Re: Drama at the 2010 MMER - Lotus 2 Eleven of Team Empire Motorsports goes up in fla
Our best prayers are dedicated for Jordan's speedy recovery ...
But the credits should be given to the track marshals who braved the danger and put out the fire before even the firemen arrived to the scene ...
By international race event standards, of the type that MME is trying to emulate, the pit marshals reaction time was not quick enough. I've seen flash fires at other international events and the reaction time was much quicker because the marshals always had their hand on the trigger and nozzle aimed at the car everytime refuelling took place and no one got injured and only minor damage to car, and they could continue. Only 'injury' would usually be someone inhaling the fire retardant.
Many things went wrong that night. Like all accidents there was a chain of events that led to the catastrophe involving many parties - both organiser and Empire. I called it a catasrophe because in the 11 year history of MME I've never seen such a serious fire. Consider that dry break fuel rigs were made mandatory in MME only a few years back to avoid just such incidents. What went wrong? It is believed that only 3 teams in MME actually used proper FIA approved dry break refuel rigs. Only Audi, one of the Lambo teams and Petronas I think. Though this may or may not have played a role in the fire it shows that safety standards need to be taken more seriously. Anyone who has participated in international races and did MME know how lacking standards are in MME.
I saw several instances of teams disconnecting their refuel couplings and quite a lot of fuel surged out. Saw the same in S1k also where the valve failed to close fully for one team.
This was a serious incident and I'm sure the organisers will take serious measures for next year but it's unfortunate that persons had to pay the price dearly for improvements.
There is certainly a lot of weakness in MME but safety should be the no1 priority. There is still plenty of work to be done to get it up near the level of european race events. There is no more excuse about keeping the costs attractive for local competitors because they now have S1k for lower budget local teams. Lets not even get into the 'mandatory tyre' issue in MME this year which proved to be a nightmare for almost everyone.
