Yesterday was supposed to be a great day for me. I love motorsport - got up early for the F1, watched NASCAR that I had recorded from saturday night, Touring cars on ITV4 throughout the day, then the Indycar finale.
Those opening 10 laps were ridiculous. Close, exciting racing is what we want - but not at 225MPH with inches between cars (in open wheel cars anyway). You could tell there was going to be a big accident. How Tagliane and Briscoe got away touching wheels a few laps before I'll never know. Racing so close is OK on the slower ovals, but not at these frightening speeds. At Indy, you have to lift, and can't go three wide (very often). At Las Vegas last night, drivers were running flat all the way round. Crazy.
The accident was horrible, and i found myself gapsing in shock as cars continued to pile in and get launched skywards. It was one of the worst crashes I have ever seen. As soon as you saw the replay, and saw how Wheldon hit the fencing, you knew it was going to be serious. During the 2 hours of Red Flag, you always hoped to hear that he had survived.
Once it was announced, I have to say I felt completely empty, and sick. This morning, I felt gutted. I wasn't a big Wheldon fan as such, but always want the Brits to do well. His Indy 500 win this year was brilliant drama.
The world has lost a great racing driving, and to be honest, my love affair with Motor Sport has taken a severe denting.
R.I.P Dan Wheldon.
