Sad news from Le Mans

Posted by: osprey on 22 June 2013

In a statement on Saturday, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest said: "In a serious condition, Allan Simonsen was transferred immediately to the Circuit Medical Centre where he died soon after due to his injuries."

Posted on: 22 June 2013 by RaceTripper

I am stunned. Terrible news. RIP Allan Simonsen. We saw this crash on the telecast. It looked bad, but we've seen them look much worse, both live and on TV.

The last fatality at Le Mans was 16 years ago when Sébastien Enjolras was killed in practice for the 1997 race in his Peugeot.

Apparently, Simonsen hit an armco with a tree too near behind it, so it didn't give way to absorb the crash energy. My wife -- a health care worker -- believes he likely suffered an aortic transsection, the same injury that took Diana's life (IIRC).

Posted on: 22 June 2013 by BigH47

This is so sad, it did indeed look like a big one, as RT says I've seen accidents that looked worse.

'86 was the last race fatality, Joe Gartner.

Allan's family said they wanted the Aston Martin team to continue with their other car.

Not the way they wanted to celebrate their 100th anniversary.