This has been a very bad few weeks for motorsports. Three drivers who've frctured vertebrae (though IIRC one was a cycling accident, not motorsports related), two more drivers hospitalized from incidents at Road America, Gronholm hospitalized after accident in the X-Games, and now this...

Glad to hear she's awake and alert. Hopefully there is no lasting damage from this.

Not to forget Toomas Heikkennen

Beitske Visser fractureed her vertebre in Formula ADAC as well

Quote from Intrepid :

Beitske Visser fractureed her vertebre in Formula ADAC as well

That wasn't this week tho was it.

Quote from BlueFlame :

That wasn't this week tho was it.

Quote from MAGGOT :

This has been a very bad few weeks for motorsports.

Edit: Beitskes accident was early May so it was maybe a bit more then a few weeks ago.

Quote from BlueFlame :

Not to forget Toomas Heikkennen

Was that the rally driver that shorted the jump in xGames practice? Looked like a nasty impact; hadn't realized he was injured, though.

Quote from Intrepid :

Beitske Visser fractureed her vertebre in Formula ADAC as well

I never heard about that one. That's 4 drivers with vertebrae injuries this season.

Quote from MAGGOT :

I never heard about that one. That's 4 drivers with vertebrae injuries this season.

What'seven more crazy she raced the next day.... and won. she only found out she had fractured a vertebrae was on Monday. I'd be ****ing furious at the doctors for missing that one.

Crash - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKT_JWNXOhg
Next day - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcrDnwfhNz4

I think she might have a bright future. Bloody quick in a kart too

Quote from MAGGOT :

Was that the rally driver that shorted the jump in xGames practice? Looked like a nasty impact; hadn't realized he was injured, though.



I never heard about that one. That's 4 drivers with vertebrae injuries this season.

He had a broken ankle

And a collapsed lung, too (from what I read)

And also Robbie Maddison's crash. I think he has a broken leg.

Apparently she has lost her right eye. Tragic indeed, but christ she's lucky to still be alive.

Maria has lost her right eye

That's really bad, everything seems alright yesterday ( to an extent ) and now this, I mean I knew it wasn't good but this will have seriously decreased her chances of ever racing again.

Did she ever had a realistic oportunity in F1 of something more then a test driver though? 32 years and all...

Maybe throught sponsors, you know, she is a woman in a men sport, feminist could be interested in paying...

It was 110% commercial deal. So no racing in F1 no matter what would have happened with marussia drivers. She was not "an actual" reserver driver:
http://formula-one.speedtv.com ... its-not-marussia-reserve/

Hopefully she makes as full recovery as she can. Losing one eye hopefully means the other one is still ok.

Quote from Boris Lozac :

Did she ever had a realistic oportunity in F1 of something more then a test driver though? 32 years and all...

Quote from Hyperactive :

It was 110% commercial deal

No but she has done a variety of WTCC, Super League, Formula 3000 (Auto GP) Grand Am and other GT series - it seemed like this Marussia deal was a way back into racing for her after a semi-sabbatical after severing ties with Lotus Renault GP. Also as far as I am aware, there was / is no money involved for Maria to be a test driver for Marussia, I mean who would pay to be a test driver and never really drive the car apart from straight line tests? She brang publicity to the team which in turn benefited all sponsors at Marussia plus the fact her being Spanish added an extra depth of diversity for Marussia to "sell" to sponsors.

Whilst I am not 'pro' female F1 drivers if they have no talent, I do hope she can do a 'Zinardi' and return to racing in some form although I am sure it willl be a fare while and given her age Single Seaters will be off the cards.

I'm not sure a driver can race with only one eye; depth perception is very, very important in racing and with only one eye you essentially have no depth perception.

Quote from b1kzit :

Also as far as I am aware, there was / is no money involved for Maria to be a test driver for Marussia, I mean who would pay to be a test driver and never really drive the car apart from straight line tests? She brang publicity to the team which in turn benefited all sponsors at Marussia plus the fact her being Spanish added an extra depth of diversity for Marussia to "sell" to sponsors.

Are you sure of that...? When you think of the crazy amount of money involved in feeder series, surely you could always find a few drivers desperate enough to put a few bucks on the table - just to get a sniff at F1.

Quote from b1kzit :

Whilst I am not 'pro' female F1 drivers if they have no talent, I do hope she can do a 'Zinardi' and return to racing in some form although I am sure it willl be a fare while and given her age Single Seaters will be off the cards.

Age is not the issue here. Schumi is chasing F1 podiums at 44. John Andretti and Jean Alesi made their latest Indy 500 start at 48.

Quote from GreyBull [CHA] :

Are you sure of that...? When you think of the crazy amount of money involved in feeder series, surely you could always find a few drivers desperate enough to put a few bucks on the table - just to get a sniff at F1.

Yes. Regardless of the fact that feeder series are at a ridiculous price now, she was and is not paying for her role. It's simply a publicity stunt - as the source explains she is filling the title of reserve driver not the role. Think of it as a helping hand offered to spark a career in GT's once again, reciprocal to the extent that she will probably get some sort of role within a Marussia GT scheme in the future and in return all the sponsors get publicity from being a part of "the first female F1 driver".

Yes although age isn't an issue with those dinosaurs wondering around racing paddocks etc but lets be real, that's because they are names they have achieved something in their long career - whereas in terms of results Maria is still a "newbie". Nevertheless, really hope she is out and about and can still play a part in the industry.

She didn't have a hope in hell of obtaining a Super Licence, and it's a shame the only two women in F1 aren't there on merit.

Quote from MAGGOT :

I'm not sure a driver can race with only one eye; depth perception is very, very important in racing and with only one eye you essentially have no depth perception.

ISC Appendix L seems to suggest that blindness in one eye for less than 5 years prohibits you holding an international racing licence.

Definitely a career-ender as far as top level racing is concerned.

Quote from MAGGOT :

I'm not sure a driver can race with only one eye; depth perception is very, very important in racing and with only one eye you essentially have no depth perception.

Does that mean every f1 simulator is in 3d now?

I don't think it's as vital as you make out, but probably it is something that takes time to get used to.

Sad news anyway, although I thought she wouldn't survive it tbh.

Quote from sinbad :

Does that mean every f1 simulator is in 3d now?

I don't think it's as vital as you make out, but probably it is something that takes time to get used to.

Sad news anyway, although I thought she wouldn't survive it tbh.

+1

If depth perception by stereoscopic vision was that important, there would not be any sim racing at the level it exists now.

I have quite an eye-dominance issue which means I have virtually no depth perception (apart from juding distance by using common sense). I must admit I do not even know what people mean when they talk about judging depth without moving their heads.

This might be an issue when catching a ball but not for driving.

With the limited sight to left and right in a race car, I doubt if that would be a real issue.

With the above I am not trying to say it's not a very tragic injury, just giving my view on how the effect on racing racing might be limited.

Judging distance by common sense is no good when you have to make a decision in a split second.