1973 Dutch Grand Prix
Motor Racing is dangerous. Always has been. Always will be. But, often, especially in the past, lives have been lost in accidents that could have so easily have been prevented. Clark, Bandini, Pryce, Peterson, Siffert and McLaren are a few to have been killed in preventable circumstances.
The 1973 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort saw what is perhaps the worst crash of them all. On lap eight, March driver Roger Williamson was involved in an horrific accident. The British driver speared off the track in his STP sponsored car, the vehicle flipping upside down and skidding along the track inverted, the car by this time engulfed in flames. It is thought that the crash may have been called by a tire blowout, but this has never been proved.
The car came to a halt, completely covered in orange flames. Williamson did not appear from the blazing wreck - he was trapped inside the customer March - unable to escape. It is not known if the young driver, in his second race, was conscious at that time. If he was, it makes the accident event worse.
Little did anyone know what was about to happen… The anxious crowd watched the burning wreck, waiting for marshalls to come and extinguish the flames. Waiting, Watching, Worrying. But no-one came to help poor Williamson. The marshalls were not equipped properly to do anything. According to reports, one of the drivers was even wearing a plastic mask. Even if the marshalls had done anything, they would have been unable to save the Englishmen.
Indeed it was only fellow March driver, David Purley, who did anything at all. He parked his LEC sponsered car at the crash site, and ran over to the blaze, going in the fire time and time again to save the driver. He failed, and the world was stunned. Later, Purley was to receive a George Medal for his bravery. He described it as “a mater of a man needing help. That car burned for several laps, and all the ’safety crusaders’ just kept kept on bombing through the accident scene, without even backing off.”
The crowd, disgusted by the tragedy unfolding in front of their eyes, was stunned. Some tried to break down the fence to try and save Williamson. The Police kept the crowd at bay with dogs. The race continued, driver after driver passing the scene. After a while, an old fire engine finally came down the track, and put out the flames. The car was covered over with a blanket, the body of Williamson still inside, the driver having been burnt to death.
Later that day, after the race had been run, a coffin was taken to the crash site, in which Williamson was placed, and bundled away. Not very nice at all, just a chilling reminder to the lack of safety in those days when the sport was dangerous.
Roger Williamson could have easily been alive to this day, had the marshalls been properly equipped. Tragically, there was a fire engine nearby, but it was not allowed to travel against the flow of traffic. Perhaps if the race had been red flagged, and the marshall properly equipped, things could have been a different story.
Better car safety could have saved Williamson, as in those days, if you had a big crash, you were pretty likely to have a fire, and, with Nomex suits not at the level of those today, chances of survival were slim. Very slim indeed.
