On this day, July 29, 1973, Roger Williamson died in a wreck at Zandvoort.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Mon Jul 29, 2024, 09:55 AM - Edit history (1)

His car overturned and caught on fire. This happened on the sixth anniversary of the USS Forrestal fire. Both events changed how fires would be fought in the future.

Roger Williamson


Bronze statue of Roger Williamson at the
Donington Park Garden of Remembrance

Born: 2 February 1948; Ashby-de-la-Zouch, England
Died: 29 July 1973 (aged 25); Zandvoort, Netherlands

Roger Williamson (2 February 1948 – 29 July 1973) was a British racing driver, a two time British Formula 3 champion, who died during his second Formula One race, the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort Circuit in the Netherlands.

Biography

Williamson was born in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire. He won the 1971 and 1972 British Formula 3 Championship titles. In 1973, he was offered a drive in the March Engineering works Formula One team. Williamson originally tested for the BRM team, but his manager advised him to take the March offer, as March had a slightly stronger performance in the previous season.

Death
Main article: 1973 Dutch Grand Prix § Death of Roger Williamson

External video

Footage of David Purley attempting to save Williamson who
was trapped in his overturned and burning car on YouTube


The burned wreckage of Williamson's March 731,
with Purley standing second left as Niki Lauda passes.


The scene of Williamson's fatal
accident as Gijs van Lennep passes.

After his Formula One debut at the 1973 British Grand Prix, Williamson's second Formula One appearance was at the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort Circuit. On his eighth lap, a suspected tyre failure at the high speed esses near the Tunnel Oost (East Tunnel) caused his car to flip upside down and catch fire. Williamson had not been seriously injured by the impact, but was trapped under the car which was swiftly engulfed in flames. The track marshals were both poorly trained and badly equipped, and did not assist him. Another driver, David Purley, upon witnessing the crash of his friend, abandoned his own race and pulled over in a desperate and valiant attempt to rescue Williamson. He ran across the still active track to Williamson's car and tried to turn it upright, before grabbing a fire extinguisher from a marshal and returning to the engulfed car. He emptied it on the car and signalled for others to help. Purley's efforts to turn the car upright and extinguish the flames were in vain, and the marshals were unable to handle the vehicle without flame retardant overalls. Purley later stated he could hear Williamson's screams from underneath the car, but by the time the first fire engine arrived and the fire was extinguished, Williamson had died of asphyxiation. As most racers mistakenly identified Purley as the driver of the crashed car, and therefore thought the burning car to be empty, none of them stopped to help and the race continued, even as Purley stood on the circuit and gestured with his hands for them to stop. Furthermore, the track marshals were wearing normal blazers and not the fire-resistant overalls which the drivers wore, and thus were not able to go near the large flames. Purley was later awarded the George Medal for the bravery he displayed in attempting to rescue Williamson. A series of photos of the incident, showing a clearly desperate and ultimately dejected Purley, won that year's World Press Photo award for Photo Sequences. Williamson's body was later cremated with his ashes being taken to an undisclosed location. In the years following the accident, fire-resistant clothing would become mandatory for all trackside marshals so that they would be able to assist in the event of a fire. The next few years also saw a noticeable increase in drivers stopping at accident sites to assist in rescue efforts, notably at the 1976 German Grand Prix. Williamson was 25 years old at the time of his death.

In 2003, on the thirtieth anniversary of his fatal crash, a bronze statue of Williamson was unveiled at the Donington Park circuit in his native Leicestershire. Then-owner Tom Wheatcroft had provided financial backing to Williamson, and described the day Williamson died as "the saddest day of my life".

{snip}

Mon Jul 29, 2024: On this day, July 29, 1967, a fire broke out on board the USS Forrestal.

Sat Jul 29, 2023: On this day, July 29, 1967, a fire broke out on board the USS Forrestal.

Sat Jul 29, 2023: On this day, July 29, 1973, Roger Williamson died in a wreck at Zandvoort.

[Old Crank]

1. Probably lead to better gas tank design also.

All safety regulations are written in blood.

[A HERETIC I AM]

2. The frustration and subsequent sadness of Purley...

who was desperate to help his friend and from mere feet away heard him scream for help as he was burning, is one of the saddest pieces of motor racing footage in existence.

His absolute disgust with the Marshall's hits home, as I did that sort of volunteer work in the 1980's.

I was a member of the South Florida Region of the SCCA and was a "Flagging and Communications" Course Marshall, or "Corner Worker" as we were called. That region called Moroso Park in West Palm Beach as home and the leadership of the region was very good at training those that worked the corners. We also did 10 to 15 club events a year at Moroso, so as a group we had a lot of experience running corner safety at events, but we were by no means professional firefighters or EMT's, merely volunteers who had a few classes. While we did have several fire extinguishers at each corner station, if a car became completely enveloped there was little that could be done until a fully equipped fire crew arrived. Luckily I never witnessed such an occurrence. Fiery crashes are actually quite rare, thankfully.

In 1983 the "Grand Prix of Miami" began running in downtown Miami (An event sanctioned by the International MotorSports Association - IMSA), and it was the South Florida Region who supplied most of the workers. Same with the subsequent West Palm Beach Grand Prix (Also an IMSA event which ran from 1986 to '91) and the PPG/CART IndyCar series which first ran at Tamiami Park in 1985. The 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Daytona were covered by the Central Fla region.

The worst accident that happened when I was doing that sort of thing was at Moroso when a car missed a turn and went into a retention pond and the driver drowned. No one could get to him fast enough to help him.

That work, coupled with my job of driving tractor trailers led to me getting into Motor Racing as a truck driver. I was involved in IndyCar, NASCAR, NHRA and IMSA racing for over 12 years, participating in no fewer than 150 race meetings, and in all those events, I was present when another 6 persons lost their lives, drivers and corner workers included.

Safety has improved drastically since the 70's but racing remains a dangerous sport and if you're involved in it long enough, you'll see someone die while participating.