our pick of the most notable, with a stark reminder of why having a good safety car is so important.
ALISDAIR SUTTIE
Opel Vectra Turbo
There’s a reason modern safety cars are all high-performance models, and the Opel Vectra Turbo is it. After a crash on the first lap of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, the Opel came out. Drivers’ concerns that the souped-up family saloon wouldn’t be suitable in this role were soon realised, as it couldn’t go fast enough to maintain temperature (and thus grip) in the tyres of the F1 cars. Ayrton Senna even drove alongside it, gesticulating to its driver to go faster, but its brakes had already been fried. After the rolling restart, Senna crashed fatally at the 190mph Tamburello corner. It’s thought by many that he may have lost steering traction as the car bottomed out, riding low on tyres that were too soft, having lost pressure and heat.